What Type Of Leader Are You?

First things first- leadership is not a title or position. It’s an action and a skill which means- it can be learnt, and leaders aren’t born as leaders. They develop their skill set and style over time and more importantly- with intent. 

Whether you prepare for your first or your next leadership role, it all starts with self-awareness because if you don’t know what drives and motivates you, what your own strengths and weaknesses are, you can’t communicate it and it also makes it harder to recognise those traits in others.

This is why our current monthly topic is Psychology driven leadership and we kicked off the theme in last week’s episode when we were joined by our current industry insider, Dr Maike Neuhaus. 

And in this interview, Dr Maike Neuhaus shared with us the concept of self-leadership which was the perfect kick start because people leadership starts with self-leadership. 

For those of you who want to take this concept a step further, listen up because Dr Maike Neuhaus also runs our content deep dive, which is our monthly live workshop in the Future of Work Campus. 

It’s happening on the 8th June and if you’re listening to this episode in real time, you still have the chance to save your spot, also if you aren’t part of the membership yet. For all the details, hop over to www.futureofworkcampus.online

In today’s episode, I’ll share with you how you can use those insights about yourself and connect it with your leadership style.

Because just a little disclaimer- not all leaders are people leaders and once you’ve experienced and clarified why you act a certain way, what makes you drawn to certain people and brands and how you can perform your personal best – you can never unsee or un-experience this (if that’s even a word?)

And this clarity gives you the ultimate confidence which is what people are drawn to and the reason people follow people.

Ready to explore your type?

Let’s go!

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When I started my career in Brand and Product Marketing, my only goal was to become a leader. I wanted to manage this big team and budgets.

Everything changed when I actually got there and hated every second. 

I’ll be honest- I’m the least patient person on  earth, definitely not a fan of admin and conflict resolution and they are both big parts of leading people.  

Now when you climb the ladder, you’re not getting rewarded for bringing the best out of people or enabling them to do their best work. This is exactly what good leadership is all about” as Simon Sinek says: Leadership is not about taking charge. It’s about taking care of those in charge.

Everything changes when you are in a leadership role and you may not get the results that once came easily to you as an  individual. Now it’s not just up to you anymore to produce results but up to a team of people. 

I’ve seen it many times that people, very experienced and super smart professionals failed after they got the promotion.

It wasn’t until I researched a bit more about this phenomenon and found out there is an actual name for it: the Peter principal. You succeed until you fail.

Often it is because of a shift of tasks or responsibilities in this role that aren’t aligned with your natural strengths (anymore).

Because as you climb the ladder, you take on different tasks and responsibilities and this doesn’t always work in your favour.

I have experienced this a few times in my marketing career when I saw people who did their job for a while and were promoted to keep them in the company. But where it wzsa even more evident was in recruitment. 

As a consultant you get rewarded (aka get the bonus) based on your performance. Now when you’re a natural go getter and driven by those results, you simply do well. This was also the reason why I could progress so quickly in that industry and profession.

Everything changed when I started climbing the ladder and led a team again. Not only did I still have my individual contributor goals (which were quite high to start with) but also team leadership responsibility. 

And not everyone is a top performer to start with and some need more support than others. My individual performance definitely went down the bigger the team got (and my KPIs didn’t really change much to when I was in an individual contributor role). 

Many of my colleagues were the ultimate high performers, always ranked on the leader board right at the top. They had been in recruitment for 10+ years and when I asked them why they didn’t lead a team, they all told me that, they did have a go with a managing consultant role but stepped away again and focused on being a principal consultant because people management wasn’t a natural strong suit nor a passion for them. However, they led the way with business development, identifying new ways of opening doors and building relationships that benefited the wider team. 

And this is what leadership is also about: it’s not a title or doing and doesn’t always involve leading people ‘officially’. It’s about recognising what you are best at and focusing on that rather than and exploiting it in for the benefit of others rather trying to fit in a mould and burn out along the way because it isn’t what lights you up.

I’ll be honest to say that I found myself in the same boat. I led a team and got poached by another agency to lead a team of 15+ consultants (by the time this happened I only had 6 consultants underneath me) and I know I had to turn down this opportunity because it wasn’t the direction I wanted to go. It didn’t excite nor motivate me and if an opportunity doesn’t make you jump out of bed in the morning, it’s probably not the best fit.

Why am I telling you this?

To make you realise that – whilst the title may sound appealing – people leadership isn’t for everyone and that’s a good thing to realise.

Again – it all comes down to self-awareness again and through a lot of personal development and coaching, I realised that my sweet spot is more in thought leadership. 

It’s always been easy for me to come up with new ideas, concepts and commercial opportunities. 

The actual implementation and managing of the project … well, let’s just say … that it bores me to death is a slight understatement. 

That’s so important to realise though since we can only be and do our best when we are clear about what we can bring to the table so we can communicate it clearly and can then surround ourselves with people and skill sets who complement our strengths and weaknesses.

So my current team is a powerhouse of implementers. Their strength is making ideas happen and put concepts into reality. This is what frees me up to be the visionary and the one working on the business rather than just in it.

It took me years to figure this out and simply working with hundreds of companies, leaders and their teams during my recruitment time helped me understand what it takes to be a high performing leader and team.

So when we work now with companies and their teams, we always conduct a number of tests (no, not the standard personality tests but a combination of tests that determine people’s DNA aka their Brand which helps us understand what they are motivated and driven by but also what exhausts them and then another test to determine their natural strengths and skills which can be built upon. People can only perform at their best if they are in the flow zone, aka where high challenge meets high competence/ resources. 

Whilst everyone is familiar with burn out, aka a challenge is higher than the resources and/or skill sets, hardly anyone knows that burn out can also come from low to no challenge, aka boredom. That also happened to me – in my very first role in Australia actually, working for a government organisation. The project I was hired for was to develop one public transport product, a swipe card within 6 months. In the first 3 months, I didn’t just work on 2 cards but also volunteered for every project there was simply because the challenge and most importantly speed wasn’t what I was used to and where I know I can be and do my best.

At that time, I didn’t think much more about it and was just looking for my next role as I definitely didn’t want to extend the contract.

Over the years, I’ve experienced this common theme and connected the dots between being and doing my best.

For me, it’s certainly in an environment where I can challenge the status quo, where I can come up with new ideas and approaches, where I can help others see what they can’t see yet by providing perspectives. This is why I love consulting to companies for a certain time or project but then leave again. I also love creating thought leadership content that explains a big ideas, based on my professional and personal experience. This is one of the reasons why I have this podcast and also committed to writing a book (you may or may not heard the news in one of my previous episodes). 

Whilst I know I’m not the best people leader, I know that I want to influence how people perceive the world they live in and I’m motivated to create content that helps them re-imagine it from a different point of view.

And this is what I want to challenge you today with also:

Just because the traditional career progression path suggests that being a people leader means success isn’t success necessarily to you.

Now is the time to redefine success and create opportunities that are aligned.

To help you get started, here are 5 ways to determine your leadership style:

1. Know Your Personality Traits

2. Know Your Values

3. Identify Your Weaknesses

4. Ask For Feedback

5. Assess Your Ability To Motivate

People motivate and are motivated in different ways.

Key is to find the style that best resonates with you and your personality. Also depending on the situations, you are in or people you are with, your required leadership style might vary.

If you have followed me for a hot second, you’d see the commonalities between clarifying your Personal Brand and your leadership style. Because they are interconnected and having a clear understanding of your point of difference helps you identify how to position yourself the most effective way so people can buy into you as your full self and you can lead without burning out.

Now to take it a step further and translating your style into a leadership style that bests suits your personality but also the situation you’re in or the people you’re with here are 6 of the most common leadership styles:

1. The Coach 

The coach leadership style is one of the most advantageous for employers as well as the employees they manage. Unfortunately, it’s often also one of the most underutilised styles—largely because it can be more time-intensive than other types of leadership.

A coaching leader is someone who can quickly recognise their team members’ strengths, weaknesses and motivations to help each individual improve. This type of leader often assists team members in setting smart goals and then provides regular feedback with challenging projects to promote growth. They’re skilled in setting clear expectations and creating a positive, motivating environment.

2. Visionary

Visionary leaders have a powerful ability to drive progress and usher in periods of change by inspiring employees and earning trust for new ideas. A visionary leader is also able to establish a strong organisational bond. They strive to foster confidence among direct reports and colleagues alike.

This type of leadership is especially helpful for small, fast-growing organisations, or larger organisations experiencing transformations or corporate restructuring.

3. Servant

Servant leaders live by a people-first mindset and believe that when team members feel personally and professionally fulfilled, they’re more effective and more likely to produce great work regularly. Because of their emphasis on employee satisfaction and collaboration, they tend to achieve higher levels of respect.

A servant leader is an excellent leadership style for organisations of any industry and size but is especially prevalent within non-profits. These types of leaders are exceptionally skilled in building employee morale and helping people re-engage with their work.

4. Autocratic

Also called the authoritarian style of leadership, this type of leader is someone who is focused almost entirely on results and efficiency. They often make decisions alone or with a small, trusted group and expect employees to do exactly what they’re asked. It can be helpful to think of these types of leaders as military commanders.

This leadership style can be useful in organisations with strict guidelines or compliance-heavy industries. It can also be beneficial when used with employees who need a great deal of supervision—such as those with little to no experience. However, this leadership style can stifle creativity and make employees feel confined.

5. Hands-off

This leadership style is the opposite of the autocratic leadership type, focusing mostly on delegating many tasks to team members and providing little to no supervision. Because a hands-off leader does not spend their time intensely managing employees, they often have more time to dedicate to other projects.

Managers may adopt this leadership style when all team members are highly experienced, well-trained and require little oversight. However, it can also cause a dip in productivity if employees are confused about their leader’s expectations, or if some team members need consistent motivation and boundaries to work well.

6. Democratic

The democratic leadership style (also called the participative style) is a combination of the autocratic and hands-off types of leaders. A democratic leader is someone who asks for input and considers feedback from their team before making a decision. Because team members feel their voice is heard and their contributions matter, a democratic leadership style is often credited with fostering higher levels of employee engagement and workplace satisfaction.

Because this type of leadership drives discussion and participation, it’s an excellent style for organisations focused on creativity and innovation—such as the technology industry.

Remember, most people don’t just have one style but a combination of styles, depending on the environment they are in, the goals they are trying to achieve, the stage in they are in their career, the project they work on or the people they are working with.

By understanding yourself first and foremost, what you’re driven by, when you excel naturally and what you can bring to the table, you can then develop your own leadership style further based on the outcomes you want to achieve and the situation you are in.

If there is one thing, I’d love you to take away though it’s this:

According to the dictionary, leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organisation. It doesn’t mean you need a title for it. You can lead by thinking differently, creating content that moves and acting that inspires.

Now over to you! 

I’d love to hear your take on leadership and how you identified your style!