I recently re-read Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence by Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, and was struck by how much of my time I get caught between the poles of trying to be a "Commanding leader" or a "Democratic leader" (or, sometimes, any kind of leader at all). As the book explains, effective leaders can utilise up to six of different leadership styles as the situation demands.
Reflecting on this, I also realised that there are times when I don't know what the situation is, or what it demands of me - that's when I become a micro-manager. This is particularly true during periods of business transformation. But, over the last six months, I have adopted a simple, powerful methodology that delivers results time-after-time:
- Really, really understand where you are today
- Learn from it, and then move on
- Project yourself into the future - what does it look like?
- Work out what is needed for 3. and how, when and who will get it
- Do it today!
Whilst it's exciting to be in uncharted territory, it is a lot less stressful when you have the appropriate tools. For me that means not just having a transformational infrastructure, but also the individual skills - something I'm going to working on over the next few months.
Meanwhile, It's never too late to change - UK's oldest newlyweds
