Teamership: Leadership Modes
Good intentions don’t always lead to our desired behaviours. Photo by
Here’s what someone shared with me via LinkedIn messages:
“I loved your email in regards leading professionals vs professional leaders. How personal objectives, ambitions and agendas can affect the good intentions of managers and find difficult to turn into good leaders.”*
The idea of Leading Professionals and Professional Leaders can feel useful, and also a bit abstract. A bit conceptual rather than visible and tangible. That is the primary reason that leaders find it difficult to operate as Professional Leaders. Good intentions don’t always translate into the actions and behaviours that we want.
Someone recently described themselves as a “donor to their local gym”. Intentions, but not actions.
In conversation with clients and leaders, I have developed four leadership modes which describe the most typical approaches that we see in organisations.
It’s important to realise that these are descriptions of behavioural patterns – not people. Leaders may find themselves operating across different leadership profiles at various times and will probably be able to recognise some or all of these patterns in themselves and others.
Deliberate leadership
This is an approach that centres around leading on purpose and with purpose.
A Deliberate Leadership approach sees the value in leadership and commits to making a difference in their teams and across the organisation.
Deliberate Leadership doesn’t mean that these leaders are perfect. Seeking and accepting imperfection is one of the signs of deliberate leadership.
Developing leadership
This is an approach that is actively engaged in growing a leader’s capacity to lead themselves and others.
While this approach may not have the consistency of deliberate leadership, it is used by leaders who are committed to learning more about themselves, their team and their impact across the organisation.
Developing leadership is aspiring to operate with deliberate leadership.
These are the approaches taken by your Professional Leaders.
Deliberate and Developing leadership are the approaches taken by those who amplify the impact of people across your organisation,
Unintentional leadership
This is an approach taken by people who have roles and responsibilities that include leadership, but do not have a plan or process about how they will lead.
Unintentional leadership usually happens when people are in positions of formal or informal leadership largely due to their experience and expertise in their craft.
Unintentional leadership often results in leaders who are overwhelmed by and unclear about what leadership means to them and are therefore inconsistent in their ability to lead.
Reluctant leadership
This is an approach taken by people who are actively avoiding the roles and responsibilities of leadership – even if they have been given those positions.
Reluctant leadership is not usually the domain of work dodgers (although there is a bit of that around as well!). Most often reluctant leadership looks like people who are busy – just not busy leading.
Reluctant leadership sees leaders spend their time on the team’s tasks rather than supporting the team to achieve their targets. Reluctant leadership doesn’t avoid work, it avoids leading.
These are the approaches taken by your Leading Professionals.
Unintentional and Reluctant Leadership means that leaders – often unintentionally – limit their impact and actually risk burning themselves and others out.
*As a side note, I’m always happy to receive feedback when my content lands - or doesn’t. I’ll share more soon on what to do if it doesn’t!
Here are a few things to consider this week:
Have you noticed professional leadership in yourself or others?
What is the impact of having leading professionals without professional leaders?
Are there things that make it difficult for leading professionals to operate as professional leaders?