How to Develop Your Leadership Style

 

It is frustrating for talented professionals getting overlooked because they lack the appropriate leadership style. His superiors feel something is missing in a person's tool kit like lacking in important intangibles but fails to provide advice or tools for improving. 

It is equally frustrating to watch people with mediocre technical skills move up the ladder because they have an exceptional leadership style. A great leadership style may make people appear more competent than they are. How do you improve your leadership style?

It is important to distinguish between style and personality. Personality is what you are on the inside whereas style is what you do, how often and when. There are certain behaviours that we develop from our childhood, called social markers, that can be expressed through language, non-verbal communications, or context setting. These choices of markers identify how others view you. 

The signals we send to others fall into two categories: power and attractiveness. Powerful markers Are associated with expressions of confidence, competence, charisma and influence but also arrogance, intimation and abrasiveness. 

The more consistently we express ourselves, the more distinctive our style becomes. Change the frequency or the mix of these markers and others' impressions will also change. 

Leadership presence

In neutral situations, we default to a certain set of markers. When we have the status we behave more powerfully. We behave more attractively when we ar junior and are anxious to make an impression. 

People's style can be grouped into five categories - powerful, lean powerful, blended, lean attractive, attractive. A blended style is rare, involves the use of both powerful and attractive styles. It can be best summed up as having a presence. Leaders who are praised for polish and gravitas can adopt the right markers to suit the situation.

Some situations call for leaders to exhibit power and some will call for a more attractive approach throughout. Leaders often need to switch their style multiple times a day. 

Leaders successfully experiment with markers, create a blended style and reaped professional rewards. Some develop a blended style early in their career and some struggled up the corporate ladder and learnt to modify their behaviour through trial and error. The learning curve may be steep but any leader can achieve blended style by following several steps.

Know yourself

You must first know where you fall on the leadership style spectrum. Feedback from managers, peers, the family gives enough indications to know your current leadership style. If you are unsure, keep a list of markers and check the ones you use. You can check the recordings of online meetings and assessing your behaviour after the fact.

Experiment with various markers

Once you have identified your style, begin experimenting. Pick one marker verbal or non-verbal, at a time, and find a way to use it in conversation. As you become adept, add to your repertoire. Consider how you want to be seen in a situation and choose markers that reinforce that style. As you experiment some markers may seem natural while others may seem contrived. Emulating the style of others or flexing your own on new ways does not make you inauthentic. Successful leaders are true to who they are while making adjustments in how they interact depending on circumstances.

Read the room

Gaining an ability to read the room is part of fine-tuning your leadership style. Although you may know how you want to be perceived, you may have to change once you are there. You should assess the indications you are receiving from others before deciding on your approach. 

Normally one makes a mistake of using power markers with subordinates and attractive markers with higher-ups. The opposite is often more effective. 

Blended style suits more for minorities and women.

Leadership style cannot be fully divorced from unconscious bias and discrimination. When asked to draw a leader most would sketch a man. The more women show proficiency, the more likely their peers would be put off by their style. 

People of diverse groups are judges differently even when they display identical style markers. Hence blended style would such groups. The right assortment would allow you to show loyalty to the group you want to lead while still maintaining your uniqueness. 

Women must have the courage to interrupt and use more intense words while blending in moe relational responses. Minorities and women must make the extra effort in developing a blended leadership style.

Dynamically integrating a broad range of powerful and attractive markers can make a big difference in your style. The result is a leader who is powerful enough to be heard and attractive enough to be followed.

How to Develop Your Leadership Style

by Suzanne J. Peterson, Robin Abramson and R.K. Stutman

HBR 2020/11-12