What kind of leader are you?
Leadership. What does that word mean to you?
To get the official version, I looked it up in a couple of dictionaries. Oxford Dictionary refers to “The dignity, office, or position of a leader, esp. of a political party; ability to lead; the position of a group of people leading or influencing….” Merriam-Webster Dictionary, on the other hand define leadership as “the office or position of a leader; capacity to lead; the act or the instance of leading; leaders.”
What does that mean for you? How would you describe your leadership style? There are many different leadership styles you can search online for.
At the end of the day, each one of us has our own leadership style which is unique. It is unique because of, at minimum, our own experiences, our own worldview, our education, our temperament, and our level of awareness.
What if you don’t know what your leadership style is?
We can take a look at the different worldviews and maybe you can identify your leadership style from there.
I found Frederic Laloux’s descriptions of different worldviews vis á vis organizations to be illuminating. I will do my best to summarize these here while identifying the leadership approaches within:
An impulsive worldview: You have an entrepreneurial spirit, willing to take on a huge initiative. You will do whatever it takes to succeed, including maintaining control over everything. You demand loyalty and never show weakness.
A conformist worldview: You believe there is only one right way of doing things, according to a higher power – granted, immutable set of rules. You prefer a clearly defined hierarchy, where everyone knows their role, preferably over their lifetime. You provide stable rituals and replicable processes.
An achievement worldview: You follow current management practices, where your team members are resources, carefully aligned to organizational charts. No changes are made without careful planning, and you rely on research and development, marketing, and product management. You are driven by profits.
A pluralistic worldview: Do you see your team members as family or community? While you still need hierarchies, decisions are made by the lowest level of your organization. You want your middle managers to be coaches who lead from behind but they struggle to do so. You endorse shared values to inform decision making over rules and policies. You desire to maximize shareholder profits.
An evolutionarily worldview: You are guided by what feels right to you, not deterred by preconceived notions of what you should be or should do. Mistakes are to be expected and you see these as opportunities to learn and grow. Your ego is viewed from a distance, as opposed to the driver of your fears, ambitions and desires. You strive for wholeness and interconnectedness. You save space for others to do the same.
You might wonder if that means you only hold one worldview.
The short answer is no! You might have a particular worldview for one part of your life, and a different one for another. For example, if you belong to a religious organization and you run your own business, then you probably have a conformist worldview in your personal life and an achievement or pluralistic worldview at work.
Perhaps you can pull out the descriptions which best suit you today? It will be helpful to know where you are today, don’t you think?
You might also be wondering why we are discussing worldviews and leadership. Let me tell you.
Because the leader at the top of any organization has the biggest impact on the organizational culture and their team. Frederic Laloux tells us it is your mindset or your worldview which sets the tone for the structures, practices and cultures for your business or organization. You might be conscious of this influence or worse yet, unconscious of this impact.
So, I encourage all leaders to think carefully about this over the coming days: what kind of a leader are you?
Photo by Tammy Brimner/TLBVelo Photography
