Two Types of Leaders, Which Succeeds? Which Are You? What You Say Is What You Get® Positive Leadership Blog from Dr. Linne Bourget,

Welcome to the powerful What You Say Is What You Get®: Positive Leadership Power Blog from Dr. Linne Bourget, M.A., M.B.A., Ph.D.

August, 2018  Two Types of Leaders--Which One Succeeds? Which One Are You?

HI Everyone,

Reflecting again on the dance of lead and follow as a business metaphor, I see two types of leaders in my dance world, and they have very different effects on followers (your employees).

What are these two types of leaders?
What effect do they have on followers?
Which is more successful? Which one are you?

These two types of leaders are:

1. The Pattern Leader  leads followers (your employees) through his same patterns over and over regardless of the song.  The song represents your external business environment, your industry and global market. He may give me a few beats to improvise, but it is his habitual dance, not our dance.  These are amateurs, without professional training. They are not committed to getting better, only go to lower level workshops, do not get private lessons, and are mostly just there socially.

He does not dance differently from song to song, and misses the rhythm breaks, phrasing, and mood changes in the song. I.e. He misses the shifts in his external business world, and does not flexibly adapt to them, a weakness in the fast global economy, and more traditional, less transformational.

What is the impact on me as follower (your employees)?

Some of the patterns are fun and challenging, yet I get bored by the same patterns and the lack of responsiveness to the music, which limits my creativity and musical expression, as I was trained to dance the music (respond to the external business environment quickly and creatively). I do not get to use as many of my skills and am frustrated and disappointed from our not succeeding in dancing to the song (innovating real-time in your business environment).

2. The Collaborative Leader.  These leaders are trained from early on to be more collaborative and dance to the music.  They hear changes in the music and dance to them, while making a great connection and time for the follower (your employees) to join them in creative interpretation, in the moment, to the song, I. e. Respond to the business environment quickly and creatively. They transform the dance (business) experience by their quality of collaborative leadership. 

They are professionals, and even the collaborative amateurs who do not teach and compete in dance for a living do much better in their competitions.  They are judged on teamwork and creative improvisation to the song, and are serious about getting their training to be able to dance at this level. They are constantly taking private coaching and working on their leadership skills, so they are far more successful in competition (marketplace competition for your business).

“The ability to create is the ability to adapt.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

My teacher/showcase partner and I were both trained this way, so we dance this way.  We have some patterns, they always fit the music, and the rest we create together to the song in the moment. This flexibility requires training, skill, a great connection, and awareness for both leaders and followers.

What is the impact on me as follower (your employees)?

Collaborative leaders are much more fun, ask me to step up to a higher level of performance, which I enjoy, and call for using more of my strengths, skills, and extensive training. This also inspires me to get more training, to be better! Never a boring moment!

We both have greater satisfaction and success in responding to the music (external business environment) in the moment, and creating moves we have not done before (fast innovation is crucial in the global market). Note that although I am a boomer and he is Gen X, our style is preferred by Millenials in business, as it is more creative. At the same time we honor the discipline of skills and training, technique and connection to support the creativity.

These are all learnable skills, and leaders must learn them to succeed in this turbulent constantly-shifting market.
Every day is a new song. How well do you dance to the music?

Which type of leader are you, a Pattern Leader or a Collaborative Leader?
How do your employees view your leadership approach?
If I interviewed them confidentially, what would they say?
How quickly and creatively do you lead your employees to respond to the changing business environment?
How successful and timely are you innovations?

“This is what freedom is all about - a chance to be better.” Albert Camus

We can help you learn these skills quickly and easily, based on identifying and applying your strengths and greatness. (I am just finishing my Owner's Leadership Manual for my Strengths Awareness System.) This is the fastest, most powerful and most fun foundation for stepping up to the music with better results, fast!

I appreciate all of your positive leadership!
Peace and Prosperity,
Dr. Linne  
Dr. Linne Bourget M.A. M.B.A. Ph. D.

 "The greatest challenge is taking complete responsibility for your own greatness." Dr. Linne
"Build on Your Best" Giving you the power to predict, profit, & protect 
www.oldpowernewpower.com www.whatyousayiswhatyouget.com 
Pioneer, strengths-based leadership, Master Intuition System 
Founder/CEO  Institute for Transformation Leaders& Consultants 
Strategist, Consultant, Speaker, Author of From Old Power to New Power – Which Leaders Will Survive? 
Co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra, Amazon #1Bestseller, Wake Up, Live the Life You Love - Finding Personal Freedom 
Author, What You Say Is What You Get® Series: The Secret Language of Great Business Results,
Dr. Linne's Leadership Guides Series Positive Quotient PQ® Questionnaire Appreciative Quotient AQ® Questionnaire, Secrets of Powerful Appreciation for Parents and Children, 2 CD Audio by "Dr. Appreciation" Appreciation: The Secret Key to Magical Marriage
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