What's Your Leadership Style?

By: Dr. Larry L. Craft

Gordon Holmes, General Manager for the MetLife in Indianapolis, knew he didn't fit into the traditional management styles he'd studied in college. He definitely isn't an Authoritative (Theory X) manager who uses fear to motivate his 40 employees, nor is he a Participative (Theory Y) manager who depends upon feedback to make his primary decisions.

Gordon is an anomaly. He has the high ego drive of a Theory X manager and the high empathy of the Theory Y manager. When immediate action is required, Gordon's high ego drive and sense of urgency give him the dynamic to switch into 'Emergency Mode Management' to make things happen. Once the crisis ends, he utilizes his empathy and relationship-centered warmth to empower his staff and build loyalty. Not only must he maintain his empathic selling skills for both his sales and recruiting activity, he must also draw upon his ego drive and sense of urgency to compete in an industry that is rife with competition. And Gordon is one of the best at what he does. Year after year, he is one of MetLife's top General Managers. His unique style does not depend upon asking or telling, but selling. He uses the Persuasive management style.

His opposing management style is also ignored by the traditional Theory X and Y model. In engineering, finance, and other job descriptions that require research and analysis, you won't find many authoritative, Participative, or even Persuasive managers. Whether it's by design or default, the majority of these mid-level managers have low ego drive and low empathy. They are primarily Administrative Managers.

Like Gordon, your management style most likely isn't explained by the highly restrictive and antiquated Theory X and Theory Y labels. A new model is required, one that honors the four distinctively different management styles; one that can be used for management selection and training in diverse industries and job descriptions.

A simple interaction between ego drive and empathy produces a revolutionary model that has validity and utility. Using the traditional four-style grid (see diagram), your management style is authoritative (traditional Theory X) if you have high ego drive and low empathy. Your style is Participative (traditional Theory Y) if you have low ego drive and high empathy. Your style is Persuasive if you have high ego drive and high empathy or Administrative if you have low ego drive and low empathy.

To determine your management style, you must first assess your ego drive and empathy. A number of the country's more popular personality tests measure these two personality traits, including the Caliper, the Craft Personality Questionnaire (CPQ), the DISC, and others. Simply ask your test distributor which scales most effectively measure ego drive and empathy. Then plot your scores onto the four-style grid. You can also take the intuitive approach to assessing your style. Go through the list of behaviors found within each of the four quadrants and check-off the ones that describe you the best. The quadrant with the most checks is your primary style while the quadrant with the least checks is your opposing style.

Remember that very few individuals fall perfectly into the middle of one of the four quadrants. As a result, you most likely will have a primary style and a secondary style. Some managers even fall in the middle of the four styles, possessing behaviors from each of the styles, but without the extremes. When you determine your primary style, you might want to take a close look at your opposing style(the opposite quadrant) to learn to recognize individuals who may be incompatible with your particular management style. The best managers know their own style and learn to take the 'unnatural stretch' into opposing quadrants. Only then does the science of management become the art form that yields the most productive results.

About the Author:
Dr. Larry L. Craft is president of CraftSystems, a consulting firm in Bradenton, Florida that specializes in employment testing. He is the developer of the CPQ Questionnaire, presently being used over 100,000 times a year in five countries to select and develop employees and managers by companies such as MetLife, Nokia, Cellular One, Express Personnel, and New York Life.

Assess the Assessment! If you are a manager with 10 or more employees, business owner, or a consultant, we invite you to complete our complimentary 10-15 minute CPQ personality profile and receive its personalized reports as well as a copy of Dr. Craft's "Developing HorsePower" audio cd. All information will be kept confidential and will not be distributed without your written permission.