What Type of Leader Do You Have? The Good, The Bad, or The Worst?
David Gorman, President & CEO
David Gorman & Associates
The one thing that we can always totally control within our work environments is the type of leader we are. No matter what challenges are thrown at us, or what obstacles we are expected to overcome, we can still be the inspirational leader that our people need and everyone hopes to have. Unfortunately, we do not have this same control over who we are given as a leader for ourselves.
During our careers, each of us will likely report to a wide variety of leaders, most of whom will hopefully be people who will encourage us and who we can learn from. Others, however, might challenge our very ability to do the jobs we were hired to do. No matter how ‘wrong minded’ some of these individuals are, we still need to find ways to accomplish our goals, and strive to move our initiatives forward. In this article I will highlight the types of leaders I have been exposed to in my career, and offer suggestions on how to advance your agenda regardless of the situation.
For the sake of this review, I will classify the personalities of the leaders I have experienced into four (4) general categories. These are as follows:
- I’ll Tell You What to Do, And When to Do It—The worst type of Leader
- Just Do Your Job, And Don’t Create Problems For Me—A Bad Leader
- I’m Here When You Need Me—A Better Leader
- My Success Is a Direct Result of Your Success—The Best Leader
I classify the first of these as the worst for many reasons. Most importantly is the fact that someone who wants to have total control over the day to day operations of your Division, and your decision making, clearly has no confidence in you as a leader. Their close involvement in the detail of everything you do will not only communicate their lack of trust to you and to your people, but to others in the organization as well. As a result, your position and growth potential within the organization is severely undermined. Likewise, individuals who separate themselves from what you are doing, but are quick to criticize everything you do, also fall into this category.
While the second leadership type I have illustrated is not as controlling as the first, that category is still bad. These leaders are bad because their lack of involvement with you and your responsibilities does not covey confidence, but rather a total lack of interest. Basically, what their approach communicates to you and everyone else is that what you are doing does not matter, and that it is not worthy of their valuable time to provide any meaningful support. Their only concern is that you not create an embarrassment for them that they will have to deal with.
The third leader is considered to be better for good reasons as well. This leader not only allows you to do what needs to be done in order to advance the impact of your group within the organization, but also is willing to get involved whenever you need their help. In addition, they will provide positive support to you, both verbally and with actions, on a regular basis within other parts of the organization demonstrating their confidence in your leadership abilities. Where this leadership style falls somewhat short, has to do with the amount of personal development that they provide to you as an individual. Development that really requires somewhat of a commitment of time—whether that be in the form of regularly scheduled one on one meetings, or trips out to visit operating units together where you can observe firsthand the leadership traits that have made them successful.
The leader who believes that their personal success is contingent upon you also achieving success is far and above the type of leader we would all want to have. This individual understands the importance of your achieving personal success through your own actions and initiatives, of your being seen within the larger organization as someone who significantly contributes to the overall goals of the company, and how your continued success will only contribute to their personal success as well. The nature of this type of leader is to provide support and positive feedback based on where you are in your personal development to foster confidence in your own decision making, while at the same time provide you straight forward and honest feedback when issues occur which could have been handled differently.
Regardless of which type of leader we are given, it is critical for us to keep ourselves on course in order to be successful. With the worst two leadership examples, focus on building positive relationships with other key people in the organization so that they understand directly the impact you and your group are having, and are not forming their opinion based on the lack of involvement and support displayed by the individual you report to. Also, attempt to identify someone within your organization who seems to have a more supportive relationship with your supervisor than you do. Use that individual as the flag bearer to lead the way when critical approvals are needed. In many instances with these types of leaders, it is the messenger that matters—not the message.
At the end of the day, you are responsible for the opinion others will have of you and for what type of leader you are. Overcome the obstacles and be the person you want to be.