Finding Your Own Leadership Style

By Donna Dennis, Ph.D.

If you browse the local bookstore or surf through the selections on Amazon.com for “leadership books,” you will find literally thousands. Which book will make you the kind of leader you need to be? Do you choose a work by Bill George from Medtronic or Jack Welch from GE? Or perhaps someone you’ve never even heard of? These people are all great leaders—so theoretically, you should be able to pick a book at random and then apply the strategies to yourself, right?

Perhaps the question you should be asking is, considering the amount of information available on leadership development, why aren’t there more great leaders in the world?

The problem with the current approach to leadership is that the focus is on imitating someone else’s style rather than developing your own. In the movie Ray, we witness Ray Charles’s realization that although he could imitate all the great singers of his time, like Nat King Cole and Chuck Berry, it was only through finding his own voice that he could achieve greatness. The same is true of leadership. The only way to be a truly great leader is to develop your own unique style or brand. In fact, leadership brand identity is as important as corporate brand identity.

General Electric leaders are known for involving their people in their financial results. Whether at the senior level or middle management, this is a brand style of leadership. Likewise, at Southwest Airlines leaders create a lively, fun atmosphere while focusing on their financial results. Dell’s leaders have a reputation for results through innovative distribution and customer service. Leaders have to show business results, but the attributes and behaviors they bring while achieving those results create the brand style for their leadership.

Action Steps
Here are some quick strategies that will help you create a leadership brand:

• Be clear about the results you want to achieve.
• Create metrics to measure ongoing results against goals.
• Identify your leadership strengths and attributes.
• Make certain that your strengths are not “overplayed.”
• Ask for feedback on how you are perceived, and make appropriate changes so that you’ll project your chosen image or brand.

Concluding Thoughts
Do read the latest leadership books if you find them interesting. Use them as food for thought. But be sure to add your own style and flair to the mix, to create your own individual form of leadership.

Author Bio: Contact Donna Dennis at 609-497-1997 or donna@leadership-solutions.info.

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