You don’t want a name to be a leader, and you don’t want to lead a team to achieve remarkable things. Not everyone wants to be, or be, a popular leader. And he doesn’t want other people who report to him to be. a leader.
All of the examples I’m going to share are from notable leaders I interviewed while writing my book Woman of Influence. Everyone has accomplished wonderful things by managing a team.
They are divided into five main types of leadership: change, people, results, services, and idea leaders. Organizations love everyone, but somehow the rumor has spread that human leaders are the only type worthy of the name “leader. “I’m just more wrong!
Who are you as a leader? The answer is not to replace who you are and reveal where you already shine. As you read the description of each type of leadership, try to recognize which is the most productive role to play.
1. Change Leader
Change leaders are strategists, optimizers, and barrier breakers. They take giant, complex business purposes that can’t be achieved through an organization in its current state and lead the transformation to make the purpose possible. They eliminate inefficiencies and break down barriers that others hacen. no see.
Kathy Tyra once worked at a company that constantly struggled with too much or too little inventory. Kathy, now vice president of professional resources and real estate at a tech company, saw delays and costs mount and there had to be a better solution. He worked with suppliers to expand a plan to streamline the curtain process without causing delays for consumers, and he spent a lot of time thinking about how it would work. He sought input from colleagues, executives, consumers, and suppliers, and made presentations to express the idea. “Because I used a collaborative process, everyone felt guilty about the success of the implementation,” he says.
Signs that you are a changer:
2. Human Leaders
Human leaders take the time to understand others, identify their strengths, and explore what motivates them. They forge other people and make them grow. They also make sure that the right people are playing the right roles and that everyone is running together as a team, focused on a common goal.
“Our team was tasked with doing something new for all of us,” says Ann Finkner, senior vice president and lead managing director of Farm Credit Services of America. Reflecting on his time as an individual contributor, he explained that the maximum number of team members didn’t know where to start or what to do. Not knowing the answers either, Ann showed up to lead the task on behalf of the team. The good fortune of the task required not only understanding the new generation, but also educating and engaging them. his teammates. ” It’s become a catalyst for my career to evolve into higher-level leadership,” says Ann.
When I asked Ann about the characteristics she now likes most to see in her organization’s long-term leaders, she described how they ingeniously combine personal risk-taking with patience, teamwork, and collaboration. His remarkable skills come from listening and asking smart questions. and be curious.
Signs that you’re a human leader:
3. Results Leaders
Results-oriented leaders are drawn to ambitious goals and will do whatever it takes to achieve them. They are ambitious, persevering, and tenacious “goals” who love to celebrate good luck and recognize others when they win. This type of leader has an ability to exert interpersonal influence and rally others around an ambitious goal. “I do my number,” says a results-oriented operations manager who has never lived up to a big team or a big budget, but who nonetheless knows how to get help from his entire organization.
Katwan is now senior vice president of sales for North America at Salesforce, but her first sales position was at Ward, where she sold curtains and blinds. She was the most productive salesperson. It didn’t matter that I only worked part-time and was still in the best school.
Alice enjoyed being able to objectively measure and track her performance. “I like being able to know where I am at all times,” she says. “No one can argue with the numbers. ” Later, during her university studies, Alice sold faucets and sinks for a kitchen and bathroom supplier, where she was once again the most sensible saleswoman. His results-oriented attitude gave him a sense of security in the task. “Because I exceeded my monthly sales targets, I was able to focus on my studies instead of worrying about whether I was doing a smart task. “
Signs that you’re on the scoresheet:
4. Department Heads
Service leaders are driven by a fierce determination to make life more or less difficult for people, whether they are consumers, consumers, or even humanity. They advocate for products, services, answers, or reports that consumers love. They see themselves as partners, advocates, and activists. They have the uncanny ability to put themselves in a person’s shoes, perceive their situation, and channel that empathy into tangible responses and changes. Managers were the rarest type of leadership I interviewed. Our world wants it more.
Liz Brenner, former vice president of Human Resources, considers customer-centric thinking to be one of her most deeply held core values. Years ago, Liz was asked to expand a unified virtual marketing strategy for her company’s services. Each branch had its own marketing user or team, and they all made it clear why their timeline was of utmost importance. Liz donned her “customer hat” to promote a more holistic view and brought her peer organization together to speak with one voice. Liz says, “We are very concerned in our day-to-day lives that we lose sight of the bigger picture and the other people we seek to serve. He then moved into increasingly customer-centric roles, advocating first for external consumers and then for his company’s employees.
Signs that you’re a leader:
5. Thought Leaders
“Thought leaders are trusted idea leaders and others to consult in their field of expertise,” says Denise Brosseau of Ready to Be a Thought Leader. They are much more than other people “with concepts. ” They galvanize and motivate others. “with cutting-edge concepts and we help them turn those concepts into lasting change,” says Denise. They gain in-depth, specialized experience in a field they are passionate about. They try to stay on top of new developments and contribute to breakthrough advancements in their sector, cause, or industry.
Nina Bhatti, PhD, is director of engineering at Google Cloud. Early in her career as a researcher and technologist, her company’s CEO signed an agreement with a major customer, promising state-of-the-art inventions that no other vendor could offer. There’s just one problem. ” No one knew what that meant and other people were scared,” says Nina, who holds 24 patents and invented the first accurate color-matching formula that works on smartphones. He raised his hand and asked to lead the project. When her clients describe their challenges, Nina found that they were looking to enter the cellular space. He then contributed to new cellular computing technologies and created new solutions.
Signs that you’re an idea leader:
Every leader will need to drive change, engage and empower others, generate results, make a positive impact, and generate wonderful ideas. You’ll cross borders with hopscotch every day. The question is which one you feel most comfortable with and which role enlightens you.
Make it your own: Which of the five leaders are you?
In business, we want more than one type of leader. Which one are you?
Think about the five types of leadership (change, people, results, service, or thinking) and think about which one you identify with the most (maybe it’s also a mix). When looking at the symptoms to look for, keep in mind the ones you strongly identify with. Ask yourself, “Where does my main motivation come from?”From there, choose the position that works best for you.
Or show the list of the five types of leaders to a handful of people who know you well. Ask, “Am I in the most productive position to be a leader of change, other people, results, services, or ideas?”
Adapted from Influential Woman: Nine Steps to Building Your Brand, Establishing Your Legacy, and Thriving (McGraw-Hill, 201nine) through Jo Miller.