What’s Your Leadership Origin Story?

 

Origin stories are of many types: how we entered the profession, personal stories, how one entered the profession, how one met his/her partner. We rarely examine what we include in these anecdotes, and how these choices shape our present reality. Consider the following when it comes to stories on leadership origins, how to draw on the origins to become more adaptable, and what to do to cultivate leaders within the organisation.

We all pick a lens

How would anyone respond when asked as to when they felt like a leader? In childhood, in school or when one starts managing a team in an organisation or when someone asked for direction to resolve an issue. There are four dominant themes - engaging, being, performing, accepting. These are the lenses determining how the leaders see themselves today. 

Being

People who see themselves ae being have always thought of themselves as leaders. they enjoy leading teams, leading people. They remember a natural call to leadership that started early in childhood or in school, organising people in the neighbourhood, engaging in entrepreneurial activities, captains of the sports team. In describing current leadership, they describe their personal qualities and their leadership styles.

Engaging

People who see themselves as engaging highlight the successful facilitation of others and activities. They believe that their leadership journey originated when they had to take care of an urgent crisis. They take it upon themselves to change unsatisfactory practices, volunteering to tackle a challenge. These type of people gradually take on a facilitative leadership style, focusing on collective action.

Performing

People who see themselves as performing feel a sense of responsibility toward the organisation. Their leadership often emerges from the achievement of a particular position. They talk about a sense of autonomy and control over their area of work, and responsibility for their teams. They describe their leadership style as paternalistic, marked by a demonstration of control, support and guidance of the team.

Accepting

These are people who never thought of themselves as leaders but found people following them. They notice that people come to them for answers, support and guidance. Others notice that people are being treated equally with respect and able to make a fair and strong decision and naturally gravitate to seeking guidance in times of need. 

These may give a person an indication of how you lead others and who one recognises as leading or showing leadership potential. At the same time, it is important to realize that this impacts our behaviour in both positive and negative ways. 

There is a strong link between the stories people tell about becoming a leader and their current leadership style. using just one leadership style could limit your ability to try out other styles. constrain who you see as leaders, limiting who you see as seek out as role models and who you tap to take on leadership roles. 

Experiment with different styles drawing on different past experiences and memories of leadership. Consider when others asked for help, advice, support or guidance. Practice different types of leadership styles, which can strengthen your identity and increasing your adaptability. 

Keep in mind that people may gravitate toward different lenses when it comes to reflecting on their leadership. Allow them to experiment with multiple narratives and let them choose what feels comfortable. Help them notice constraints in one style and help them experiment with other styles. This way you can become more adaptive, and ultimately, a better leader.

What’s Your Leadership Origin Story?

by Alyson Meister, Wei Zheng and Brianna Barker Caza

HBR August 10, 2020