You know a good leader when you see one.
They’re easy to spot – they communicate well, they’re trustworthy, people respond to them, and they get good results. There is more than one type of good leader and they may have many different styles, but most have some basic traits in common.
You also know a bad leader when you see one.
They lack self-awareness, are typically poor communicators, are inconsistent, and drive people crazy while failing to accomplish their goals. There are plenty of types of bad leaders. Their ineffectiveness is likely the result of leadership deficiencies in one or more critical areas.
So, spotting a good or bad leader is easy. However, how do we learn to look a little deeper to understand why someone is or isn’t a good leader?
Being able to diagnose a leader’s type, strengths, and weaknesses is an important skill for several reasons. First, it gives perspective on how to identify, encourage, and develop good leaders. Second, it can help us avoid the damage from a bad leader and understand how to coach them to improve. And finally, if we know the basic components of effective leadership, we can assess ourselves to see where we have strengths to leverage and opportunities to grow.
With that in mind, and to give ourselves a simple model we can work with to assess leadership styles and characteristics, let’s take a look at three primary leadership profiles. We’ll call them Absent Leaders, Fake Leaders, and Real Leaders.
Absent Leaders
These are people who occupy leadership positions but are mostly lacking any real leadership skill, behavior, or ambition. They may have attained their leadership role through technical competence or tenure but do a poor job of transitioning to actual leadership responsibilities. They will avoid and retreat from challenging situations that involve conflict or interpersonal skills. They may be friendly and seek harmony but do so at the cost of results. Their inaction eventually exhausts and frustrates employees because they fail to provide guidance and don't achieve results. An absent leader would often be described as weak and ineffective.
Fake Leaders
Fake leaders superficially look like strong leaders. They actively seek leadership positions and won't hesitate to take charge. However, they have selfish motivations. They rely on titles and positional authority to validate their leadership. Their number one priority is self-advancement and they will shamelessly self-promote. They will often be viewed as arrogant and are not interested in feedback from others. These people will judge others and use force and intimidation to push their perspective. Fake leaders may initially have success in certain situations but they eventually alienate others and leave a trail of destruction in their wake. As you can see by this description, fake leaders are essentially self-serving bullies.
Real leaders
Real leaders are those who truly embrace the role of leadership and see leadership as a form of service to others. They are authentic, honest, and empathetic. They have a good degree of self-awareness and are constantly looking to learn. They avoid "or" choices in their leadership style and approach. They are fair and steady. They balance candor and respectfulness. They are positive and yet grounded. They value others but they also hold them accountable to commitments. They are motivated to succeed but also believe in investing in others. These leaders may be described as visionary or inspirational. While some people may naturally exhibit aspects of this style, achieving this type of leadership typically requires intentional planning and development.
Most people don’t fit 100% into any one of these categories. Even excellent leaders may exhibit some characteristics of absent and fake leaders while weak leaders may have some traits of a real leader. However, all leaders should strive to adopt the characteristics of a real leader for one key reason – real leaders will ultimately get the best results for themselves, their people, and their organizations.
Here is a handy chart you can use to take a closer look at how an Absent, Fake, and Real leader typically behave across 20 different leadership competencies.
|
Leadership
Skill / Behavior |
Absent Leader |
Fake Leader |
Real |
|
Accountability |
Does not hold others accountable for work or policies because
they are afraid to or because they don’t care. This often results in
inconsistency, resentment, and frustration. |
Uses accountability as a "club" to beat up anyone who
makes a mistake or to cover up failures. Not interested in understanding why
something might be wrong. More likely to fire or marginalize someone who
errs. |
Willing to hold others accountable to their commitments. Comfortable speaking up to address issues when
needed but does so thoughtfully. Looks for ways to improve processes and
support others to set them up for success. |
|
Building Relationships |
Wants to be friends with
colleagues and employees. Treats some as "insiders" or favorites while
avoiding others where there are personality differences. Creates cliques
which typically do more harm than good by creating division. |
Does not invest in
developing substantive relationships with others. Sees most relationships as a waste of time and energy unless they
serve a specific purpose. Keeps others at arm's length. |
Has a genuine interest in
getting to know others and learn about their goals and interests. Recognizes that relationships are often a key to success.
Strikes a good balance between
professional relationships and friendships. |
|
Communication |
Communicates passively or reactively and only when absolutely
necessary. Avoids delivering difficult messages. |
Mostly demonstrates one-way, selective communication focused on
their own perspective. Tone deaf to what others might expect to hear. Not
interested in two-way communication or in hearing from others. |
Communicates constantly through a variety of means. Sends
consistent messages and does so through appropriate channels that meet the
communication expectations of others. |
|
Conflict Management |
Afraid of any conflict. Avoids
it even if it becomes significant and negatively affects the organization.
Gives in when conflict becomes avoidable but doesn't solve underlying issues. |
Creates an environment of
negative conflict which becomes
destructive, hurts morale, and causes division. May relish confrontation as a
way to show superiority. |
Embraces and encourages
constructive conflict. Looks to get stakeholders into dialogue and to openly debate differing perspectives. |
|
Creativity |
Creativity feels like a burden. Feels uneasy about change and prefers
a risk-free route by sticking with the
status quo. |
Views time and energy spent on creativity as a distraction from
"real" work. Not interested in the ideas of others. Takes credit if
there are new ideas that do work. |
Fosters creativity by giving others the opportunity to provide
input. Leads by asking questions. Willing to let others test new ideas to see
what can be learned. Willing to look
outside the organization for new ideas. |
|
Decision Making |
Indecisive. Will let
decisions linger regardless of the impact. Won't commit to decisions unless
there is total consensus on an answer. |
Makes rash decisions as a
show of assertiveness and power. Ignores input from others. May make excuses
or blame others for poor decisions. |
Balances thoughtfulness
and thoroughness with decisiveness. Consults others as much as possible but
ultimately owns decisions. |
|
Developing Others |
Treats development passively. May allow staff to pursue development
but will not actively support it or give employees the time or resources to genuinely pursue it. |
Sees professional development as a waste of time and money. Prefers
to keep others in their place. Views emerging leaders as a threat. |
Prioritizes the development of others and will provide time resources
for learning even if it requires making tradeoffs. Not afraid to create new
leaders. |
|
Emotional Regulation |
Often overwhelmed by
emotions and either expresses them at extremes or withholds them in ways that
are unhelpful. |
Shows little emotion. When
emotions are expressed, it is often an explosive reaction characterized by
anger and frustration. |
Emotionally balanced. Considers
and expresses feelings but does so thoughtfully by thinking before acting. Skillfully
controls emotions to enhance leadership effect. |
|
Empathy |
Overly sympathetic, easily
dragged into and swayed by emotional situations. |
Lacks empathy. Not interested in the concerns and circumstances
of others. Judgmental. |
Empathetic and sincere but balances this with the need for steadiness
and accountability. |
|
Giving Feedback Read: Effective Feedback Made
Simple > |
Avoids giving feedback or
provides ineffective feedback that is
non-specific or softened to prevent from "offending" anybody. |
Gives harsh and judgmental
feedback with a focus on punishing or embarrassing others. |
Provides timely, effective feedback with a genuine interest in
helping and developing others. |
|
Listening |
Listens but primarily does so at a superficial level. Focuses conversations
back to themselves and their own interests. |
Does not value listening and is generally not interested in what
others have to say. Views leadership as telling others what to do, not
listening to them. |
Listens empathetically. Shows sincere interest in hearing what others have
to say. Will give others their full attention and presence. |
|
Motivation |
Limited motivation. Looks
to do the minimum amount of work to get by. Lacking a focus on long-term
goals and progress. |
Motivation can be high but is primarily self-focused. Goals are
aligned to self-gratification and attaining personal recognition. |
Intrinsically motivated. Consistently
shows passion and optimism for achieving goals. Creates infectious commitment
in others. |
|
Negotiating |
Averse to conflict and,
therefore, takes an accommodating
approach to negotiation (e.g. giving in to all demands). Gets poor results. |
Views negotiation as a way to assert themselves and "win.” Will
look to take as much as possible regardless of the impact on the overall
outcome or other party. |
Seeks real collaboration
in negotiation. Prioritizes shared goals and
outcomes across all parties. Sees
negotiation as problem-solving, not
adversarial. |
|
Problem Solving |
Similar to decision
making, they will ignore or work around
problems to avoid causing tension. Hopes the problem/situation go away. |
Looks for quick fixes. Will
not spend time to find systematic solutions. |
Has a consistent and
disciplined approach to problem-solving. Thoughtful but willing to
commit to solutions. Involves others but takes ownership of decisions. |
|
Receiving Feedback |
Retreats from any feedback seen as negative. Takes it personally.
Does not use feedback to attain improved performance. |
Not interested in receiving feedback. Thinks they already have
things figured out. Generally ignores it or blames
other causes for poor performance. |
Open-minded and truly
interested in feedback that can help them improve. Actively seeks feedback
from supervisors, colleagues, and employees. |
|
Resilience |
Easily discouraged when
things aren’t going well. Likely to be devastated by any setbacks and is paralyzed
moving forward. |
Seems to be oblivious
even if things around them are falling apart. Resilience is more a function
of blindness to reality than a strength. |
Steadfast. Not deterred
by challenges or setbacks. Looks to learn and adjust from tough circumstances. |
|
Risk Taking / Failure |
Will not take any risks to avoid failure. Afraid to make
mistakes. Sees failure as debilitating and as a reflection of themselves. |
Can be thoughtless and reckless. Does not take responsibility for
mistakes and is prone to repeat the same mistakes again in the future. |
Willing to take reasonable risks to benefit the organization. Sees
failure as inevitable and a learning experience. |
|
Self-Awareness |
Lacks of self-confidence.
Has observable low self-esteem. Overly
self-depreciating. |
Overinflated sense of
self. Seen as arrogant. Views self as superior to others. |
Grounded and realistic
assessment of themselves. Confident yet humble. Doesn't take themself too seriously. |
|
Strategic View |
Does not look out into the future. Lacks the ability to see
beyond short time horizons. Focused only on short-term assignments. |
May become overly focused and personally invested in one goal
while losing sight of impacts and tradeoffs. Tunnel vision. |
Consistently looks at the big picture. Invests time and process
in setting goals. Re-evaluates progress and makes adjustments. Aligns
resources and decisions to top priorities. |
|
Trust / Integrity |
Will tell people what
they want to hear. Will be inconsistent on how they act and respond to
certain situations as they seek to appease others. |
Prioritizes outcomes over
trust and hides mistakes to save face. Willing to lie or bend/break a rule to
get a certain result. |
Has clear personal and
professional values. Demonstrates them consistently in communication and
action. Consistent with honesty and follow through. |
Now that you’ve spent some time considering these three basic leadership profiles and behaviors, ask yourself the following questions and let us know your answers in the comments below:
- Consider examples of leaders you’ve known that have been ineffective. Which absent or fake leadership qualities did they exhibit? How did their leadership style affect others around them?
- Consider examples of leaders you know that have been very successful. What are some situations where you saw them demonstrate the skills and behaviors of a real leader? How did others react?
- How do you assess yourself against each of these behaviors? Do you mostly fit one of these profiles? If you catch yourself acting as absent or fake leader in one more areas, how might those behaviors be holding you back? What real leadership skills do you have that you can build on?
Remember – learning to become a world-class leader is a journey. There is no shame in admitting you have room to improve. In fact, a willingness to learn it is a sign of being a real leader. Look for opportunities to gather feedback, set a plan to work on your weaknesses, invest in your personal development, and seek the help of others who are willing to help you grow and thrive.
In future posts we’ll dive deeper into each of these areas to discuss specific strategies you can use to achieve your leadership goals. Receive our weekly posts by becoming a free Modern da Vinci Member today.
