The 5-Styles of Leadership... Which are YOU?

Hey Team...

Well, yesterday was a my Anniversary (2 years-woo hoo).... so, after working all weekend speaking at a GREAT Conference...

I decided to work half a day yesterday..... and spend the afternoon / evening with my wife down in the Miami area... for some exercise, fun, and R & R.

In life, sometimes it is important to go against the rules.... against the "guilt" or FOMO (fear of missing out) and just DO what you believe is right....and take the time when YOU need it.. or it is best spent investing in something/ someone else....

That is what I talked about this weekend....

Being a LEADER who invests in your people... invests in those around you... and not worrying about WHEN they will leave (because they will- employees, partners, co-workers... they leave)....

But, that should not hold you back from how you "give to those people"..

I meet countless Leaders who do not invest in training their people because they say, "Well, they are going to leave in a year anyway...."

That my friends is a horse sh%t mentality to have...

I get it... you have been burned... but do not let others and how others have responded in the past effect how you LEAD.

We must be Leaders no matter what has happened in our past experience with people...

As I was speaking with the Surgeons this weekend, I introduced them to a concept from my new book that is due out this winter/ spring, Habits of a Champion Team...

We talked about: The 5-Styles of Leadership...

• The Empowering Leader
• The Collaborative Leader
• The Dependent Leader
• The Co-Dependent Leader
• The Dictator

Now, just by looking at the list, you should be able to see that in today's culture, this list is written in descending order from BEST to WORST...

Yet, today, The Dictator is still the #1 Leadership Style....

Intimidate. Lead through fear. Push others by projecting your crap and baggage onto them....

It just does not work anymore...

It doesn't..trust me...

And, if you give up your DICTATOR style..trust me, you will still be strong.

You will not be weakened by being more of an Empowering Leader who works more as a Coach, Cheerleader, and Encouraging Spirit to those they lead...

Remember this.. you can still be encouraging and have standards that the team must adhere to.

You can still let somebody GO and be an Empowering Leader....

I will say this: If you lead with force today and intimidation, your team will contract and never be thinking with an expansion and growth mindset...

They will not feel encouraged...

They will not feel inspired...

And, ultimately.. they will quit on you sooner....

So, if you are of Dictator descent, you can still keep your intensity and focus... but you MUST become more encouraging without expectations that are self-serving...

That is the fastest way to lose your team.. especially if that team includes millennials .

They want to be encouraged.

They need to be a part of the collaboration....

Which is the strength of the Collaborative Leader... this person leads through collaboration...

Everybody is included... they work together on strategy, on team building, on projects, on the mission, on the rules and standards....

It sounds weak, but it is strong... because all feel included and a part of it...

Again, very different from years ago where there was one iron-fist and if you did not follow the rules, you were gone, punished, reduced.

Now, I think you are seeing that the Empowering, Collaborative Leader is #1/#2 in terms of style.. and I can see you wondering about the Dependent Leader....

This can work well for young teams with no experience... where the team is dependent on a single Leader or Manager in the beginning until they learn to run solo... 

This is like a Training Wheels Leadership Style that builds the confidence of the team to think and do on their own...

It is a transitional Leadership style that gets you going... but is not meant to be permanent or it will create full-time enabling and a thoughtless/ action-less group.

Finally, the CO-DEPENDENT Leader is toxic.

The second worse.. maybe even worse than the Dictator because nobody knows where they stand.. not even the Leader.

It is a style that is loaded with insecurity, manipulation, passive aggressiveness, and fake, fraudulent relationships.  Both the team and the Leader are manipulating and tricking each other... neither focused on the goal of the team or mission- just on themselves. They need each other for toxic, self fulfilling reasons.

Bad. Bad. Bad.

Scary thing is, I am sure you can put names to each of the Leadership Styles above- you remember the great Leaders that impacted you.. and the Terrible Leaders that killed your progress, energy, and self-confidence....

As you begin to take your Leadership Skills to the next level...

I encourage you to strive to become: The Empowering Collaborative Leader.

Your results will be amazing.

Your teams will love you.

In the end, you will be thrilled over the results.

Let's GO!

Your Coach,

COACH DANA CAVALEA