The Performance Leader

If you’re a performance leader, you’re likely a driven go-getter. You’re disciplined and hard-working. You’re always looking for opportunities to grow, constantly seeking to be better than the day before, just as James Clear, the writer of Atomic Habits says in his article on continuous improvement.

Because performance leaders strive for excellence.

As a performance leader you might be:

◾ A team leader who turns an underperforming department into an exceptional one.
◾ A CEO who revives a company’s fortune and creates a culture of success
◾ An aspiring leader who is patiently rising up the ranks through a combination of hard work, innovation, and high performance.

The challenge is that such dedication can come at a big cost.

Performance leaders are at the highest risk of burnout.

They’re often plagued by imposter syndrome, secretly fearing they will be “found out” and/or letting themselves and others down. They often rely on external validation, which can undermine their self-confidence further, make decision-making harder, and cause disconnection from self.

They can also be so zeroed in on their goals and achieving results that the bigger picture slips their mind.

So do you think your dominant leadership style is performance? You can find out through this 3-min quiz!

The Purpose Leader

If you’re a purpose leader, you’re likely considered inspiring, empathetic and encouraging. You’re all about people and relationships. You might be somewhat of a visionary with dreams or plans to bring some big, hairy audacious goals to life!

This is how Simon Sinek worded it:

“Average leaders give people something to work on, great leaders give people something to work for!”

As a purpose leader, you might be:

◾ An empowering manager committed to supporting your team members to achieve their full potential, or
◾ A passionate intrapreneur, driven by a powerful sense of purpose, and dedicated to making a positive impact wherever you work.
◾ A parent, pillar of your community or simply someone who inspires the people around them to do or think different.

Often as purpose leaders, though we be impatient. We can spread ourselves too thin, so dedicated to making the world a better place for those we care about (and often those we’ve never met), that we neglect our own needs. Burnout, as for performance leaders, is a watch-out for purpose leaders.

Finally, purpose leaders tend to fear NOT being able to make (enough) of a difference, neglecting their loved ones and wasting time (as a lot of their work is sometimes intangible).

So, to what extent do you recognise the purpose leader in you?

The Wellbeing Leader

Wellbeing leaders know that our health and happiness are the true source of wealth. Money and status are meaningless when we don’t have health or our loved ones are sick.

For those of us who get to work with the wellbeing leaders, we’re lucky because they will make sure we put our oxygen masks first!

Wellbeing leaders know how to enjoy life and have fun. They’re often wise, offering a vital perspective to a work-obsessed world. They appreciate there’s more to life than work, and it’s to be enjoyed.

Through their action, they champion the phrase “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” They focus on what’s most important first, the foundation for how we can show up and the impact we can make in the world, our wellbeing.

As a wellbeing leader, you may be:

◾ The culture champion who recognises the importance of employee wellbeing and, after facing persistence from profit-focused executives, manages to implement policies and initiatives to promote mental health and work-life balance through sustainable cultural change.
◾ Or, an HR manager who, knowing that employee wellbeing is closely linked to a sense of belonging and inclusion and commits to promoting diversity and inclusion within the workplace where all employees feel valued and supported.
◾ Or, the person people turn to when they need to for ideas on a team event, how to lighten the load or inject a bit of fun into work.

However, one of the challenges many wellbeing leaders face is a perception of self-interest, aloof or even flaky.

They, themselves, can experience volatility or overthink. Leaning on their own wellbeing practices to support them in coping.

They may also fear that they’ll lose the connection to themselves and their loved ones and/or that they will lose control.