Every leadership training emphasizes that leadership behavior is a choice.
Individuals are free to choose their leadership behavior based on the situation and conditions they face. Different contexts require different leadership behaviors. Leadership training assumes that people can easily shift their leadership behaviors. However, simply having leadership knowledge does not automatically lead to a change in leadership behavior. Changing leadership behavior requires a change in mindset. This change in mindset is greatly influenced by how effectively a growth mindset can shift from dominant to less dominant intelligence mindset. A growth mindset facilitates a whole mindset, making it easier for leaders to switch between different leadership behaviors according to the situation and context quickly and effectively.
Whole Mind Leadership explains why individuals often exhibit different leadership behaviors even in the same or different contexts. Even within the same organization, followers might wonder why leaders at the same or different management levels display different leadership behaviors. For example, a leader in the accounting department may choose an authoritarian leadership style, while the marketing department might adopt a democratic approach. Similarly, leaders at different levels within the same department might use different styles: a marketing director might be transactional, a marketing manager might be servant-oriented, and a marketing supervisor might exhibit transformational behavior. Such differences in leadership behavior within the same department or organization can lead to ineffective leadership.
Differences in leadership behavior are largely influenced by the leader's mindset. The same business problems and opportunities are interpreted differently depending on whether the leader is a Thinker, Lover, Dreamer, or Challenger. To a Thinker, business is logical. Thinkers approach problems and opportunities by creating plans, rules, and procedures. Challengers view business as a political contest and resolve issues through negotiation and political tactics. Lovers emphasize ethics in business, believing that problems and opportunities should be addressed by prioritizing ethics and building a business ecosystem. Dreamers, with their imaginative approach, see business as an illusion focused on new ideas for solving problems and seizing opportunities. These different mindsets for solving problems and seizing opportunities lead to variations in the leadership behaviors that leaders choose. The dominant intelligence mindset of a leader will greatly influences their leadership style.
A Thinker with a rational thinking style tends to use plans, rules, and procedures to guide and control their followers. Thinkers are inclined towards administrative, regulatory, and planning behaviors in leadership. Bureaucratic leadership is often chosen by Thinkers because it values adherence to plans, rules, and procedures, leading to a more organized and planned organization. Efficiency in the organization might be achieved by working like a machine. Although this approach can achieve efficiency by working like a machine, it can also make the organization slower and more rigid. A Thinker’s choice of bureaucratic leadership relies on a culture of compliance. They believe that the more people comply, the more effective their leadership will be. In contrast, Challengers, Lovers, and Dreamers find it very challenging to adopt a bureaucratic leadership style.
Challengers, who focus on winning, urgency, motivation, agility, and political maneuvering, are inclined towards authoritarian leadership. For Challengers, an authoritarian leader who is an achiever, motivator, and competitor are effective. Achievers set targets for their followers, focusing on results rather than processes. The role of a competitor helps leaders remain flexible in adapting to market changes to win business competitions. Skillful tactics and political maneuvering enable leaders to achieve set targets. Additionally, the behavior of a motivator energizes followers to have a strong desire to succeed in business competition. Challengers prefer an authoritarian style because they believe they alone understand market changes. Market culture oriented towards winning is driven by these three Challenger leadership behaviors. It is expected that everyone will work as if they are competing or at war. Dreamers, Lovers, and Thinkers find it difficult to adopt an authoritarian leadership style.
Transactional leadership combines elements of Thinker and Challenger behaviors. The management-by-exception dimension (both active and passive) aligns with administrative, regulatory, and planning roles. Thinkers ensure compliance with plans, rules, and procedures through active and passive supervision. The contingent reward dimension, which provides rewards for achievements, aligns with the Challenger's focus on achieving, motivating, and competing. Rewards enhance the motivation of Challengers in reaching targets and defeating competitors. Transactional leadership builds market culture with contingent rewards, which Lovers and Dreamers find challenging to adopt.
Lovers, who are sensitive, tend to favor democratic leadership. They prioritize people in leadership processes, wanting everyone to view the workplace as a second home. A clan culture reflects this, with democratic leadership providing space for everyone to voice their opinions. Lovers value empathy, ethics, and fairness in decision-making, even if it is not logical. They respect majority opinions in decisions. For Thinkers, Challengers, and Dreamers, adopting a democratic leadership style is extremely challenging. A Thinker will find it difficult to accept democratic leadership because it is not logical. A Challenger will be impatient because involving many voices takes time. A Dreamer will disagree because the outcome of decisions may not necessarily be future-oriented.
Servant leadership, which focuses on nurturing through wisdom, altruistic calling, emotional healing, persuasive mapping, and organizational stewardship, is highly favored by those who prefer the parent figure, mentor, and role model behaviors. Servant leadership requires leading by example, where a leader’s role model life is crucial for followers. A lover will easily embody the role of a caring parent. Organizations will benefit greatly from an ethical lover who contributes significantly. Each individual is believed to have strengths and weaknesses, which can be addressed through the mentoring behavior of a Lover. Emotional healing is ensured through the parent figure behavior. Thinkers, Challengers, and Dreamers find it very challenging to adopt servant leadership.
Paternalistic leadership, which emphasizes both authoritarian and benevolent approaches, is a combination of Challenger and Lover behaviors. The parent figure and role model behaviors facilitate the benevolent dimension of paternalistic leadership. Meanwhile, the achiever, motivator, and competitor behaviors justify the authoritarian aspect of paternalistic leadership. The result is a compassionate form of authoritarian leadership. Dreamers and Thinkers will find it difficult to adopt paternalistic leadership behaviors.
Entrepreneurial leadership, which emphasizes innovation and risk-taking, is naturally chosen by imaginative and creative Dreamers. Dreamers want a creative culture within the organization to uncover various mysteries in work. Trend watchers are often aligned with visionary entrepreneurs who create the future. Innovators are suitable for entrepreneurs as they offer diverse new ideas in business. Change agents, inherent in entrepreneurs, are ideal for building competitiveness and moving forward in line with the future they create. Thinkers predict the future, Challengers value momentum, Lovers are anchored in the past, while Dreamers create the future. A Thinker’s mindset will struggle with new ideas due to fear of risk. A Lover’s mindset, which focuses on people, may resist new ideas if followers do not agree or if they become victims of change. A Challenger’s mindset, with its intrigue and politics, will reject changes if the benefits are unclear. Thinkers, Challengers, and Lovers will find it difficult to adopt entrepreneurial leadership.
Transformational leadership is easily exhibited by leaders with a Dreamer and Lover mindset. Transformational leadership, which offers the 4I's (idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and individual consideration), is particularly suited for leaders who prioritize emotions and idolize change. Trend watchers, innovators, and change agents facilitate intellectual stimulation in transformational leadership. Trend watchers and role models contribute to a leader’s idealized influence through charisma. The parent figure and mentor roles support individual consideration in transformational leadership. Inspirational motivation can only be effectively practiced by leaders who also exhibit mentoring and change agent behaviors. Thinkers and Challengers find it difficult to perform transformational leadership behavior.
Strategic leadership embodies the mindset of Dreamers and Thinkers. New strategic ideas are best generated by trend watchers, innovators, and change agents. Every strategic idea must be effectively communicated to followers through a Thinker who emphasizes planning, rules, and procedures in strategic planning. Challengers and Lovers, who focus on action, find it challenging to adopt strategic leadership behavior.
Leaders with a growth mindset are expected to develop all four intelligence mindset they possess. A strong desire to use less dominant intelligence mindset facilitates a Whole Mindset. A whole mindset allows a leader to exhibit dynamic leadership behaviors. Leadership behaviors grounded in a growth mindset are referred to as Whole Mind Leadership. Leaders displaying various types of leadership behaviors can address various problems, opportunities, and situations. Whole Mind Leadership enables a leader to adopt bureaucratic, authoritarian, transactional, democratic, servant, paternalistic, entrepreneurial, transformational, and strategic leadership behaviors tailored to specific situations and contexts. Growth mindset helps leaders make "clicks" like Thanos in the Avengers movies to shift their mindset and leadership behaviors. Leadership behavior is a choice when a leader has a Whole Mindset, but it is not a choice when a leader has a partial mindset shaped by dominant intelligence alone. Whole mind leadership, which offers dynamic leadership behaviors, is well-suited for disruptive business environments that present uncertainty. In such contexts, leaders must approach business as logic, politics, ethics, and mystic. They should cultivate a culture that is compliant, market-oriented, caring, and creative, and build an efficient working atmosphere akin to a machine, race, family, and mysteries oriented towards finding better ways of working.
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