Management Perspectives

In today’s demanding world, inspirational leaders need a range of highly-developed skills. Knowing which skills to deploy in different circumstances and embracing a balanced approach can transform your leadership style for the better. We have all met leaders who are gifted in a particular area. However, when they apply that one skill to every situation regardless of the facts, poor results are not far behind. Leaders with such a narrow skill set are at risk of becoming the one-trick ponies of the leadership world, lacking breadth and nuance in their approach. As one former colleague described the limited style of a peer’s leadership, “When you are a hammer, all you see is nails.” The pitfalls of one-dimensional leadership include prioritising performance relentlessly, snatching tasks with a “give it here” instruction or being overly empathetic without providing direction. Each of these settings can be effective in the short term. But, over time, they inject alienation, stifled growth and poor motivation within teams.

These are hardly the desired outcomes anyone wants from their leadership. Just as one size does not fit all, one leadership skill is not appropriate to every situation. The question is: how can leaders expand their repertoire of skills and apply the right skills at the right time so that they inspire rather than alienate others? As described in my book, Firecracker Leadership, the answer lies in mastering fifteen essential leadership skills grouped under three categories: head, hands and heart. In summary, great leaders have head, hands and heart skills in abundance and in balance. They have everything they need to apply the right approach to the situation at hand.

Head skills (brainpower): The head skills represent the best of your brainpower. These skills equate to the command centre of your leadership. They allow you to make the most of your intellect in analysing information, detecting patterns and formulating solutions. Proficient head skills enable you to set purpose and meaningful goals that inspire others to bring their commitment, energy and effort to the task of achieving a shared vision.

Hands skills (technical ability): Hands skills enable you to translate thought and knowledge into action. From technical prowess to effective communication, hands skills are all about developing expertise, doing the work, showing the way by example, embracing high standards and encouraging others to learn and grow.

Heart skills (emotional intelligence): Heart skills are the foundation of good people skills, trust and effective working relationships. Leaders with strong heart skills bring genuine care, empathy and positive values into the workplace. They understand others and are comfortable expressing gratitude, emotion and vulnerability. Effective leaders draw on skills in all three areas to shape their approach. But what happens when a leader lacks skills in one area and relies too heavily on just their head or hands or heart skills? Unfortunately for these leaders, their skills are not in balance, and they can expect the pitfalls of the onetrick pony to loom large. When head skills are too dominant, the focus is entirely on results without nuance. This approach can be effective in the shortterm, but over time, if it is unrelenting, teams lose motivation. They begin to feel treated as a commodity and become alienated from the leader who is constantly cracking the performance whip.

The leader who was compared to being a hammer who only saw nails is the exemplar of being too head-driven. That leader was completely uninterested in understanding anything about colleagues, their development needs or their feelings. Every problem was a performance problem, and every solution was framed as a need to improve performance. Understandably, those who worked for him felt dehumanised and demotivated by his style, resulting in a very high turnover of staff. When hands skills are too dominant, the technically gifted leader may be so focused on their own ability to get the job done well and quickly, that they say, “Give it here,” taking over the doing and forgetting about the leading. This approach leaves team members feeling undermined, untrusted and without the guidance and encouragement they need to develop and grow their own skills to a proficient level. I worked with a colleague who embraced the “give it here” mantra with the best of intentions. He was new to his board-level role and was keen to make an impact. He thought the quickest way to a win was to take on the writing of a technology strategy himself. When it was pointed out to him that his approach was denying his team the opportunity to learn from him, to develop their skills and to feel trusted, he was able to adjust his plan and get his approach into balance. It took longer to produce the strategy, but it was a good opportunity for team members to learn, contribute and hone their ability to implement the end result.

When heart skills are too dominant, the overly-empathetic leader gets lost in the moment and becomes caught up in demonstrating their wealth of compassion and understanding at the cost of injecting urgency, a clear direction or high expectations for results. Heart-driven leaders are often people pleasers who find it challenging to make a decision that might be unpopular or might affect relationships. I observed a very caring leader who made the fundamental mistake of blurring friendship and leadership. When the pressure was on, this leader would swerve asking team members to take on additional tasks or to accept operational changes that they did not like. Ultimately, this leader lacked insight and could not see that being too concerned about others’ feelings was limiting the team’s ability to function.

It can be challenging to recognise a lack of balance in leadership skill, but for the heart-dominant leader, the cost of muddling along can take an emotional toll and lead to burnout. Balancing these three elements—head, hands, and heart—is what sets the effective and inspiring leader apart from the one-trick ponies of the leadership world. Achieving balance in your leadership skills creates the results every business wants, including high-performing, motivated teams who feel valued, appreciated and recognised. Inspirational leaders rarely face recruitment or retention problems because their approach attracts and nurtures ambitious talent. You can check if your skills are in abundance and in balance by rating your proficiency in the skills listed in my Firecracker Leadership Framework*. If you are out of balance and have skills weighted in only one area, choose one or two improvement areas at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Work your way through the framework, maintaining areas of strength and methodically tackling improvement areas one after another. What if you are unsure how to rate your skills and want to know if others perceive your leadership as inspirational or singletrack? Seek feedback from sources you trust to tell you the truth, or, better yet, ask a colleague to circulate an anonymous 360 feedback survey on your skills so you can gain insight and prioritise the areas you most need to improve. You can use the Firecracker Leadership Framework as the prompt to seek feedback. This will help you identify the areas of strength you want to maintain as well as the gaps you need to prioritise. Do not despair if you sense you may be a one-trick pony at the moment. The mastery of effective leadership skills is there for any leader who is committed to achieving a balanced approach. The first step is to keep an open mind. Be willing to identify where you lack balance and then commit to the practical action you can take to strengthen gaps. It only takes insight and a commitment to improve to start you on your way.