David Rooke is an expert on leadership and the co-founder of Harthill Consulting, a US-based company who specialise in developing leadership within a corporate environment. William R. Torbert is a professor whose field of study is behavior within organisations. They co-wrote a book in 2005 called the ‘Seven Transformations of Leadership’ in which they explore the various personality types of leaders and their management style. The refer to the seven different leadership styles as Achievers, Alchemists, Diplomats, Experts, Individualists, Opportunists and Strategists.
Research
During the research for their book, Rooke and Torbert interviewed thousands of managers from hundreds of organisations in the US and Europe. One of their initial conclusions was that there are three types of leaders that can be categorized as falling into the lower than average performance bracket. Namely, Diplomats, Experts and Opportunists, despite these accounting for 55% of the total sample. This group were notably less effective with regards to implementing organisational strategies, particularly when compared to the 30% of the sample who were rated as Achievers. The remaining 15% of the sample were consistent in their ability to transform their organisations and create innovation and were referred to as Alchemists, Individualists and strategists.
The research Rooke and Torbet conducted took the form of a survey that asked respondents to complete a number of sentences. From the responses submitted the researchers were able to construct a profile of how the leaders questioned interpret their own actions and the world in which they operate. Based on this it was then possible to ascertain to which of the identified leadership styles the respondent belonged. It became apparent that the most capable leaders were those who could switch or ‘transform’ between the various leadership styles.
Action logic
Action logic was a phrase coined by Rooke and Torbet that describes how ‘leaders interpret their own behaviour and that of others, and how they safeguard or maintain power in the face of threats’. They further concluded that levels of corporate and individual performance vary based on action logic. The key finding was that leaders will move through various stages of action logic when establishing new interpersonal or working relationships or experiencing new work chalWhat follows is a brief summary of the seven leadership styles starting with the least productive and least complex;
- The Opportunist: Opportunists are defined by their inherent desire to win, to the point where they come across as being manipulative. They regard their behaviour as acceptable and appropriate. They’re typically not receptive to feedback and have a tendency to be vindictive. In most cases, Opportunists are the archetypical ‘control freak’ wanting to control everything and everyone around them and seeing others as competitors. On the plus side, Opportunists react well in a crisis situation and are quick to identify and exploit opportunities. Of the total research sample, 5% fell into this category.
- The Diplomat: Of the Seven Transformations of Leadership, the Diplomat is the perhaps the most passive, preferring to avoid conflict wherever possible. Their focus is conformity and remaining within the excepted norms of behavior. Diplomats tend to be loyal and have the company’s best interests at heart. Wanting to be friends with everyone can often lead to Diplomats being taken advantage of. Diplomats don’t tend to do well in upper management roles; they’re not comfortable making unpopular decisions or dealing with resistance and will therefore actively avoid both. Their strengths lay in creating unity and responding to needs. Some 12% of respondents were categorized as Diplomats.
- The Expert: Leaders who are focused on logic and knowledge and who seek out rationality and efficiency are categorized as Experts. They prefer to work and operate alone and when doing so can make valuable contributions. Experts were identified as the single largest category of leaders. Experts need to be able to validate everything, not unsurprisingly many IT professionals, accountants, auditors and tax experts fall into this category. They thrive on efficiency and perfection, traits that can manifest themselves as being picky and demanding in a leadership context. Experts are very much of the opinion that they’re right and therefore everyone else is wrong. Asking for the input or feedback of others is unnecessary. Warm and fuzzy, they are not. The study revealed that 38% of respondents fell into this category.
- The Achiever: Categorized by a leadership style that focuses on the achievement of specific goals and actions. Achievers challenge and support their team, creating a generally pleasant working environment that lets their colleagues fly. Achievers do tend to lack innovation and struggle with complex issues. They’re receptive to feedback and will strive for a win/win outcome if confronted with conflict. Having a high level of emotional intelligence means Achievers won’t always hit it off with experts. 30% of respondents were categorized as Achievers.
- The Individualist: Many consultants and entrepreneurs conform to this particular leadership style. Strategy and performance are an individualist’s preferred domain and they excel in providing unique but practical values to an organisation. They can put any behaviour or situation into its proper perspective. Individualist is one of the few leadership styles that can communicate effectively with leaders in differing roles. A potential drawback could be a tendency a get excited and perhaps a little too creative. Individualist are great at ignoring things they regard as being irrelevant. During the research, 10% of respondents were categorized as being Individualists.
- The Strategist: Organisational and personal transformation comes easy to the strategist. They are observant and pull on the power of combined research. The Strategist can assimilate multiple approaches and formulate them into one cohesive way forward. They don’t shy away from debate or conflict and handle resistance to change well. 4% of respondents fell into this category.
- The Alchemist: Alchemists are gifted in their ability to create change, be it material, commercial or social. They regularly reinvent themselves and their organisations in astounding ways. They’re comfortable in dealing with multiple tasks at many levels. They’re social chameleons adapting with ease to any situation or environment but without losing sight of strategic goals and objectives. They are wonderfully charismatic and are heralded as a role model by people around them. Perhaps not unsurprisingly just 1% of respondents fell into this category.
Recognising your own preferred style of leadership is important. Understanding the impact it can have on your business and colleagues is even more so. Why Training offers a range of development programs designed to help leaders succeed.
