Leadership competencies should act in unison

The ability of the leader to connect emotionally with employees and drive performance does not just stem from the leader’s mood or ability to say the right thing, but also from a number of coordinated activities that comprise particular leadership styles. Daniel Goleman (Primal Leadership) notes: “The best, most effective leaders act according to one or more of six distinct approaches to leadership and skilfully switch between the various styles depending on the situation.” In other words, this kind of leadership recognises the ‘moment’ and is able to address the ‘moment’ in a way that will produce the most effective results. In a study done by McBer and Co (now The Hay Group) on a global database of 3 871 executives (Managerial Style as a Behaviour Predictor of Organisational Climate), analysis looked at how the climate that resulted from various leadership styles affected financial results, such as return on sales, revenue growth, efficiency, and profitability. The results showed that, all other things being equal, leaders who used styles with a positive emotional impact saw decidedly better financial returns than those who did not. Most importantly, leaders with the best results didn’t practice just one particular style but used many of the six distinct styles, seamlessly and in different measures, depending on the business situation. Goleman puts this approach beautifully in the following analogy: “Imagine the styles, then, as the array of clubs in a golf pro’s bag. Over the course of a match, the pro picks and chooses from his bag based on the demands of the shot. Sometimes he has to ponder his selection, but usually it is automatic. The pro ‘senses’ the challenge ahead, swiftly pulls out the right tool, and elegantly puts it to work. That’s how high impact leaders operate too.” <a href="https://jnmills-36798.medium.com/leadership-competencies-should-act-in-unison-1c07b649dd03">Read More</a>