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"Are You A Flexible Leader?"

    - by Simon Hazeldine MSc BA (Hons) FInstSMM
 

(c) Simon Hazeldine. All Rights Reserved.

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ARE YOU A FLEXIBLE LEADER?

“When the great leaders work is done the people say –
we did that ourselves!” - Lao Tsu

One common characteristic of the exceptional leader is
their ability to flex, alter and adapt their style
according to the situation, context and circumstances they
are experiencing.

Rather like a chameleon which alters its colour to blend
into the background, the leader will alter their style to
fit the situation.

The effective leader will have a range of styles that they
can use to suit the various circumstances that they
encounter on a daily basis.

One way of considering the various styles is to consider
them along a continuum that has at one end a directive
style of leadership (telling people what to do) and at the
other end a non-directive style (allowing people to develop
their own approach and solutions).

In between these two extremes lie a myriad of potential
styles but for simplicities sake let us examine six broad
styles.

The flexible, effective leader will move backwards and
forward along the continuum choosing the most appropriate
leadership style dependant upon circumstance.

Some of the factors that may influence the choice of style
are:

The people involved
The number of people involved
The seniority of the people involved
The experience, knowledge and skills of the people involved
The attitude, mood or motivation of the people involved
The development needs of the people involved
The task to be achieved
The complexity of the task
The importance of the task
The risk if the task is not completed
The financial importance of the task
The time available
How quickly the task needs to be completed


The six broad styles that we will consider are:

1) Telling people what to do

At the directive end of the continuum is simply telling
people what to do, or issuing orders.  In certain
circumstances (crisis, when peoples safety is at risk,
when there is a very pressing deadline) this can be an
appropriate style.  However its effect on motivation and
learning in the long term if it is overused should be
considered.

2) Solving people’s problems for them

Further along the continuum is solving people’s problems
for them.  When a problem is communicated to the leader the
leader supplies the answer.  This can be appropriate as you
may often possess superior knowledge or experience to the
person with the problem.  However, if you consistently
solve people’s problems for them you are encouraging them
to consistently seek you out every time they have a
problem!

3)Giving people advice

As we head towards the middle of the continuum we reach
giving advice. Although still to the directive side of the
continuum, the leader restricts them self to only offering
advice – they do not provide the full answer.  Here as in
the solving problems style the leader will still be relied
upon to provide most of the answers!

4) Offering people guidance

Past the midway point on the continuum we now reach the
first style that is in non-directive half of the continuum.
Here the leader offers people guidance.  This guidance will
tend to be utilised by the people receiving it. With this
style the leader may provide, for example, a framework,
outline or direction and then allows the people involved
to “fill in the blanks”. 


5)Asking people questions

In the centre of the non-directive half of the continuum is
the asking questions style.  Here the leader will utilise
the power of questions to raise people’s awareness about
the problem, situation or opportunity they face.  Through
the questioning process the leader helps people to clarify
their thinking and make better decisions.

“I’d rather know some of the questions than all of the
answers”
Anonymous

6)Helping people to solve their own problems

At the far right of the non-directive continuum is the
helping people to solve their own problems style.  Here the
leader will also use questions to help to raise people’s
awareness but the leader will  not input directly into
people’s solutions.  The leader trusts and respects the
wisdom of the people involved and plays a supporting role
in assisting them to reach their own conclusions. 

This style requires the leader to have great trust in the
people involved. This approach is often not suitable where
the people lack experience and knowledge.

The power of this style is that people will usually be more
fully engaged and motivated with their own solution.

In addition this style builds the resourcefulness of the
people involved.  This style can lead to powerful learning
for people and can contribute strongly to an individuals
personal development. It enables people to devise and
implement their own solution.

The leader who regularly uses this style may find that
their input is required less and less in day to day matters,
freeing up valuable time for other high values activities
such as strategic thinking and coaching their people.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”
Chinese Proverb

Which style on the leadership style continuum does the
exceptional leader use?  The answer is all of them.
The exceptional leader will flex their style according to
the circumstances and can move from telling people what to
do to enabling them to solve their own problems as easily
and naturally as a chameleon blends in with the changes
that take place around it.



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Simon Hazeldine is a best selling author, professional
speaker and performance consultant. He is passionate
about helping individuals and organisations improve
their performance.

Simon has run leadership development programs in over
15 countries across 4 continents.

Simon is the bestselling author of Bare Knuckle Selling,
BareKnuckle Negotiating, Bare Knuckle Customer Service
and The Inner Winner

For more valuable information on improving your
sales, profits and performance (including sample chapters
from all of Simon's best selling books) at zero cost to you
visit: http://www.simonhazeldine.com today!


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