Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

THE SEVEN ARCHETYPES OF LEADERSHIP (AND THE GAPS THAT GET IN THE WAY OF GREATNESS)

2017; Wiley; Volume: 2017; Issue: 86 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/ltl.20316

1531-5355

Lolly Daskal,

Economic Theory and Institutions

A few years ago, I was brought in to coach a high-powered Wall Street money manager who was responsible for leading a billion-dollar fund—a man whose ; name is a household word for anyone who follows the investing industry. I will call him Samuel, although that is not his real name. Despite all of Samuel's past successes, and he had many, it was clear he was wrestling with the reality of the person he had become over the course of his storied career. For years, he had been on top of his game. Everything he touched turned to gold, and everything he invested in made lots of money, for him and his clients. Samuel liked to say he was King of the World, and I guess that in a way he was. Until one day he wasn't. Over a seven-month period, Samuel's billion-dollar fund lost half of its value. He was frantic. When I spoke with him, he was desperate to regain the luck he had clearly lost, and to get back on top of his game. Samuel wanted me to help him use the history of his past wins, combined with the psychology of trading, to retool his old trading system in some miraculous way that would revive his winning streak. There's a quotation about the nature of luck that is particularly popular among businesspeople today: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” The idea is that you’ve got to work for your luck—it's not just something that is placed on your doorstep by the gods. While I think this timeless wisdom (most often credited to the Roman philosopher Seneca) is basically correct, in my own experience, there's more to luck than being prepared and having an opportunity. To add to Seneca's quotation, I believe that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity and confidence. This money manager already had all the preparation and opportunity that he needed—he had proven that time after time over his long career. But the one thing he had lost was his confidence, and there was no way that this very successful man would regain his leadership edge without first regaining that. So, why had Samuel lost his confidence, and perhaps more important, how in the world could he gain it back? Most leaders define their leadership in terms of the past—the goals they have accomplished, the teams they have led, the promotions they have achieved, and so forth. Great leaders, on the other hand, define their leadership in terms of the goals they have yet to accomplish, the products and services yet to be designed, produced, and delivered, and the people whose lives they have yet to change. They constantly redefine themselves, and they are open to learning, changing, and growing as leaders as they strive to unleash the greatness within them. The questions I like to help my clients answer are these: Who do you think you are as a leader? Who do you think you are in the rest of your life, the stuff that makes up the “real world?” Which of those views do you need to move forward to become great? What obstacles get between you and your greatness, and what will you do to defeat them? In my decades of working with leaders in every industry, in businesses and organizations of every size, all around the world, I have found there are seven leadership archetypes that can help answer these questions. They illustrate the ancient idea that within every leader there are two competing sides, a polarity of character in which one side leads to greatness and the other to ruin. You may recognize yourself in multiple archetypes—and in fact, you should. Each of us embodies the sum of all seven archetypes, and as leaders we assume a particular role based on the situation that we’re in. In a meeting, for example, you may act as an explorer, a truth teller, and a hero. In a team, you may take on the roles of a navigator and a knight. In a conversation with your board, you may be the inventor who speaks and acts with integrity. My client Samuel was stuck in a paradigm, a way of seeing the world, that no longer worked. The problem was he couldn't recognize this, and it was costing him. He had always been a rebel, driven by confidence, but over time, a gap had gradually emerged in his leadership. He became an imposter, and he suddenly, almost overnight, reached a tipping point where he became immersed in an ocean of self-doubt. And this self-doubt got in the way of his ongoing success. My client knew he had a problem. He could clearly see that. But what he couldn't see was that the approaches that had worked so well for him in the past were broken and no longer producing the expected results. He was trapped by his own certainty that doing more of the same—in fact, doing much more of the same—would eventually pull him out of his downward spiral and put him back on a winning track, as it always had in the past. But, instead, his doubt only continued to grow, and his confidence continued its steady downward trend. Fortunately, I was able to help Samuel regain his confidence and his winning ways. First, I helped him recognize the habits that he so successfully used in the past were not going to bring him the success he wanted today and in the future. Second, I explained to Samuel that he needed to rethink what he was doing and create a brand-new leadership paradigm—a paradigm that would lead him to new ways of thinking, doing, and knowing that would then create new outcomes. As Samuel became aware of the gap that was making him feel like an imposter, and therefore getting in the way of his success, he found ways to counter this erroneous self-perception. He made small bets, and tried small experiments, and he began to win again—and again and again. Soon Samuel was back on top of his game. Examples of leaders who successfully rethought the world around them are all around us. Steve Jobs rethought what a mobile phone could be and created the iPhone. Estée Lauder rethought the cosmetics and beauty business and built the multibillion business that bears her name. Elon Musk rethought what a car could be and created the Tesla. Whole Foods is rethinking the high-end health food market and is creating a new, lower-priced chain of stores. The things we think we know keep us from learning what we should know. To succeed over the long run, leaders cannot afford to become stuck in the gaps that emerge as they remain mired in their old ways of thinking. Doing what you’ve always done may bring you success for a period of time, but it will not bring you the continued success you really need. Change is constantly happening around us, and to succeed as leaders, we need to be constantly changing along with it. Here's an example of a leader whose leadership gap got in between her and her success. I was recently brought in to help Claire, the new chief executive officer of a large, global corporation, acclimate during her first ninety days on the job. Her resume was extremely impressive—she was just the kind of person you would want to have leading your company to the next level of success, especially if you had challenging targets to meet and a product line driven by innovation. Everyone was excited about her being their new leader, and she was excited to take charge. During our first meetings together, Claire and I went through all the things that needed to happen in order for her to fully transition into the organization and be a great success. She was well versed and well organized, and she had great ideas for how to run things, but there was just one problem: She was terrible at delegating work to others. As Claire settled into her new position, she wanted to do everything herself because she thought that was the only way to guarantee it would get done right. “Why does it have to be done your way? Why can't you let your people help you?” I asked. “Because in the end,” Claire responded, “it will always be about me. It is my responsibility and my accountability for how things get done, so I want it done right.” “Well,” I asked, “what would it take for you to give your people a chance to step up to the plate—to show you what they’re made of?” “I really do wish I could, but I have a hard time trusting others,” she said. “I know, but to get what you want—to be a success in your new job,” I replied, “you might just have to trust your people first. Chances are they’ll not only do it right, but maybe even better than right. You can start small and work up as you gain confidence in the skills of your people. Are you ready to give it a try?” The navigator is a trusted leader who steers his or her people toward uncomplicated solutions, workable outcomes, and powerful results. However, navigators are leaders who also trust their people. When they don't—when they feel that to do something right, they must do it themselves—they are falling victim to the navigator's leadership gap: the fixer, who is endlessly arrogant. This does not mean that everyone agrees with each other, but it does mean that a dialogue is opened—a space to connect, to be able to listen to, respect, and value what each has to say and what each has to offer. Trust allows us to disagree, to debate, and to test each other's thinking and ideals, because when you trust each other, you tend to work together to find ideas and solutions. These results are often better, and they come about faster, with less stress and much less strife. Leadership is not about power, and it is not about someone who is consumed by work, someone who has no time for people. Great leaders put people first. They know that if their people are happy, the culture will be great. The greatest leadership of all is where the leader is trustworthy and creates a culture of trust. This isn't just words—trust is reflected in business results. According to a March 4, 2015 article in Fortune magazine that cited research by the Russell Investment Group, “Since 1998, the 100 Best Companies [to Work For] have outperformed the S&P 500 index by a ratio of nearly 2 to 1.” Trustworthy leaders are strong leaders who are mindful of what they want, and they have a leadership style that reflects their knowledge that it takes a group of people to come together to do something great. And the way to create something great starts with trust. Trust is something that matters in every relationship—how you build it, how you earn it, how you cultivate it, and how you keep it. Trust not only builds strong relationships, but it builds bridges in business, partnership, relationships, and friendships. And when you build a solid network of trust all around you, you become a better leader and really begin to make things happen. Trust is about everything we are trying to achieve and everything we are trying to create. Your strength as a navigator may be one of the factors that brought you success in the past as a leader, but it's important to take a look at your leadership today and see if that's still the case. Have you allowed a gap to emerge in the form of the fixer who doesn't trust those you work with and who work for you? If so, then it's unlikely you’ll achieve the success you hope for in your career, your business, or your life. What steps can you take right now to begin to build bridges of trust? How soon can you start? Robert Stone is chief executive officer of City of Hope, a nonprofit hospital, clinical research center, and graduate medical school headquartered in Duarte, California. City of Hope is all about serving with heart. Whether you are in patient services, a nurse, a valet, a doctor, a researcher, a leader—it doesn't matter. You are working for the greater good. Although he is responsible for the organization's operations, Stone's main focus is on the organization's patients and their care. He says, “At City of Hope, everyone is part of the mission, purpose, and vision. Everyone feels they are playing a part.” In a world where everything always has to be faster, better, brighter, Stone exemplifies why the gentle warrior, the quiet soul, is the right kind of leadership. If you speak with him, you’ll quickly realize that he is no pushover. Both strategic and visionary, he embodies the best of every archetype: he's a confident rebel, an intuitive explorer, a candid truth teller, a courageous hero, an inventor who works with integrity, a navigator who guides his organization ever forward, and a knight who is loyal to his people. As a leader, even the smallest choice you make can influence an entire constellation of outcomes—for you, your people, your organization, your community, and the world as a whole. You have to understand who you are and stay in sync with that identity at all times. But you cannot be a complete leader without also acknowledging and working with the polarities within your leadership. Your meaning and purpose are about unifying every aspect of yourself in the process of becoming the best leader and human being you can be. What prevents so many from achieving greatness isn't a lack of skill or opportunity. Rather, it's their reliance on what has always worked for them—even when it is no longer working. If you want to succeed in the current climate, you cannot be bogged down in leadership that doesn't work and doesn't bring out your best attributes. Evaluate which side of each archetype you lead with, and consider how you might rethink who you are—how you might learn, change and grow as a leader to realize the greatness that is already within you. Lolly Daskal is the founder of Lead from Within, a global leadership and consulting firm based in New York City. With more than thirty years of experience in her field, Lolly is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches and leadership consultants worldwide. Her writing has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask the Expert), Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and elsewhere. Lolly's insights are the subject of her new book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness (Portfolio, 2017).