What?s Your Leadership Style (and How Can You Use it to Influence Others?)
What?s Your Leadership Style (and How Can You Use it to Influence Others?)
By Robin Denise Johnson, Ph.D.
Leadership is the exercise of power and influence in the service of a shared goal, and leaders are individuals who cause or influence others to make a positive difference toward the achievement of a shared goal. Use the self-assessment tool below to identify which of three common leadership styles you might have based on the five-style leadership typology in my book, Dance of Leadership.
Please rate each of the word-images below on a scale of 0 to 10: with 10 evoking the most positive energy for you, and 0 being a strong turn off. Put your rating in the box on the same line as the word in the list. Click on the Calculate Totals when you are done.
Select the column with the highest total, between 0 and 50.
Highest score is C: Chaos. Chaos leaders find chaos to be a creative and energizing force. Your motto is “Bust out of the box.” You know the situation cannot really be controlled and so you catch the wave of change and ride it. Trust – in other people, in the universe, and a belief that order will emerge is actually the source of your power. You gain influence by telling stories-jokes that encourage people to believe they can survive the chaos. Chaos leaders are effective in unpredictable times and/or when old ways of doing things are not working and something new is needed.
Highest score is L: Lyrical. Lyrical leaders are most known for exercising influence in situations when they do not have overt power or control. The use a pull influence style to get and keep everyone involved, informed, and committed to shared goals. They work the network -- improvising, multitasking, and shape-shifting as necessary – all the while making it look easy. The challenge with being the ‘wind beneath other people’s wings’ is that your skills may go unnoticed (and you become frustrated) unless you name the skills, claim your accomplishments, and measure your results.
Highest score is S: Staccato. The Staccato leader motto is “Ready, fire, aim.” You are willing to push people in the direction they need to go to get the job done. This style is effective in emergencies, when a deadline must be met, or when rules must be obeyed. You gain influence with this style when you control the situation, protect your followers from unnecessary harm, and direct everyone’s energy into the right direction. This command-control style is archetypically masculine. Women using this style must soften their approach to meet gender expectations; otherwise they lose influence.
You can experience these and other leadership styles by attending Robin Denise Johnson’s workshops in Dance of Leadership at WLE’s 2006 conferences. Dr. Johnson, a WLE 2006 Growth Guru, is author of Dance of Leadership. Visit her site at www.DrRobinJohnson.com.
