Leaders, who are self-aware, create personal guiding principles and are flexible in their leadership approaches, will have success navigating any situation. There are a set of leadership traits, behaviors and styles that support flexible leadership. Leaders need to develop self-awareness. Understanding what their strengths and weaknesses are and how they react to different situations is the foundation for a flexible leadership style. Next, the leader needs to create their guiding principles defining who they are and how they work. Finally, leaders need to provide structure and flexibility in their organizations.
Leadership traits are described by Trait Theory. The presumption of this theory is that “effective leaders possess a similar set of traits or characteristics.” (Williams, 2011, p. 236) Peter Drucker discounts Trait Theory by saying; “Nor are there any such things as ‘leadership qualities’ or a ‘leadership personality’.” (Drucker, The Essential Drucker, 2001, p. 269) Other writers disagree with Drucker and show that leaders’ traits make them stand out. Williams lists these traits as “drive, the desire to lead, honesty/integrity, self-confidence, emotional stability, cognitive ability and knowledge of the business.” (Williams, 2011, p. 263) Jim Collins supports this thinking with the concept of Level 5 Leadership. Collins writes that the two sides of Level 5 Leadership are Professional Will and Personal Humility. (Collins, Good to Great, 2001, p. 36)
Drucker wrote “Know your strengths and values” describing the need to be self-aware. Drucker advocates “feedback analysis” as one way to find out one’s strengths and weaknesses. (Drucker, The Essential Drucker, 2001, p. 218) Williams’ list of traits noted above also refer to attributes that are personally focused. Personally, I used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MTBI) analysis to get a clearer understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. There are four dichotomies that describe 16 personality types. (The Myers & Briggs Foundation, 2003) I wrote a blog post about understanding the personality types of Enterprise Architects called “Being a Teacher works for me …” (de Sousa, 2008)
Flexible leaders build on their self-awareness by creating a set of guiding principles. These guiding principles are applied daily by the leader to their work. Peter Drucker writes “Nothing better prepares the ground for such leadership than a spirit of management that confirms in the day-to-day practices of the organization strict principles of conduct, and responsibility, high standards of performance, and respect for the individual and his work.” (Drucker, The Practice of Management, 1954, p. 160) Jim Collins provides a set of principles for Level 5 leaders. “Clock Building not Time Telling” focuses on building a company that is built to last. The “Genius of AND” stresses personal humility and professional will. A “Core Ideology” of ambition for the company over ambition for self. Finally, Level 5 leaders are “relentless in stimulating progress toward tangible results and achievement, even if it means firing their brothers.” (Collins, Good to Great, 2001, p. 198)
