What's your turnaround type?
As leaders we're often called on to achieve turnarounds. It's part of the 'job', of course. Get this moving in the right direction. Reverse the trend in relation to that. You know the gig.
You might like to consider how exactly you manage turnarounds as a leader, and what turnaround typology you bring to the leadership and management table.
Several years ago I was an Executive Director with the National Excellence in School Leadership Initiative (active across Australia, New Zealand, Asia Pacific and North America) and I discovered a fascinating piece of leadership research that looked at exactly this notion of turnaround leaders, in school settings. It identified five leadership types or styles and then measured the impact each had on shifting school performance, and in particular how sustainable the impact was over the longer term.
These five turnaround types are very transferable beyond schools to any/all sectors and include:
Do these ring a bell for you? Personally I think of the accountant as more of the investor, but you've seen these styles around the leadership table, haven't you? You've probably already formed a view on which turnaround type has the best longer term impact, but to confirm it for you and to see the types and very interesting longitudinal data in detail, check out the Harvard Business Review article here.
Since discovering this research, I've regularly reflected on which of the leadership types I may be showing up with or as, particularly in relation to turnaround situations but also more broadly. To be honest, I've seen a bit of all five in me at different times and in the face of different situations and challenges.
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When I am being intentional and 'pre-flexing' in relation to how I am hoping to show up as a leader, I use the ideographic TWIG above, sketched on my notepad or on a Post-It attached to my computer monitor. It's a great way for me to self-check on myself, in real time (and the actual performative leadership moment). Which of these five styles did I exemplify in the exchange, decision, debate, commitment or action that just took place? How might I steer it back to the central (and most effective for long term impact) type in my next exchange?
You might like to give it a try. How long can you keep the hard hat on for before one of the other styles takes over?
This is a Leader TWIG - the concept of (a)?growing something new?(a new awareness, skill or 'branch' to what you currently already know) but also (b) becoming equipped to 'catch on', realising or suddenly understanding something that is in fact right in front of you in the performative leadership moment (from the Gaelic 'tuig').
Access the LeadRede self-coaching learning journey attached to this TWIG.