What Type of Leader Are You?

In writing something to submit to my PR team, I started thinking about leadership styles. I have worked with hundreds of leaders over my 20 plus years in business and I must say, most of them fit into one of these three categories: The Inclusive leader, The Exclusive leader, and the Lackadaisical leader.  

Which one are you? Or, if you are a team member, what type of leader do you work for? 

This knowledge is very powerful. 

Inclusive leaders are great communicators. 

They listen and ask open-ended questions. These are the types of people that move closer to you when you speak, really showing their engagement. These leaders embrace their team and are very open to others ideas and suggestions. They don’t want the spotlight on them, in fact, they would rather highlight others. They believe in the power of collaboration and operate from a place of curiosity and creativity. The only downside might be that they don’t trust their own gut enough and can take longer to make a decision. 

If you are this type of leader, good for you! I believe this style is vital to success, but don’t let everyone else’s ideas cloud the main goal. Listen, but also lead. 

If you work for a leader like this, take advantage and share your ideas! Don’t feel any fear. 

Exclusive leaders have a more direct approach. 

They are confident and feel their vision is the right one because they hold the leadership role. They aren’t easily persuaded and tend to take someone’s idea and make it their own. Teams working under leaders like this are easily frustrated and there is higher turnover. 

If you are this type of leader, try to be more open to letting your team in. It can be hard to delegate, so try just delegating very small tasks at first to get your feet wet. 

If you work for a leader like this, come very prepared. If you come up with an idea, make sure there is research to back up why it will work. If you don’t feel heard, try communicating this in a private meeting at a set time, not in the middle of the leaders’ busy day. 

Lackadaisical leaders are carefree. 

You will often find many creatives to be lackadaisical leaders, because they resist structure and systems. This is a good in many ways to foster new ideas, but can also cause ideas to fail because they do not oversee the implementation of strategy, systems and processes. Although this leader is more open to team ideas, they are also quick to get to the next thing and there can be follow-through issues. 

If you are this type of leader, ensure you have a second in command that is very organized and will hold you accountable in your plans. 

If you work for a leader like this, come up with systems to keep them on track and not rush onto something new without closing the first idea. Help them take their visions to reality. 

All of these styles have their own pros and cons, but knowing how we respond and how others respond to us only makes communication more clear and all of us evolve and grow.