I want to talk today about what is your leadership style?
I want to prompt you and ask you this question for a few different reasons. To help you understand the ways in which you lead, whether or not you identify as a leader because we’re all leader in some way, right? We all have people that look up to us. Family members, colleagues, friends, we all are leaders in our own right. Whether or not you identify with a position of leadership, I firmly believe we’re still all leaders. So we should consciously and diligently work on becoming better leaders because people look up to us. People rely on us and we should lead by example and set an example in the world that’s positive and inspiring.
What type of leader are you?
You know, a lot of different research in this field that I’m fascinated by that I’ve done my own homework and reading on because again, as a leader and a business owner of multiple businesses. I need to be looking for ways to increase my effectiveness, charisma, and my ability to lead my teams in a way that is productive, inspiring, and engaging. So research has shown that there’s four main leadership styles or types of leaders. One is the thought leader. Two is the courageous leader. Three is the inspirational leader and four is the servant leader.
The Thought Leader
So let’s start with the first thought leaders could be people like Elon Musk or Steve jobs. Visionaries and experts in their field that are trying to do things differently that are disruptors by nature. And that lead by ideas that lead by innovation very effective in certain environments, in certain groups, not effective and others, right? Sometimes we can just lead by the best ideas and the best merit rises and well, you know, attract and motivated everybody. That’s just not simply reality, but in many contexts, in many situations and environments, this is a very effective type of leader. Somebody who can really inspire for the future, can change the status quo. Can show how new ideas could reshape how we think about things in the world around us?
The second type of leader is a courageous leader.
These are leaders that are often most effective in resonating and connecting with people on an emotional and spiritual level. Think of people like Martin Luther King or Abe Lincoln, right? People that shook up how the world was, how culture was, how society thought about things in those eras that they were in politically, socially socioeconomically. Courageous leaders are willing to challenge the status quo, to go up against the establishment and the powers that be to make a change. To shift the mindset and to change the arc and the trajectory of history in the process.
The third type of leader is an inspirational leader.
These are what we see more and more in popular culture in society. These could be people like Tony Robbins. It could be people like some of the evangelist pastors and preachers, people that really connect on a deep level, that pin a picture of the future of what could be. That connect where we are today, with where we inherently would like to go to tomorrow, right? That that can kind of articulate that friction, that division, but also help provide inspiration, a mindset shift and encouragement that we all are uniquely capable of changing our circumstances and the trajectory and course of our lives. Inspirational leaders can be very, very powerful.
The fourth type of leader is the servant leader.
This could be somebody that is a benevolent leader. Think maybe mother Teresa or somebody else in a religious context or charitable context, and somebody who is driven by a mission that’s greater than themselves by a purpose, by a commitment to a cause and a people in a movement.
These are some of the most benevolent, humble, and selfless people out there. They lead by example by serving something larger, greater and bigger than what they could ever imagine doing on their own.
So these are the four types of leaders, the four main types, of course, there’s other, you know, um, subtypes, if you will. But these are generally thought to be four broad categories in ways in which we can think about different types of leaders, different leadership styles. Again, thought leader, courageous leader, inspirational leader and servant leader. So I want to leave you with this.
What type of leader are you? Out of those four, where do you fall? How do you show up in your home life, your family life? How do you show up in your career, in your job? With your friends? How do you show up in your community, in your neighborhood? What type of leader are you? If you’re not the type of leader you want to be, I want to challenge you to work on that. We all have a unique ability to change our situation and where we are today and where we can go. I firmly believe that, but we have to take stock and accept and take accountability and recognition for where we are today.
So hopefully you got value from this. Leave a comment below and share this with somebody. To your success and happiness, we’ll talk to you next week.