Understanding The

Leadership Spectrum:
Developing the Skills
LESSON 11
 Where is Your Organization on the Leadership
Spectrum?
A successful leader understands the importance of each style, is
comfortable flexing to any point on the spectrum and knows which style
is appropriate for a given situation.
Maybe you have heard workers say things like, “My boss is a total dictator! He
won’t let anyone make a change without his direct approval!” or “I can’t stand
how my boss will never make a decision . . . always pushing us to figure things
out on our own. Why doesn’t he just tell us what to do?” “Would you
characterize these bosses as being managers or leaders? Maybe the best way to
answer this question is to be better understand the “Leadership Spectrum”
 Leadership Spectrum
(John Dyer)
Leadership Spectrum

Boss Makes Boss Makes Decisions Teams Make Fully Empowered

Decisions After Receiving Decisions With Teams Working
With Little to Significant Input Restrictions And Together to
No Input From Others Boss’s Oversight Achieve a
Strategic Vision

Dictator Collaborator
Post 1 Post 2 Post 3 Post 4
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 1)
Leader makes decisions with little or no input.
Pro: Decisions can be made rapidly and decisively. The boss may have
additional knowledge about the strategic direction of the organization that others may
not be aware of. Also, the boss may be making a difficult decision in order to take the
pressure (and responsibility) off of the employees.

Con: There is little to no ownership and buy-in from anyone other

than the decision maker. When things begin to go wrong, there isn’t much
incentive to help correct the situation (leading to great delight by the employees
who may say something like, “The boss should have known better and asked us for
our ideas!”)
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 1)
Leader makes decisions with little or no input.
The dictator is most effective in a crisis. The analogy I like to use in my
training is that if a room begins filling with smoke, everyone would want
a dictator to take charge and start telling people what to do. However, a
boss who only uses dictator mode can hamper growth in good times
when the company starts to expand since they will become the bottleneck
when it comes to making decisions. Also, there will be little to no
development in the leadership skills of the rest of the organization since
they will not be required to take responsibility for any of their actions
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 2)
Leader makes decisions after receiving significant
input from others.
Pro: Decisions are still made decisively and have a greater chance of being
correct after receiving input from several diverse sources. The boss can shield
employees by taking full responsibility for the decision, especially if there is risk
(and hopefully give credit to the employees if things go well).
Con: Dictators will sometimes make it look like they are getting inputs
from others when, in reality, the decision has already been made. Also, if the
boss has surrounded themselves with “yes” people, then they may think they are
getting good, diverse ideas when in fact, all of the inputs are relatively the same
(and tend to agree with the boss).
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 2)
Leader makes decisions after receiving significant
input from others.
My experience working with Japanese executives is that many of them will
use this leadership style. When making a presentation to a Japanese
company, for example, the CEO sat at the “place of honor” in the conference
room and closed his eyes for most of the meeting. I incorrectly assumed that
he was not interested in what I was presenting. However, he actually was
paying close attention to what I said as well as the questions and enthusiasm
of his staff. At the conclusion of the meeting, after listening to all of the
inputs, he stood and said, “Based on everything that has been said today, this
is the direction we are going to go,” – and the decision was made.
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 3)
Teams make decisions with restrictions and leader’s
oversight.
Pro: Greater buy-in and support for the decision, especially by those on the team. Diversity
of inputs (particularly if the team is cross-functional and includes workers who are closest to the
process) helps to assure the best possible decision that everyone will support (consensus). When
the boss provides oversight, he/she can assist the team by providing resources, by getting input
from other functions / business units, and by helping the team stay focused on strategic
initiatives.
Con: The process of reaching consensus on a decision may be long and tedious. This
could bog the team down, resulting in missed deadlines (or rush the decision-making process, if
the team feels it is running out of time, resulting in a poorly thought-out solution). Also, the team
may try to guess what the boss wants and decide to go in that direction, even if it is incorrect.
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 3)
Teams make decisions with restrictions and leader’s
oversight.
For this fencepost on the Leadership Spectrum, the boss becomes
the “sponsor” of the team and provides the improvement
opportunity, the project scope and parameters (time, funding,
resources, etc.), and then only gets involved if the team runs into
a roadblock. The boss also connects the team to the overall
strategic plan of the company to ensure that they do not drift and
start working on something that is not a real need for the
organization.
 Understanding The
Leadership Spectrum:
Empowering Teams
LESSON 12
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 4)
Fully empowered teams work together to achieve a strategic
vision.
Pro: this style includes formal and informal teams as well as self-directed work teams.
Employees get accustomed to working together on improvement initiatives as well as discussing
ideas in both formal and informal gatherings. (shift start up, lunch, etc.). some of the best ideas
bubble up within a group of employees while they are running the process. Once they have gotten
accustomed to using the tools and methodologies of lean and Six Sigma, these ideas can quickly be
vetted and, where appropriate, implemented.
Con: this takes a great deal of work and focus by the boss to keep the teams going in favorable
direction. Each time new employees rotate into a work area, for example, fractures can form and
the teams can begin to falter. The boss will spend a good bit of their time coaching their employees
and working to keep the culture a peak performance. Without this oversight, the teams can begin to
drift and work on changes that do not impact the organization’s objectives.
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 4)
This leadership style requires dedication So, which style would an outstanding leader
and commitment to get (and keep) the adopt? The short answer: all of them . . even
company culture focused on dictator. If the boss understands the importance
empowerment, teamwork, trust and of each of the above styles, is comfortable
support. Comprehensive, consistent flexing to any point on the spectrum, and (most
communications and the sharing of data, importantly) knows which style is appropriate
vision and strategy are keys for success. for a given situation, their chances of being a
successful leader are greatly enhanced. In all of
Fear must be driven out (another for Dr.
my experiences, I have only encountered a few
Deming’s 14 points) for this style to be
people who fit this description, and in each
successful . . . fear of failure, fear to make
case they were well respected, trusted by their
change happen, and fear to share bad news employees, and helped their organizations
must all be eliminated. achieve greatness.
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 4)
By the way, I believe that a “manager” tries to
manipulate employees through fear, intimidation
and coercion. This may be confused with the
dictator style of leadership listed above. However,
it is more selfish since the manager usually has no
intention of shifting to other places on the
Leadership Spectrum. They withhold information
(knowledge is power), even when decisions are
made, and build little trust with their employees.
They say things like, “You better do this my way
or there will be severe consequences!” The
manager might think they are making progress
toward achieving greatness, but they usually only
are helping the organization stay mired in
mediocrity.
Just so there is no confusion, what is the difference between a
leader using the dictator side of the Leadership Spectrum (as needed)
vs. a manager? A leader uses the dictator style to convey a sense of
urgency. They also (if time permits) explain the rationale behind
their decisions. Also, they make it clear that they will take full
responsibility for anything that might go wrong with their decision,
protecting their employees in the process. They also use this style
sparingly and only when it is necessary.
 
My experience with helping organizations starting an improvement
initiative from scratch is that the leader usually progresses through
all four styles . .i.e., “We will improve doing it this way, for these
reasons” (Post 1) to “We are going to continue to improve. . . what
should we work on next?” (Post 2) to “Let’s form some teams and
give them these problems to solve” (Post 3) to “Let’s share the vision
and data and turn the teams loose to work on the priorities in their
area” (Post 4). It is important to go through all four styles to give the
culture time to develop, training to be implemented, and trust to be
established with the workers. If the leader tries to jump to Post 4
before the employees are ready, then the teams may struggle and
the improvement efforts could fall apart.
Leadership Spectrum
(Post 4)
In the next article, I will share an
example (based on actual events)
of what the use of the Leadership
Spectrum might look like in an
organization. We will also cover
additional traits that will help a
leader be successful in serving an
organization to achieve amazing
results that might surprise everyone
involved (except for maybe the
leader themselves).
John Dyer is president of the
JD&A – Process Innovation
Co. and has 28 years of
experience in the field of
improving processes. He started
his career with General Electric
and then worked for
Ingersoll-Rand before starting
his own consulting company.
 What’s in Your Control?
Your Influence/Being Influential
CAN’T CONTROL
(BUT INFLUENCE)
CAN YOURSELF
CONTROL
OTHER PEOPLE (as SUPERVISOR)
-Superiors •Belief
-Colleagues
•Attitudes
-Clients
•Feelings
•TIME •Behavior
•SYSTEMS
•STRUCTURE
•COMPETITION
•ECONOMY
Delegation
The act of assigning formal authority and
responsibility for completion of specific
activities to a subordinates.
 Delegate the
routinary tasks first.
Prerequisites to Effective
Delegation
* Supervisor’s / Manager’s
willingness to give employees
freedom to accomplish delegated
tasks.
* Supervisor’s /Manager’s ability to analyze
such factors as the organization’s goals,
the task’s requirements, and the
employee’s capabilities.
* Open communication between managers
and employees.
Tasks of effective delegation
* Decide which tasks can be delegated

* Decide who should get the assignment

* Provide sufficient sources for carrying out

the delegated task
* Delegate the assignment

* Be prepared to run interference, if

necessary.
* Establish a feedback system
The key to effective delegation
is willingness, ability, and
open communication between
the supervisor and the
subordinate(s)
 Transformational vs. Transactional
leadership
Transformational leadership –
inspirational leadership that gets people
to do more in achieving high
performance.

Transactional leadership– leadership

that directs the efforts of others through
tasks, rewards, and structures.
Qualities of Transformational
Leaders
* Vision

* Charisma

* Symbolism

* Empowerment

* Intellectual stimulation

* integrity
Profile of Transformational Leaders

William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate,

investor, author, philanthropist, humanitarian, and principal
founder of Microsoft Corporation.
Profile of Transformational Leaders

Henry Ford was an American captain of industry and a business

magnate, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of
Visionary Leadership

A leader who brings to the

situation a clear and
compelling sense of the
future as well as an
understanding of the
actions needed to get there
successfully.
Elements of Visionary Leadership
Meeting the challenges of visionary
leadership:

*Challenge the process

*Show enthusiasm
*Help others to act
*Set the example
*Celebrate achievements
Profile of Visionary Leaders

Warren Gamaliel Bennis was an American scholar, organizational

consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the
contemporary field of Leadership studies.
Profile of Visionary Leaders

Thomas J. Peters is an American writer on business

management practices, best known for In Search of Excellence.
Profile of Visionary Leaders

Jeffrey Preston Bezos is an American technology entrepreneur, investor, and

philanthropist, who is best known as the founder, chairman, and chief
executive officer of Amazon, the world's largest online shopping retailer.
Servant Leadership
What is servant leadership?
*Commitment to serving others
*Followers more important than
leader
*“Other centered” not
“self-centered”
*Power not a “zero-sum” quantity
*Focuses on empowerment, not power
Servant Leadership is
Empowerment
Empowerment.
*The process through which managers enable and
help others to gain power and achieve influence.
Effective leaders empower other by providing
them with:

-Information
-Responsibility
-Authority
-Trust
Profile of Service Leaders

Robert K. Greenleaf was the founder of the modern Servant

leadership movement and the Greenleaf Center for Servant
Leadership. Greenleaf was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1904.
Profile of Service Leaders

Kenneth Hartley Blanchard is an American author and management

expert. His extensive writing career includes over 60 published
books, most of which are co-authored books.
Dealing with Bosses
* To effectively deal with the
boss/leaders in the organization,
remember that he/she is:
* My partner for growth and
development
* My potential mentor and adviser
* My guide
* A human being too!
 While I Can’t Control My
Superior, I Can Influence Him/Her
Can’t Control
Can’t Control
CAN CONTROL
CAN
CONTROL
“I CAN …”
“I CAN’T …”
Influencing My Superior
• Involve allies and additional
spokespersons
• Anticipate questions and
objections
• Prepare to negotiate
• Involve them as partners
While I can’t control my
superior, I can certainly
try to influence him/her.
 Drucker’s “Good Old- Fashioned”
Leadership
Effective leadership is:
*Defining and establishing a sense
of mission
*Accepting leadership as a
responsibility rather than a rank.
*Earning and keeping the trust of
others
Qualities of a Leader: MOVER

Multidimensional
Opportunity-seeker
Visionary
Entrepreneurial
Resilient
Leaders are MULTI-DIMENSIONAL

Multi-dimensional
– looks at various
perspectives
Leaders are
OPPORTUNITY-SEEKERS
Opportunity-seek
er – translates
problems into
opportunities
Leaders are VISIONARIES

Visionary – thinks
long-term and
directional
Leaders are ENTREPRENEURIAL

Entrepreneurial –
finds various ways
to drive the
business
Entrepreneurial Leader

Steven Paul Jobs was an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He was the
chairman, chief executive officer, and a co-founder of Apple Inc.
Leaders are RESILIENT

Resilient –
perseveres despite
the odds
Resilient Leaders

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th

President of the United States from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017.