More About Two-Circle Theory of Leadership

Influence has a slightly different connotation from leadership, but ability to exert influence is a key component of leadership. In Chapter 4 of my book: The Odyssey of Self-Discovery: On Becoming A Leader, I describe a concept called "Two Circle Theory of Leadership". I first described the concept two years ago in an issue of my newsletter. Here is the section of my book:

Two Circle Theory of Leadership

If you want to exert influence in the workplace, you have to first intentionally identify your sphere of influence in order to make an impact on the business as well as your career. I want to share with you a simple mental framework I call “two circle theory of leadership”. I have shared this with many early career employees over the years with good success.

Regardless of where you are in life and what you do for a living, we all have a job with a scope of responsibilities. With each job, there comes a job description, either written or more likely implicit. I call that scope the small circle. On the other hand, you most likely know that many things are completely outside of the scope of your job, defined by the space outside of the big circle. In an ideal world, the bound- ary would be clearly defined, and the two circles would be the same. In the real-world, however, those two circles do not completely align and there is always a gap between the two circles. When the job is well defined, the gap tends to be small. When the job is not as well defined, the gap can be very big. Regardless of the situation, how you handle the in-between space can define your success or failure in your career.

One can certainly focus on the small circle and do everything well within your defined boundary. Performing well in the small circle will help you establish credibility in the organization. However, simply focusing on doing your assigned job well in the small circle is very unlikely to make you a leader. On the other hand, you may not have the permission to venture outside of the big circle.

If you want to excel and be a leader, you have to be proactive and demonstrate your leadership in defining, leading, driving the activities between the two circles. The mistake early career employees often make is that they are afraid of taking initiative outside of their small circle and instead wait for instruction or ask for permission even when they have the capacity and capability to perform the tasks in in-between space. The right approach often requires employees to proactively engage their managers or simply take the initiative to perform the tasks.

The space between the small circle and big circle is also where leaders have the most flexibility to decide what they want to prioritize. For example, more and more people are seeking ways to exert meaningful influence on some of the society’s biggest challenges such as the environment, inequality, and poverty. Employees who use the middle space to work toward such goals, especially when encouraged by organizations with a genuine sense of purpose, can boost a sense of empowerment and feel they are able to make a difference.

There are ways to demonstrate leadership in any situation, but the in-between space is the best place to do so by forcing yourself to stretch your capability, learn new skills, establish your credibility, and expand your sphere of influence.

In summary, if you want to lead your teams to thrive in the increasing complex world where power has shifted increas- ingly from hierarchies to networks, you have to shift your leadership mindset and skill set. Ability to influence without authority is a fundamental leadership skill in the workplace or the wider world.

Performance vs. Potential

What I did not include in my book is that the two circle leadership concept can also be applied further from the organization perspective. In most companies or organizations, aspiring leaders are evaluated in two dimensions: performance and potential. While performance refers to consistent results an employee exhibits in their current role, potential predicts the likelihood of future success. People with high potentials are often given more and high visibility career opportunities to expedite their development and advancement.

From the two circle concept perspective, what you do in the small circle mostly defines your performance but what you pursue in the space between the two circles often defines your potential. Employees must be able to not just meet but also surpass the goals and objectives set for them, be willing to step out of their comfort zone to drive change,

From a different perspective, while?performance evaluation focuses on employees' outputs over an evaluation period, the potential review aims to evaluate candidates' latent skills and talents. Those skills will stay latent unless you proactively seek opportunities to demonstrate them.

Related Article

Two Circle Theory of Leadership (04/03/2021)

(Please join the 282,000 subscribers to my newsletter by clicking the?subscribe?button to be notified of new editions. Better yet, please join the conversation by sharing your comments. You can also provide your support by purchasing my book:?The Odyssey of Self-Discovery: On Becoming A Leader.)