Friday, June 22, 2012

What kind of leader are you?

You are a leader if someone follows you. This could be as simple as a person looks at you and following your example and encouragement, to be a leader in your home, your community, your workplace or even your country. Leadership can take many forms, but most often involves managing people, one of the most difficult of all tasks. This means coordinating and motivating the actions of others to achieve a common goal. A leader has to establish this goal, and seek the approval of others willing to be governed by and work together towards this goal.

The leadership style adopted by any leader is usually predetermined by the personality and motivational values of the person. I am who I am as a personality, and that has a strong influence on the conduct and communicate with others.

The study of personality traits has been going on for centuries, and there is widespread agreement in the conclusions and results of personality traits. In this article I will refer to the different personality types in color form, adopts the categories applied by Linda Berens and Don Lowry.

Each personality type has particular talents and abilities that lend themselves to good leadership. Any form of leadership, however, is greatly enriched and strengthened if it is able to draw the strengths and characteristics of other styles.

A leader who has a strong Gold personality type is personally committed and dedicated to the goal. They work hard, and expect their team to do the same. They lead from a place of faith that the work is important and must be done well. The leaders of the gold value of the traditional ways of the past have proven ways, and so do not take well to new ideas if they are well proven to have potential.

The leader with a strong Blue personality are motivated by their commitment to the people involved, and a strong sense of community. They have a democratic style of management, valuing the input of staff and workers of the team. Blue leaders tend to see the big picture, and have the ability to inspire others with vision.

The strong leadership style Green also sees the big picture and the complexity of detail. Green leaders excel in strategy. They bring intellect, ingenuity and design in the role of leadership. We research and analyze facts and concepts, constantly seeking improvements to work smarter, not harder. Facts and information are all important for the leader of the green, and pay little attention to the value of feelings and relationships.

Action is the focus of Orange leaders. Administration and organization exist to make possible action. They are solving big problems. The Orange leader leads by example, setting the standard to follow. Orange management style can be quite authoritarian and abrupt as they are impatient with the opposition, and expect to follow their directions. Above all Orange leaders welcome change believing that the old ways can always be improved. A new project is, adventure, challenge and potential fun, all the personalities Orange lives.

Every leader has a combination of all four characters, but will always be stronger than the most natural way to work in the style of a leader can also be a blend of their main strength, combined with their second strongest style. A wise leader to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their leadership style and personal use team members with different styles to bring balance and greater efficiency in meeting the common goal.

No comments:

Post a Comment