Leadership is not a one-size-fits-all concept. It's a journey of self-discovery, where you learn to harness your unique strengths and navigate your weaknesses. Let's delve into the process of cultivating a leadership style that resonates with your personality and professional goals.
Style is distinct from personality
Style is best described by what you do, how often, and when
- A great leadership style can make people appear more competent than they truly are, and a poor style can drag down a superior skill set
- The signals we send to others about our status-or lack thereof-fall into two categories: power and attractiveness
- Powerful markers are associated with expressions of confidence, competence, charisma, and influence but also arrogance, abrasiveness, and intimidation
- Attractiveness markers are related to expressions of agreeableness, approachability, likability, and diffidence, lack of confidence and submissiveness
Experiment with various markers
Pick one verbal and one nonverbal marker and find a way to use both during an interaction
- The interpretation of style markers can vary significantly by culture, context, and industry
- How one dresses is a universal marker of status and influence
- Successful leaders are true to who they are while continually making small adjustments in how they carry themselves, how they communicate, and how they interact depending on the circumstances
Read the room
Gaining an ability to “read the room” is part of fine-tuning your leadership style
- Generally speaking, you should assess the markers you’re receiving from others before deciding on your own approach
- Executives make a common mistake by using power markers with subordinates and attractive markers with higher-ups
- The opposite approach is often more effective
- Lean powerful with more-senior people and lean attractive when talking to more-junior people
Leadership Presence
We all have a particular set of markers that we default to in neutral situations or when the social context is unclear.
- Most people’s natural style falls into one of five categories: Powerful, Lean Powerful, Blended, Lean attractive, and Blended Again
- A truly blended style is rare and involves an equal use of both power and attractiveness markers.
A Blended Style Matters More for Minorities and Women
Leadership is a normative construct; when asked to “draw a leader,” people (regardless of their gender) tend to draw a man
- Research shows that women face a competency-likability trade-off: The more they demonstrate proficiency, the more likely their peers are to find their style off-putting
- Despite the fact that the hallmarks of leadership style are similar around the world, people of diverse groups are often judged differently even when they display identical style markers
- We advise women and minorities to carefully select markers that will help them develop a blended style
- The right assortment can allow you to show loyalty to the group you want to lead while still maintaining your uniqueness
Know thyself
To balance powerful and attractive markers, you must first diagnose where you fall on the leadership style spectrum
- Keep a list of markers in front of you during various interactions and check off the ones you use most
- As more meetings move online because of the pandemic, try recording video meetings and assessing your behavior after the fact
