Seven Transformations of Leadership

Style: Focuses on gaining control of own behavior; seeks to please higher-status colleagues while avoiding conflict

Found In: Primarily junior management roles (80% at junior levels), customer service, support roles 

Examples: Often found in front-line supervisor positions, customer service representatives, nurse practitioners 

Benefits: Provides social glue; ensures attention to others' needs; good team players 

Pitfalls: Avoids necessary conflict; cannot give challenging feedback; struggles with change initiatives

Style: Exercises control through knowledge and expertise; relies on logic and data 

Found In: Professional services, technical roles, analysts, engineers, consultants 

Examples: Scott McNealy (Sun Microsystems) 

Benefits: Great individual contributors; pursuit of continuous improvement; efficiency-focused 

Pitfalls: My-way-or-highway attitude; views collaboration as waste of time; dismissive of others' opinions

Style: Creates positive environment focused on deliverables; balances managerial and strategic tasks 

Found In: Mid to senior management roles, particularly in established organizations 

Examples: Many successful middle-market company leaders 

Benefits: Creates positive work environment; good at meeting strategic goals; effective at managing diverse stakeholders 

Pitfalls: Can inhibit outside-the-box thinking; may clash with Expert subordinates

Style: Recognizes both personal and organizational paradoxes; interacts well with different action logics 

Found In: Creative organizations, consulting firms, innovative startups 

Examples: Unconventional but highly effective project leaders 

Benefits: Strong at unique problem-solving; effective communication across levels; highly adaptable 

Pitfalls: May ignore rules they deem irrelevant; can create organizational tension; sometimes seen as wild cards

Style: Focus on organizational constraints and transformations; creates shared visions across action logics 

Found In: Senior executive positions, particularly in transforming organizations 

Examples: Joan Bavaria (Trillium Asset Management) 

Benefits: Excellent change agents; comfortable with conflict; effective at organizational transformation

Pitfalls: Rare to find; may struggle in traditionally structured organizations

Style: Generates social transformations; integrates material, spiritual, and societal transformation 

Found In: Extremely rare; typically involved with multiple organizations simultaneously 

Examples: Nelson Mandela 

Benefits: Able to renew/reinvent organizations; highly effective at dealing with immediate and long-term priorities 

Pitfalls: Very rare to find; may be too focused on long-term transformation for some organizations' immediate needs

Expert → Achiever: Move from technical mastery to people leadership. Success comes through embracing multiple approaches, developing delegation skills, and shifting focus from perfect solutions to achieving results through others.

Achiever → Individualist: Evolve from pure results orientation to deeper questioning. Focus moves from "how" to "why," with growth through self-reflection, diverse perspectives, and questioning assumptions.

Individualist → Strategist: Transform from personal effectiveness to systems thinking. Create sustainable organizational change through collaborative leadership.