Two Leadership Styles to Create Impact

Leadership styles come in all shapes and sizes. We outline a simple guide to keep focus amidst the diversity of appearances and definitions. We also show you the signals by which you can recognise each leadership style.

We see two main forms of leadership styles. The first is the one where you start from your own right, your own truth, your own interest. You prefer to impose this top-down. The power of the leadership is dominant. We call this managerial  leadership. The other is the one where you aim to strengthen the strength of each other. You have an eye for multiple truths and you give space to professionals to use their expertise in networks. We call this connective leadership.

This distinction is generally accepted. Only the names differ. Jaap van er Mei distinguishes between Anglo-Saxon and Rhineland leadership. Mariëlle Heijltjes calls it traditional and new leadership. Janka Stoker distinguishes between transactional and transformational leadership. Jitske Kramer calls it power and love. Finally, Simon Sinek makes a distinction between finite play and infinite play.

Connective leadership leads to the best results when changes occur quickly, when there is great dynamism and when cause and effect are not logically linked. Research into the effectiveness of leadership shows that both styles can lead to results. Which style is most effective depends on the circumstances. If your world is clear and predictable, managerial leadership is an excellent choice. However, this will be  completely different as the complexity increases. Connective leadership leads to the best results when changes occur quickly, when there is great dynamism and when cause and effect are not logically linked.

More complexity means that employees must be able to make their own choices in everyday practice. Solutions often depend on what happens on site in interactions with customers. Of course, there are protocols, but as an employee you sometimes have to be agile and adapt if needed. As an employee you have to make decisions on the spot based on your own professionalism. It is an illusion to think that as a manager you can determine in detail what the employee should do. The world looks different on the work floor than from the head office.

Managers are faced with the task of letting go and at the same time setting appropriate boundaries. This is recognised in many organisations. The management then encourages employees to take control themselves. That is not an easy task. Neither for employees nor for managers themselves. As an employee you have to learn to trust your own professionalism and the support of the management, even when things get tough. Managers are faced with the task of letting go and at the same time setting appropriate boundaries. According to Mariëlle Heijltjes, first, you need an open mind. Second, you must be able to put yourself in the shoes of the other. Finally, you must do it with compassion and empathy.

This is the core of connective leadership. You connect the interests and needs of the other with your own. You then create added value through that connection. You arrive at results that you would not have thought possible beforehand. In order to understand this connective leadership properly, it helps to compare it with managerial  leadership. In managerial leadership you start from your own right, your own truth, your own interests. The other is the one where you focus on added value, on strengthening the strength of each other. This is the connective leadership.

Within each of these leadership styles, we distinguish two leadership domains , depending on where your starting point lies. If you start from yourself (dimension ‘I’), then we see a distinction in the authoritarian and presence domains. If you are primarily focused on the other (dimension ‘I-you’) then the fighting and connective domains are at your disposal.

In managerial leadership, you start from your own truth which you want to realise. You manage your people in the implementation through planning and control. You do this through top-down interventions in the whole and in the details. You are almost constantly engaged in a battle, in which you try to let your own truth and your own position prevail. Your perspective is actually very simple: whoever has a different opinion is in the resistance, and also: people are instruments to achieve your goals. Within managerial leadership, we make a distinction between the authoritarian (you are the sole ruler and you lay down the law) and the fighting domain (you lead and control your hand).

You are independent. In daily contact you are directive and you give assignments. In the further development of your organisation you use your power and push towards your goal with little participation from employees or stakeholders. With respect to the outside world, you work on your image and you promote your position. This also strengthens your position internally. If you get the chance, you expand your empire. The authoritarian domain is particularly of added value in acute crisis situations, where there is no time and space for consultation, for example, in fire fighting situations.

You are focused on the content. The content, as you see it. In your day-to-day interactions, you control matters by arranging, convincing and negotiating. In the further development of your organisation, you make proposals that fit in with what you have in mind. You involve people through participation and ensure support. You ensure good PR for your organisation with respect to the outside world. You share what is helpful and keep an eye on your competitors. As soon as you see opportunities, you try to increase the market share of your organisation. The fighting domain has its value in a climate in which the law of the jungle prevails (eat or be eaten). However, it is important to understand that by participating you are confirming this law. Through connective actions you can try to change this in order to create connections that can lead to added value for all involved.

The core of connective leadership is that you start from multiple truths. You realise that there is a lot of strength and energy in others. Strengthening each other is the starting point. In this way, you start from trust and see energy instead of resistance. You do not want to assert your own truth, but strengthen the power of the people around you by sharing, connecting and being present. You invite people to do the same. This creates a snowball effect, where people stimulate each other and offer feedback in order to improve their work. The perspective is that everyone is different, everyone’s perspectives matter and you can contribute from there. In addition to this, we all work on goals that are determined together. Within connective leadership, we can distinguish between the connective and present domains. In the connective domain, reason is dominant, while in the presence domain, emotion receives all the attention.

The connective domain helps to strengthen the strengths of the various parties involved and thus achieves results that cannot be predicted. You are full of understanding for the other. In daily interactions you explore, listen with empathy, share your opinion, ask for input, reflect and connect. In the further development of your organisation, you identify problems, which you explore through a step-by-step approach and convert into actions. Participation and involvement of employees leads to a higher yield than you could have imagined. You are cooperative and collegial towards the outside world. You share what is going on within your organisation. You mainly see your competitors as colleagues. As soon as you see opportunities, you enter into cooperative relationships. The connective domain helps to strengthen the strengths of the various parties involved and thus achieves results that you could not have predicted.

You are present as a person in the here and now. In daily interactions, you make space for others, you are of service, you are genuinely interested, you sense what is really going on, you openly state what you think and feel. You invite others to do the same. You see others as a source of inspiration. You learn through reflection and meditation. You choose an interactive approach in the further development of your organisation. You use a multitude of interactions that form a non-predetermined voyage of discovery. By discussing what concerns people here and now, you create the future, as it were. A future that you create together. Employees are the natural owners of the results. You respond to the outside world without expecting anything in return. You add value. The presence domain has the same meaning as the connective domain: it leads to added value. The special strength of this domain lies in the attention paid to undercurrents. By making this visible, the intended synergy is further strengthened.

Managerial leadership remains dominant in 80% of the organisations in the world . At the same time, it is very clear however, that it is connective leadership that can now take us much further. It is precisely then that we see each other as human beings and are committed to strengthening each other’s strengths. Taking steps from managerial to connective leadership is not easy. This calls for:

• the belief that you can make a difference;
• the will to practise and learn different behaviours;
• the courage to do things differently from what is currently the norm.