What Kind of Leader Are You

What type of leader are you?  There is a general awareness of leadership styles, but much less awareness that there are types of leaders.  Although I sensed the difference it was not until I read Bob Whitesel's book on Preparing for Change Reaction, that what I had been sensing gelled into an awareness that has been tremendously helpful in evaluating my own strengths as a leader, as well as guiding my interactions with other leaders.  Here are the Leadership types as defined by Whitesel, with some modifications and comments from my own experience.

• Strategic Leaders are those who “see the big picture and envision outcomes. . . .  They intuitively know what the results should be, even though they are not experts in getting there. ” (Whitesel, p. 32)  I would call these visionaryleaders. These leaders are usually the first to know when change is needed.  Dr. John Conley, former President of Circleville Bible College and a mentor of mine and definitely a Strategic leader, repeatedly told me that leaders see steps 1 and 5 but usually don’t have the ability to see steps two three and four.  He was referring to this type of leader.  In other words, Strategic leaders know how to rally support and resources, how to cast the vision and steer the ship, but don’t really know how to set the sails or provision the ship.  The strategic leader knows that change is inevitable and seeks to guide the process in an optimum direction.  
•  Tactical Leaders are those who “can organize, plan, budget, recruit volunteers, and evaluate progress of change.” They can take the strategic vision and pull together the pieces to make it happen. (Whitesel, p. 20)  “Tactical leaders know how to bring the long term projects down into easy, doable steps." (Whitesel, p. 36).  They are not primarily those who do the task, focusing more on delegation, but they can do if necessary.  The tactical leader is the 2, 3 and 4 leader who, upon receipt of a vision, immediately begins thinking about how to make it happen; they can't help it, it is just they way their mind works.  This leader just needs the target and can figure out just what is needed to make it happen.  The tactical leader is comfortable with change and may even crave it.
•  Process Leaders are those who have the ability to refine the processes of an organization, making them more effective. Their gift is to see the connections between what needs to be done and how it can be done better.  “Better” is their mantra.  Process leaders are most often effective maintenance leaders.  They may understand the necessity of change but prefer small incremental changes if there has to be change at all.  Process leaders work easily within the boundaries of the status quo and can be resistant to a vision which requires significant change.  I've added this type to Whitesel's original list.  I discovered that this type of leader is fairly common in my experience of leading and working with leaders across 40 years.  While there are similarities to the Tactical leader, there is enough difference that I believe it warrants a separate listing.

Usually an organization will have either a Tactical leader or a Process leader but rarely do they have both.

•  Operational Leaders are highly relational. “They foster teamwork, interdependence, improvisation, creativity, and unity toward a goal.” (Whitesel, p. 38) They work best with the precise planning provided by the Tactical or Process leader.  “If the Operational Leader does not have the go-between of a tactical leader…the strategic leader’s vision may be too imprecise to motivate the operational leader.” (Whitesel, p. 39).  If an operational leader doesn’t have a plan pretty clearly laid out, they will either stumble forward with limited effectiveness or, more likely, come to a halt.  Without a tactical leader they can become frustrated with the strategic leader and vis-a-versa.   This is an important point and many times the source of organizational failure: When the Strategic leader attempts to function as the Tactical/Process leader there is a breakdown in communication which creates confusion and ineffective implementation.

 It is important to keep in mind that while it is possible to change your leadership style, most people are unable to modify their leadership type for an extended length of time. 

The key point here is to be aware of who you are and to draw around you the other leadership types so that you can accomplish your goals.  Each type of leader must show up for the best result.  Each type of leader needs the others to be complete.

I'd really appreciate your comments about your perceptions of this delineation and whether or not you find it helpful or accurate.