What kind of leader are you
Self-awareness about your leadership style is the starting point for growth. Understanding what kind of leader you are — and aspire to be — shapes every decision you make.
Most executives unknowingly limit their influence by clinging to a single leadership style—while only 3.4% manage to master both driving results and building genuine relationships.
Are you more relationships oriented? Or perhaps more results oriented? Look around you: almost every leader has a natural preference for one or the other. This finding is now also supported by recent research from our long-time strategic assessment partner, Management Research Group. Their research shows that only 3.4 percent of leaders ranked in the top half of both people relations and results focus. Yes, only 3.4%!
Key takeaways
- You dramatically increase your leadership impact when you learn to flex between people-oriented and results-oriented behaviors, rather than defaulting to your natural style in every situation.
- Only 3.4% of leaders excel at both people relations and results focus, so if you feel challenged balancing the two, know that you’re not alone—and that it’s a real opportunity for growth.
- You can start building a more balanced leadership approach today by honestly assessing your own tendencies and seeking candid feedback from trusted colleagues who aren’t just your fans.
Only 3.4% of leaders ranked in the top half of both people relations and results focus.
In other words, this doesn’t come naturally. In real life, we see leaders indeed often struggle. They apply their natural approach repeatedly. All the time and in every situation. With the pitfall that they become a one-trick-pony. They lose impact.
The leadership spectrum
We all know leaders that are people oriented. Perhaps they were our boss at some point. They usually know personal things about their people; they ask questions and are patient. But they also struggle making tough decisions, hesitate to let people go, compensate personally for underperformers. And on the other side of the spectrum, we all know leaders that are extremely task focused, are all about business, make tough decisions easily and don’t seem to care a lot about the people impact. But as long as they produce results, it’s all right.
As said, it’s a scale we find ourselves on. We can learn to apply some of the behaviors from the other side of the spectrum. And we can learn to better navigate which behavior is effective in which situation. If we do this, we dramatically increase our impact as a leader.
It’s only human to have a natural preference. But remember: it’s a huge opportunity to learn some of the other behaviors too!
Five steps to get started
Where to start?
Self-assess: where do you believe you are on a 1 – 5 (1=not at all, 5=very much) scale when it comes to your people orientation? Do the same for your results focus.
Ask 5 people that you trust, that are close to you (not your Fanclub!) to do the same for you.
Now, look in the mirror! What are people really trying to tell you?
Discuss the outcome with them and ask them for suggestions to grow.
Check-in with them again after 6 and 12 months with the same question: have you perceived changes in my approach?
If you were able to make positive changes in your approach and it’s perceived by some of the people around you, then you know you’ve made measurable progress.
I’m fortunate to have worked one-on-one and in groups with more than 5.000 leaders in the last 25 years. And it’s extremely rare when you meet with leaders that truly master this balance. Almost all of us tend to one side or the other. So, don’t be too hard on yourself. Focus on getting better from where you are today.
Over to you.