Leaders of all previous eras, unite! The #usguys have issued a challenge to describe 21st Century leadership at #usblogs.
At one time, leaders were the men or (rarely) women with the biggest sticks — in many cases, it was simply the person with the power to ground you, fire your butt or otherwise make life miserable if you didn’t tow the line.
Although autocratic leaders still exist, the truth is their leadership style is going the way of the dinosaur. But, like the rubber toys above, if you’re flexible enough, even a dinosaur can find the right situation and survive to shout another day (though personally, I don’t know anyone who truly follows anyone who shouts to get results).
Adaptation seems to be the key to successful leadership, because anytime we deal with issues that involve the human element, complexity is part of the equation. There is no one leadership style that works in every situation.
Leadership is really the ability to move a group towards a common goal. So it does kind of make sense to understand your own style and know which situations work best for you.
And on that note, I guess you should call me if you need a revolution. Here’s how I measure up:
- 25 – Change-oriented leadership
- 22 – Visionary leadership
- 22 – Ideological leadership
- 18 – Participative leadership
- 17 – Leadership theorist
- 13 – Executive leadership
- 13 – Action-oriented leadership
- 10 – Goal-oriented leadership
Sign In Black 
Darn it! I ran off to take the test before thoroughly realizing what I was reading. And halfway through the test I got scared, thinking, “Oh, no, did it say there are 7 SCREENS of this?” So I quit. Then I realized no, it meant there were as many as 7 screens of info to help me understand my results.
Well, by this time I was worn out, so I came back to finish reading the post, and…whew, have to catch my breath! I agree with what you say about many of the leaders in past days, because there were a lot of autocratic male boss types. I suspect there still will be.
But you’re right. Things ARE changing, and I’m just sad to know that my leadership skills must suck weeds, because look at how I bungled it all up! But I’m GLAD to know that you and I both think there are all kinds of reasons for the future to possibly be better than our past has been. And that’s…a good thing. 🙂
Adaptability – a long standing hallmark of great leadership. What you’ve pointed out is that it’s more critical than ever. The face of the world today doesn’t just change over a dozen battles running a year or years, but over the course of a dozen seconds.
Love the idea of a leadership test. I’m afraid what my results might be. 🙂
Thanks for taking a different sort of take on the 21st Century Leadership.
Cheers,
Todd, @tojosan