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Dilip SarafLinkedIn's Top Re-Invention Guru: Career

Coaching & Leadership Development at its Best!

So, What IS Your Leadership Style?!Sep 13 2014 116 5 0

In my coaching practice I often help clients prepare for job interviews. My client pool

is full of middle managers and executives, who are often looking for new

opportunities. One of the common interview questions that stumps them is when

their hiring manager or others interviewing them ask this dreaded question: So, what

is your management style?

Initially, during the our practice interview session most of my clients respond with the

pabulum: I always have an open door policy; I communicate openly and keep all my

direct reports in the loop; I do not micromanage; I ask for teams input; and so on.

Although there is nothing wrong with this response it does not paint you as an

inspiring leader for whom their team members will go above and beyond to deliver

the exceptional, not merely what is expected.

So, what would be a good response to this question: What is your management

style?

To answer this question one must reflect on what brings out the best in anyone

doing their job. Studies have shown that in a creative environment team members

do their best when they are given the freedom to pursue:

Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose

Lets look at each one and see how we can respond to the original question with a

compelling answer:

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Autonomyhas to do with how much freedom you are providing your team members

to operate within the framework that allows them to carry out their mission. So, for a

leader (or manager) to be effective their first order of business is to understand the

context in which the team members are expected to deliver what is required.

Autonomy excludes micromanaging. But, as a leader/manager you have the

responsibility to ensure that things stay on track when you provide this autonomy to

your team members. So, creating clear accountabilities up-front is an essential part

of providing autonomy.

Another factor that enters this discussion is being hands-on. Most people confuse

being hands-on with being a micro manager (on both sides of this conversation). So,

when the question of being hands-on comes up in this discussion, a good way to

clarify your style would be to say, Once I set the context for my project I provide my

team members the autonomy they need to create the best outcome. I set up clear

accountabilities and then provide oversight to ensure that things stay on track,

without micromanaging. Then repeat, I am very hands-on that way, but I do not

micromanage.

Masteryhas to do with ones desire to constantly get better at what they do. This

can happen in a variety to ways: Letting your team members take calculated risk forthem to learn new ways of doing things; mentoring them as they are navigating

through their project to find ways to improve things; challenging them to create new

outcomes, which they may not on their own; etc. By creating a leadership

environment where team members are encouraged to create new breakthroughs by

risk-taking and by constantly challenging them is a good way to help them seek

mastery.

Purposehas to do with why we are doing what we do. So, setting the context (see

Autonomy above) and tying that to the overall purpose of your work can be

presented in a compelling way. In a purpose-driven workplace team members are

driven by something larger than themselves. A good leader constantly reminds theirteam members of this purpose and keeps them inspired to do their very best. Often,

once the purpose is clear the leader does not even have to remind the team

members of what the purpose is. Purpose-driven teams breathe fire!

One other factor that can be added to this discussion is recognition and reward. If

team members show initiative, autonomy, take risks, and deliver the exceptional,

they must be recognized for their work. Sometimes, this happens through both

reward and acknowledgement of their contribution to success. As their leader you

have the responsibility to ensure that team members are properly acknowledged

and rewarded for their contributions.

So, there you have it. Once you understand the spirit of this idea of how a strong

leader/manager gets things done, you can package the message in a language that

works for you and then deliver your response to this all-important leadership

question.

Good luck!

Photo: Courtesy Compfight.com

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