What do you do if your leadership style is too reliant on logical reasoning?

Logical reasoning at times becomes a liability than asset as one tends to ignore emotions and feelings. As a leader you need to be balanced with IQ and EQ. Always put yourself in other's shoes and develop empathy . actively seek diversity of thoughts and learn to embrace them. Respect others' feelings and accept that each person has strong emotions that often impact their logical thinking so you need to factor this as a leader towards your own goals.

I agree with the recommendation to embrace diversity. It's important to make clear what we mean when we say that. I recently coached a logic-driven leader about diversity. I asked about diversity in their team, and the response was defensive. "I have a diverse team, and here is how I support diversity". It's true. It's a global team of different ethnicities and members of the LGBTQI+ community. They had not considered the diversity of professional experience (the team all trained at the same place) or personality and preferences (their Strengthsfinder results showed significant overlap). Diversity is important as long as we get specific enough to make it useful.

One of the ways to expand your skills in this area is to have self awareness of your strengths as well as the members of your team. Diversity of thought and experience on a team is powerful if you can have appreciation as well as understanding of each members strengths. During team coaching sessions we will discuss the natural strengths of each team member and map them out which can be done with different assessment tools to make it tangible for everyone involved. Be curious around what the different strengths are of each individual and how you can rely on them based on need in the future to support your success. Build a culture that appreciates the diversity of experience and talent so that you can innovate and create greatness.

I worked with a junior leader who was very logical. What I coached him through was to purposefully listen to 3 perspectives from people of opposite strengths/personalities. The mantra he was to say before those conversations was “there’s something I need to learn from this”. The goal was to force his brain to search for the value versus letting his logical pattern take over. It sparked more curiosity to learn and grow.

Empathie und Mitgefühl sind zwei ganz wichtige F?higkeiten, die eine Führungskraft praktizieren muss. Dafür hilft, sich die Emotionale Intelligenz von Daniel Goleman und seine 4 Quadranten für Emotionale Intelligenz genauer anzuschauen. Durch das Framework hilft es als Führungskraft wirklich Empathie und Mitgefühl gegenüber Kollegen entgegenzubringen. Denken sie immer daran, was sie sich auch von ihrer Führungskraft wünschen. Wir sind am Ende alles Menschen, die miteinander zusammenarbeiten.

Our ability to know ourselves fully, our strengths, our quirks, and our growth opportunities makes all the difference. When we are coming from a place of self-honesty and insight we will be more successful in expanding into new situations and challenges; because they are always going to be there. A key, however, is having empathy and compassion for ourselves. It is difficult to offer this outwardly if we have little practice offering it to ourselves. High-achievers are a result of a world that places a significant emphasis on outcomes. Delivering and delivering fast. This way of work challenges our openness, nimbleness, and especially our humility. Slowing down has been a significant tool in my access and practice of empathy and compassion.

Firstly, it's essential to take a step back and deeply reflect on how your leadership style, heavily reliant on logical reasoning, has influenced not just yourself, but also your organization and the members of your team. While leadership is not about winning a popularity contest, there are instances where a balance between reasoning and empathy is necessary. Reflect on occasions where you've felt that purely logical decisions may have hindered progress or caused friction. By acknowledging these instances and embracing a more balanced approach, leaders can create environments that foster understanding, collaboration, and growth.