Which type do you have? Which type do you prefer? Which type are you?
Mack Story, Blue-Collar Leadership?
Developing the Blue-Collar Workforce and those who lead them.?│Author of 15 Books│Leadership Speaker│Trainer
"If we desire to grow and reach our potential, we must pay more attention to our character than our success." ~ John C. Maxwell
When it comes to what’s going on in the organization, leaders are either making it happen (good or bad), allowing it to happen (good or bad), or preventing it from happening (good or bad).
Ultimately, the top leader is responsible, whether they accept responsibility or not.
Meanwhile, low-impact leaders avoid taking responsibility for what’s happening as they search for others to blame. They create a tremendous amount of distrust throughout the organization as they try to maintain power and control.
It takes a very high degree of character to make the transition to become a high-impact leader, because you must move beyond only accepting responsibility for growing yourself. When you truly—and sincerely—choose to begin to grow and develop others, you must become responsible to others. Low-impact leaders are unwilling to do this and change their type of leadership style.
They have the ability, but they do not have the desire.
Bottom Line: If you invest abundantly in other leaders, your influence will exponentially increase through them.
Let’s take a closer look at The 5 Types of Leaders.
"Exceptional leaders distinguish themselves because of superior self-leadership." ~ Daniel Goleman
Type 1: Managerial Leader
A managerial leader is the least effective of the five types of leaders. They have the least influence. People only follow them because they have to. They are not in the position to serve others. Their desire is to be served by others because they are in the position. They see others as tools to use to complete the objective for the day. They prefer to make decisions. Their weakness is character development.
Here’s a brief review of characteristics:
- Character is weak.
- Desire is “to be served” rather than “to serve.”
- They have a scarcity mindset.
- Competency can range from undeveloped to highly developed.
- Focus is on managing (directing/controlling) people and processes.
- Values the position more than the people.
- Strength comes from power, control, formal authority, and personal results.
"No amount of personal competency can compensate for personal insecurity.” ~ Wayne Smith
Type 2: Relational Leader
A relational leader builds relationships in order to influence others. People want to follow them because of who they are, not what they know. They develop mutual respect with others and work well with them. Although people want to follow them, they have not developed specialized knowledge. Their weakness is not making the necessary sacrifices to develop their competency.
Here’s a brief review of characteristics:
- Character is strong.
- Desire is to serve.
- They have an abundance mindset.
- Competency is undeveloped and generalized.
- Focus is on leading (influencing/releasing) people.
- Values people more than the position.
- Strength comes from relationships and moral authority.
"Trust is the central issue in human relationships. Without trust, you can't lead. Without trust, you can't get people to believe in you or each other. Without trust, you can't accomplish extraordinary things." ~ Kouzes & Posner
Type 3: Motivational Leader
A motivational leader seeks mutual benefit for themselves, others, and the organization. People want to follow them because of who they are and what they know. They influence others from the outside. They are process focused. They are trusted and deliver results for themselves, their families, their team, their organization, their customers, their suppliers, and their community. Their weakness is not making the necessary sacrifices to reproduce other motivational leaders.
Here’s a brief review of characteristics:
- Character is strong.
- Desire is to serve.
- They have an abundance mindset.
- Competency is developed and specialized.
- Focus is on leading (influencing/releasing) people, managing the processes, and getting results.
- Values people more than the position.
- Strength comes from relationships, moral authority, and team results.
"You can issue all the memos and give all the motivational speeches you want, but if the rest of the people in your organization don’t see you putting forth your very best effort every single day, they won’t either." ~ Colin Powell
Type 4: Inspirational Leader
An inspirational leader inspires managerial and relational leaders to become motivational leaders. Their focus is on growing themselves in order to inspire others to grow. They influence others on the inside. They are people-focused not process-focused. They focus heavily on character development. True inspirational leaders are followed because of how much they care and who they are on the inside. They are inspired by the growth of those following them.
Here’s a brief review of characteristics:
- Character is stronger.
- Desire is to serve and develop others.
- They have an abundance mindset.
- Competency is highly developed and specialized.
- Focus is on leading (influencing/releasing) people and developing motivational leaders.
- Values people more than the position.
- Strength comes from relationships, moral authority, and the growth of others.
"Asking questions leads to two-way communication. Two-way communication leads to connection. One-way communication is about sharing information. Many managers don’t even do that well. They tend to withhold information from their team for many flawed reasons. Two-way communication is about more than information. It’s about connection which leads to motivation, inspiration, and transformation." ~ Mack Story
Type 5: Transformational Leader
A transformational leader’s passion and purpose is to transform others. They are the most influential of the five types of leaders and are highly respected. Their reputation precedes them. They are well known for developing leaders. Their influence touches people in all industries and across multiple generations. They have influenced many leaders for many years. Their influence is continuously being transferred through many other leaders at many different times in multiple locations.
Here’s a brief review of characteristics:
- Character is strongest.
- Desire is to serve and to develop others.
- They have an abundance mindset.
- Competency is highly developed and specialized.
- Focus is on leading (influencing/releasing) people and developing motivational and inspirational leaders.
- Values people more than the position.
- Strength comes from relationships, moral authority, growth of others, and the respect they have earned.
Note: The majority of this article was based on an excerpt from my book, Defining Influence: Increasing Your Influence Increases Your Options. You can read and/or download Chapter 11 which contains "The 5 Types of Leaders" here.
About Blue-Collar Leadership...
Blue-Collar Leadership? provides leaders with a platform for training and developing their workforce to unleash their potential by taking powerful leadership concepts and packaging them in easy to understand and apply resources.
Founded by Mack Story, Blue-Collar Leadership? is uniquely designed content specifically created to engage and develop the front line workforce, those who lead them, and those who support them.
We understand your biggest frustration as a leader is likely disengaged team members. We specialize in helping leaders engage the front line to improve the bottom line.
Mack Story has logged over 11,000 hours leading leaders and their teams through organizational change. He is the author of the extremely popular Blue-Collar Leadership? Series books. He also produces the Blue-Collar Leadership Podcast with new episodes posted weekly on Friday mornings.
Ria Story is an author, TEDx speaker, and expert in leadership and life skills for women. Ria has nearly 20 years of experience in leadership and management.
Mack and Ria are certified leadership speakers and trainers and have published 31 leadership development and personal growth books.
Highlights for them have been:
- Helping train 20,000 Guatemalan Leaders with John Maxwell
- Speaking at Yale University
- Offering leadership development support for the U.S. Military, Chick-fil-A, Auburn University, Chevron, Kilgore Construction, and many other organizations
Are you in the USA? We will come to you! Checkout our "2021 Special Offer" below.
If you're willing to invest in your team, we are too. What do we mean?
What we will do…
We’ll provide 200 (any combination) of our five Blue-Collar Leadership? Series books (or choose from any of our 31 titles) to you at NO COST. WE’LL ALSO PAY ALL OF OUR EXPENSES to travel anywhere in the USA to conduct up to 2 hours of on site leadership development training or speaking for any size group at any level. We are also happy to train/speak virtually if you prefer that option.
What you must do…
Invest in your team. Take advantage of our “Special Offer” reduced speaking fee of ONLY $3,600, which happens to be the exact cost of the 200 books. Distribute the 200 books to your blue-collar workforce, those who lead them, and those who support them. Note: Our speaking fees normally range from $5,000-$20,000 in the USA.
Call Mack Story at 334-728-4143 and make it happen!