What's your leadership style?

Dear Reader,

All leaders have an innate style of leadership that comes naturally to them. In B-school, I was taught how successful leaders have historically demonstrated a strong inclination towards one style and supplemented their success with the other styles.

There are four traditional styles of leadership.

Is one style better than the other? Certainly not, but every leader has a natural inclination towards one or the other and must ensure gaps in his/her leadership style are covered by other leaders in his/her team, either peers or direct reports. A holistic view is key when making leadership decisions. To consistently make the right decision you need to be a leader with a strong inclination in one style otherwise you cannot be 'Right A Lot' all the time.

There are drawbacks to each style. A strategist can get so caught up strategizing that they lose sight of the vision, lose the support of their team and are unable to show the value of a strategy. A visionary can paint a grand picture but have no way to realize the vision. A motivational leader can come across as someone who just talks without actually doing anything. If you are leading your team by example and fail to reach said goal, you risk everyone doubting you.

Are these the only leadership styles. Mostly yes, as most styles can be bucketed into one of the above four.

But there is more... a new leadership style has emerged in 'new age' organizations. This is not specific to technology companies and can be applied to any type of organization.

Problem Solver: Are problem solvers in thinking and win by solving real problems, removing barriers to progress, removing blockers, and take the organization in the right direction. Ex: Page & Brin.

A problem could be of any kind, a customer problem, a people problem, a process problem, a technical problem, a financial problem, a combination of problems, a problem of a problem, it could be visible, it could be hidden, etc. Identifying the right problem is the first step. The problem solving mindset works great when you are surrounded by a team of similar mindset. Would everyone like to solve the problem in the same way? Maybe not, there may be more than one way to solve a problem and that adds to the fun of problem solving.

If you are leader of style 'problem solver' and as an outsider you see a solution to a problem that some has solved, you have a Aha! moment, and realize that a solution that appeared weird earlier now makes perfect sense. The trap in problem solving is coming up with a very complex solution. Instead look for solutions that are simple to implement, easy to execute, and that you can build upon. Elegant solutions require out of the box thinking and multiple iterations to arrive at a good solution. It is hard. There is no playbook for solving a problem. But there are methods to identify the right problem.

I've come to like the 'Problem Solver' style and I actively use it in my work. However, my natural leadership style is inclined to 'Lead by Example'.

What is your leadership style? Tell me in the comments section or spend some time finding your leadership style and playing to your strength to get ahead.

Lastly, be mindful of the 'Moron' style of leadership where you just have to be a moron. It is most prevalent... and works very well too!

Until next time.

Jyothin