The Four Ways to Lead
What type of leader are you?
In my last article I wrote about the three levels of motivation that we need to tap into in order to get the best out of ourselves and our people. However, this idea will only work if we take the right approach to leadership.
Most managers are thrust into leadership positions with little guidance and have to figure out how to lead their people through trial and error. Getting results through people is a completely different ball game to getting results through your own efforts and many struggle to adapt. I’ve found that there are four distinct stages people go through in their journey from manager to leader: the delegator, the dictator, the captain and the coach.
The first stage is the delegator. When most people get into management roles, they don’t want to become a micro-manager and want to give their team the autonomy to do their jobs without having to constantly watch over them. They take a very hands-off approach and just leave people to it. In the short-term, everyone is happy and the manager is well liked.
In reality, the delegator is just dumping. They dump the responsibility onto their people and fail to give them any real support to achieve those targets. Their people are left to fend for themselves, they create bad habits and stagnate. After a while, this approach backfires and the new manager has to change to a slightly more effective hands-on approach: dictating.
Whilst not as popular and well liked as the delegator, the dictator gets results. They dish out orders to their team, telling them what to do and when to do it. They constantly check up on each team member to make sure that they are doing their job and following their orders. When people aren’t performing, the dictator is on to them straight away, telling them to lift their game. Things get back on track and results improve… to an extent.
The fundamental flaw with dictating is that it makes people feel like they are not good enough. Instead of getting people to see the potential within themselves and inspiring them to give their best, dictators make people feel like they don’t measure up and can’t be trusted to work autonomously. This kills confidence and motivation.
The captain realises that, in order to get the best from their people, they have to lead. Like dictators, captains take a very hands-on approach, but instead of telling people what to do, the captain leads from the front by showing their team what to do. By modelling the methods, behaviours and habits of the captain, their people improve.
The problem with this hands-on approach is that it’s hard work. Captains can get bogged down in the details and lose sight of the big picture. They stretch themselves too thinly and risk burning themselves out. It’s not a sustainable situation. If they are to survive, the captain has to evolve.
Rather than leading from the front, the coach gets into the hearts and minds of their people to harness the potential within. Rather than showing people what to do, the coach asks the right questions to empower their people to grow. They know that leadership is not a one-size-fits-all game. They find out what motivates each player and what each person needs to focus on to get results.
Mark Windust is an influential Thought Leader in the areas of Sales Strategy, Sales Leadership and Sales Performance. Since launching his consulting practice in 2007, Mark has worked with 1000's of business leaders, salespeople and entrepreneurs’ to help them transform their sales results.