The answer is simple – when they are not leading!
Leadership takes many different forms and whilst there is a generalisation that certain personalities are “Natural Born leaders”, we will find good leadership from within any of the different personality types. Leaders from different personality types will lead differently with differing strengths, weaknesses and emphasis but that doesn’t make you any less of a leader. Thankfully we have learnt that some generalisations are not necessarily true!
Every leader, no matter what their personality, experience or situation will need to lead according to the circumstances and the team they find themselves in. Sometimes we need to change who we’re being in order to be a better leader – to do things differently. Now I’m not saying that we need to change who we are in terms of our personality. What I’m saying is we need to stop working against our personality and start working with it instead.
Great leaders are able to embrace who they are and use their strengths to develop their leadership, according to the needs of the people they are leading and the outcomes they are trying to achieve. There is no point bringing a strong, dominant dictatorial style of leadership to a situation which requires gentleness, sensitivity and caring. Yet, there are times when a strong and authoritative leadership style is completely appropriate and possibly even necessary. (Just to be clear, this is different and separate to bullying or harassment which is simply not an acceptable leadership practice. But we will address bullying behaviours and what to do about that in another article).
The best leaders are those that can adapt their leadership style to one that is appropriate for the circumstances they face. This ability comes from a level of maturity and self awareness developed through knowing yourself well. The better you know yourself, the more capable you will be at drawing on different resources, experiences, behaviours and approaches to get the best possible outcome… with your team intact… maybe even still smiling!
Jung’s theory of personality suggests that we mature as adults when we understand our own preferences well but can utilise aspects from any of the different personalities – as the people involved/situation dictates.
I like Jung’s idea of maturity – especially in a leader.
If you are willing, I have a challenge for you. Take out a piece of paper and write down one occasion when you felt you did not lead very well. Then write down one thing you could change that would have made a difference and look for opportunities to put that one thing into practice! Let me know what insights you get.
Thanks for being willing to be a great leader!
Narelle