How balanced is your leadership style?

Balancing precariously on the barbed wire that is the ‘right’ leadership approach can be testing and exhausting, but it is really worth it??

Whatever your natural style, deep down we all know that applying just that, being just us will not work for everyone.?

Is it not therefore ok, to simply lead the way you like to lead or how you like to be led?? We’re sure you’ve all had leaders that just led the way they felt like.? Some will have been a perfect fit for you, others not so. Did you complain, or did you just accept that is life, some you win, some you lose? ??

We talk about authentic leadership, so how can you be authentic if doing ‘you’ won’t work for all your reports?? Which is more important; being you, or being what they need??

Well it is both…but you knew that - Balance is the key.?

Balance itself is one of the hardest skills in leadership, even though it sounds simple.? It is a never ending game of push and pull, tilt and tweak, swings and roundabouts.? Forever wobbling and readjusting yourself into your next scenario, decision or conversation.?

Take empathy for example.? It’s great to be an empathic leader.? How can caring for people too much be wrong?? But a little too much consideration and sympathy may slip us into a lovely ‘friendly’ world where direct challenge is too uncomfortable, and we are all just ‘nice’ but not truly honest.? This can lead to undercurrents of passive aggressive thinking and behaviour in teams.? Where challenging thinking or managing poor performance is not addressed.? But then too much challenge, drive and pace without any care can lead to burn out and stress, and a very unhappy group of individuals.

Too much freedom from you as the leader, can make your team feel rudderless and that you lack interest, but too much structure and process can feel like you’ve clipped their wings and won’t allow them the freedom to fly and be themselves.

Take courage too far and you get blind optimism, crashing your team into failure without consideration, leaving a wake of destruction behind you.? But too much risk control may leave your team paralysed in the fear of failure, never taking action towards something that may fail but may also be incredible.

Too much change can leave individuals feeling like you are utterly frenetic as a leader, flip-flopping your thinking as often as you change your socks.? Never knowing where you are going to take them next – Pivot!? But too much stability and rigidity with no adaptability becomes stagnant and flat for people, leaving a team that doesn't respond to the new information that may alter their approach, and thus their success.

And that’s all just the start!

Finding balance in your leadership style is absolutely essential for success. Not only personally for the individuals you lead, but for you to get the most of out your people, the best responses, mindset and behaviours, leading to the best team performance and culture. You need balance.....

So how can you find balance easily?? Remember it's not easy, but try these 5 tips, to get you started. (But try them gently....you don't want to fall off.)

1. Know your natural approach (fast/slow/task/people) and understand you already do that well.? But if you do it 11 out of 10 it’s probably too much - How can you keep it under a 10?
2. What is the opposite of your style – how can you dial that up just a notch?
3. Don’t swing – Respond don’t react to a new approach, slowly and gently nudge in one way (imagine you are balancing scales) - How can you make considered shifts?
4. Watch people’s reaction to you - If it seems extreme to you, they are probably feeling a lack of balance from you. - What behaviour are you causing in others??
5. Ask your team, "what do we need more of or less of in this team?" - Listen to the feedback, it's all data.

Take baby steps to finding your balance.? Imagine you are walking on barbed wire, take it slowly and carefully, but just keep moving to stay on track.

Good luck!