Summer Quiz: What kind of leader are you?

Vacation time is here, and what better time than the summer break to do a little introspection. Magazines have exploited it to good effect (or to excess, depending on your point of view!), and I admit to being tempted a few times by personality tests.

In fact, I recently took my AtmanCo test again, and had a great time discovering my archetype.

Do you know what kind of leader you are?

Based on the Johari window model, there’s the type of leader you know about yourself and that others also know about you; there’s the type of leader that others see but you don’t, and that represents your blind spot; and there’s the type of leader that only you know about, since you don’t let others see it.

Some are keenly aware of the effect their leadership has on others, and can even distinguish the nature of the styles they exercise with employees, customers, family and friends. Some can quickly identify themselves among the 6 leadership styles of Daniel Goleman’s model: directive, visionary, collaborative, participative, leader or coach. Other leaders are rather neophytes in terms of their introspective capacity and knowledge of the subject, but who cares? Every leader adopts one or more styles, sometimes managing to approach the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model.

Opportunities for discovery

Have you received any feedback recently? Did it confirm your impressions of yourself, or surprise you? Are you more in your known zone, or in your unknown zone? When feedback is kind, it often mirrors your leadership as perceived by others. It’s an excellent opportunity for professional development, and an excellent reason to ask for it. Adjustments to one’s leadership can be prompted by discomfort within oneself, as a form of dissonance between one’s actions and intentions, as well as by feedback that represents a form of pressure from one’s external environment, sending back a message of inadequacy between the leadership exercised and the needs of the environment. Listening to our environment and adjusting accordingly, while remaining authentic, is a form of agile, conscious leadership.

Tests can also support the readings of leaders seeking to better understand their style and ability to adapt to situations. Let’s play along today with a sample that tests your ability to be an inclusive leader.

Instructions:

The questions are not exhaustive in their presentation, but draw attention to more important topics for self-assessment. For each statement, answer “yes” if you “do everything” mentioned or if you “always” perform the behavior described. Otherwise, answer honestly “no”. Maybe“ or ‘partly’ should be interpreted as ”no”.

For more detailed tests, we recommend the AtmanCo tests.