It is your DeFAULT!

Is it my De-FAULT?

What if we considered leadership like a workout session? Just as in fitness, leadership requires us to build skills (muscles) in a balanced way. If we focused on a single skill set repeatedly, our 'muscles' would develop unevenly, leading to imbalances. In leadership, we need to approach our skill development holistically, ensuring it’s well-rounded, much like a personal trainer or Pilates instructor developing a balanced, individualised workout program.

Everyone possesses a variety of well-developed and essential skills that contribute to successful leadership. However, we all have areas that are less developed and need attention. Like in a workout, it’s easy to stick to what we're good at and avoid the more challenging areas. Many of us have been in situations where we feel out of our depth, struggling to build momentum and enthusiasm for a skill we find difficult. It’s natural to want to retreat to more enjoyable, familiar territory. However, it's precisely in these moments—where the challenge is real—that we must commit and push through to break the cycle of struggle.

Improvement Cycle(ing)

Let’s take a look at the recent Olympics in Paris, focusing on the cycling team. These athletes rely heavily on their leg muscles to maintain speed, tackle hills, and endure long races. Their legs are highly developed for stamina and power. In contrast, their upper bodies tend to be leaner, fit and with a level of stamina to support the legs but not needing the same level of strength. The training routines are tailored to develop the right muscle groups for the right purpose.

I would argue that Leadership is more complex than a cycling race. We're not just developing a muscle group for a single event—we need to train our skill set for every possible Olympic event. This is because in leadership, we don’t just lead processes that we activate on repetition; we lead people—complex, diverse, and our most vital and important pieces of the improvement puzzle. To be effective, we must harness our skills, capabilities and knowledge to lead a variety of individuals, much like being a leader of an Olympic team working towards a shared goal. Each person has different needs and skills but equally unique areas for development, and as leaders, we need the capacity to acknowledge their needs and support their growth.

Although this sounds complicated, it can be simplified. If we break leadership down into its parts. Like a car engine, leadership consists of a series of small components, which when put together in the right order, perform complex tasks. You are that engine—a leader built from skills, relationship, knowledge, expertise and capabilities which, when combined intentionally, can achieve highly complex results, or as I refer to it ‘A Better Way of Leading.’

Defaults Are Neither Strengths nor Weaknesses

I want to reframe the concept of 'strengths' and 'weaknesses.' Much research suggests leadership development is a process of identifying strengths and weaknesses, then focusing on developing weaknesses to enjoy a balanced leadership approach. This article doesn’t challenge that, but instead offers a reframe, moving the spotlight, and focussing on one of the small but essential parts of the engine.

In every discussion of strengths and weaknesses, we must recognise that every strength has a shadow, just as every weakness has a spark. Munby (2019) suggests, “as a leader, you cast a shadow”, your shadow could be a refuge for your team to get out of the heat or a dark, uncomfortable unwelcoming space. With that analogy in mind, consider this, a strength activated in the right context, with the right people, can be incredibly powerful. But the same strength, used in the wrong context, can have negative consequences.

I explore the term 'Defaults' to describe these intersections. Defaults are neither strengths nor weaknesses—they are traits or behaviours that surface depending on the circumstances. These may be highly effective or problematic, depending on how, where, and when they’re activated. The Adaptive Default Model below illustrates this concept.

The Power of Defaults

Defaults are often deeply embedded beliefs and behaviours shaped over years of experience. Komives et al. (2006) proposes in the Theory of Leadership Identity Development (LID) that leadership identity is formed through experiences and self-reflection over time. The process of internal transformation, stemming from relationships and personal growth, shapes how individuals lead.

Defaults, developed over time, are often activated subconsciously, especially when we are stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted or overloaded. They act as shortcuts to help us navigate complex situations, but they can also hijack decision-making processes. As Day and Sin (2011) highlight, early life experiences and mentorship significantly influence leadership style, with positive or negative leadership models shaping how individuals lead in the future. Defaults are developed from a young age and continue to refine over your lifetime of experience. The exciting part is everyone has them and everyone has the power to take control of them.?

Taking Control of Your Default

Murray R. Barrick and Michael K. Mount’s Trait Activation Theory suggests that specific traits are activated in particular contexts, explaining why leaders may behave differently in various situations. For instance, a leader who had negative experiences with a senior leader not following a positive consultation process may overcompensate by being overly consultative to avoid repeating that negative experience for themselves or the people they lead. Conversely, they might adopt the same problematic behaviours they were exposed to as this may have been perceived as an essential leadership trait required to be successful.

Defaults aren’t static. Leaders can learn to activate or deactivate their defaults. Daniel Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence (EI) demonstrates that leaders with high EI are better able to manage their own emotions and those of others. This ability helps leaders adapt their behaviour and engage in transformational leadership, fostering empathy, trust, and collaboration. EI links closely with your default, these can often be described as strengths or weaknesses, being attuned to others response will open the doors of reflection when you notice that a process you have activated has negatively impacted the dispositions of those you lead. We know the saying ‘Knowledge is Power’ and this case it is. Having knowledge of your defaults is an initial awareness towards empowering your ability to deactivate a particular capability, skill or process you have imposed at potentially the wrong time and select the correct strategy, skill, capability or disposition to get the great outcome or impact.

The first step towards taking control of your defaults is reflection. What skills do you habitually rely on, and how were these developed? Reflect on moments when these defaults led to positive outcomes and, equally, when they didn’t. Why did they work in some situations but not in others? A concept I explore in my book, ‘The Art of Skimming Stones: Leading Sustained Improvement in Schools’.

Conclusion - It is your DeFAULT?

Understanding yourself and particularly your default, is not about having every skill developed and in your bag of tricks ready to pull out at any time they are required. I would argue that is almost impossible to be that ‘balanced.’ What I would contend however, is that balanced leadership is about self-awareness. Knowing my defaults, not so I can prevent them, but so I can make intentional decisions about them. Returning to the analogy I started with, recognising your defaults is like having a workout program that is tailored for your individual and unique improvement. Until you fully understand your defaults, your ability to intentionally influence decisions about when and how to activate them will not be a deeply developed.

What are your defaults?

Please feel free to contact me to discuss this more on [email protected] or visit my website for more information www.steventrotter.com.au

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Reference List

Day, D. V., & Sin, H. P. (2011). Longitudinal testing of an integrative model of leader development: Charting and understanding developmental trajectories. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(3), 545-560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.04.011

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Komives, S. R., Owen, J. E., Longerbeam, S. D., Mainella, F. C., & Osteen, L. (2006). Developing a leadership identity: A grounded theory. Journal of College Student Development, 47(4), 401-418. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2006.0048

Munby, S. (2019). Imperfect leadership: A book for leaders who know they don't know it all. Crown House Publishing.

Trotter, S. (2024). The Art of Skimming Stones: Leading Sustained Improvement in Schools. Amba Press