Types of Leaders

There are 11 different types of leaders I’ve met or studied in my career. Each type can be effective in leading other people, and you can be more than one type of leader as you go about trying to influence your target audience to improve the desired outcome.

11 Types of Leaders

1. The Researcher – this person’s advice is based on data and carefully selected examples from the past.
2. The Exemplar – this person’s behaviors and personal choices model the desired performance so well that he or she influences other people simply by being watched.
3. The Motivator – this person provides inspiring words with an inspiring tone.
4. The Teacher – this person breaks down the idea and explains it so well that other people truly get it and can run with it even when he or she is not present.
5. The Visionary – this person describes a compelling dream of what the future can look like and that vision is what people hold on to as they go about their daily activities.
6. The Storyteller – this person tells stories that convey a powerful point.
7. The Coach – this person engages the other person in a conversation and offers advice based on observed behavior.
8. The Facilitator – this person asks open-ended questions and gets multiple people involved in developing the answers.
9. The Collaborator – this person exchanges ideas with the other person and works together with the other person to develop even better ideas.
10. The Dictator – this person tells people exactly what to do and how to do it, but this approach is generally only useful in dramatic life-or-death situations.
11. The Organizer – this person influences other people based on the roles he or she places them in and the way resources are distributed.

Assemble Your Leadership Plan
Write down how you will influence the individuals that you want to guide toward achieving better results in your organization's most important desired outcomes. Which type or types of leadership are you going to provide to influence them to think about what you want them to think about?