POST WRITTEN BY
Lynda Reid, EdD, PCC
Dr. Lynda Reid Author. Speaker. Neuroscience-based coaching. Clients move from insight – to action – to actualization. Expanding Potential.
Who you are as a leader and how you lead is defined by your relationship to others and begins with your relationship with yourself. Why you lead and how you lead relate directly to your inner motivators and cultural context (the values, beliefs and practices you were raised with). Those motivators impact the relationships you have with your team members and yourself.
Each of us is motivated by leanings toward independence (perceiving the world through the lens of “I”) and interdependence (perceiving the world through the lens of “we”). Social science research links our leanings in part to our cultural context, with western European and North American cultures more independent and Asian and Latin American cultures more interdependent. Many of those leanings play out at an unconscious level, and being a leader adds another layer of complexity to the dance between the two.
Understanding how your desires for independence and interdependence play out in your leadership abilities is an essential starting point for learning to focus on and foster the skills that will allow you to lead the dance between the two, expanding your leadership potential.
Independence Strengths
The stronger your orientation toward independence, the more comfortable you are with the isolation of your role. Drawing boundaries between you and your direct reports comes naturally. Independence allows you to make decisions and respond to situations with timeliness and efficiency. When work is not done to your satisfaction, you step in and do it yourself. You are risk-averse, desiring to always be in control.
Interdependence Strengths
The greater your desire to build your team, foster relationships and empower individuals, the further your leadership leans toward interdependence. As an interdependent leader, you are comfortable committing the time needed for providing ongoing feedback that fosters individual learning and growth. You thrive on risk-taking and use failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.
The Cautions At Each End Of The Spectrum
While there is a sense of control and tidiness in independent leadership, isolating yourself from your team limits your ability to understand their needs and foster their individual and team potential. Independent leadership leads to a sense of control, speed and efficiency. Yet, the stronger your need to control, the greater your need to micromanage. Micromanaging robs your direct reports of learning, devalues their sense of worth and fosters resentment, which can lead to mediocrity and higher staff turnover.
As an interdependent leader, you can get so involved in understanding and fostering individuals that it becomes difficult for you and your team members to see the line between friendship and leadership. Successful interdependent leadership requires the ability to demonstrate to your stakeholders that the time needed to teach and empower your team pays off in increased productivity, creativity and staff retention.
The Dance
Expanding your leadership potential requires you to learn to dance between the two ends of the independence-interdependence spectrum, from an “I” mindset to a “we” mindset. Allow yourself the flexibility to shift and foster your leadership potential. Visualize your leadership as a dance by asking yourself questions like:
• Am I dancing a solo?
• How can I invite others to join in?
• How can I support them in learning the “dance” (the knowledge, skills and attitudes)?
• How can I invite and allow others to take the lead?
• How can I learn the steps of others to adapt the dance, allowing it to evolve into something new and unique?
Leading from the independent end of the spectrum by pulling back from your team and allowing them to own their roles and their failures is necessary once you have invested the interdependence time in building respectful relationships that have fostered their learning and aptitudes. The dance continues with each new employee and every new organizational demand.
POST WRITTEN BY
Lynda Reid, EdD, PCC
Dr. Lynda Reid Author. Speaker. Neuroscience-based coaching. Clients move from insight – to action – to actualization. Expanding Potential.
Who you are as a leader and how you lead is defined by your relationship to others and begins with your relationship with yourself. Why you lead and how you lead relate directly to your inner motivators and cultural context (the values, beliefs and practices you were raised with). Those motivators impact the relationships you have with your team members and yourself.
Each of us is motivated by leanings toward independence (perceiving the world through the lens of “I”) and interdependence (perceiving the world through the lens of “we”). Social science research links our leanings in part to our cultural context, with western European and North American cultures more independent and Asian and Latin American cultures more interdependent. Many of those leanings play out at an unconscious level, and being a leader adds another layer of complexity to the dance between the two.
Understanding how your desires for independence and interdependence play out in your leadership abilities is an essential starting point for learning to focus on and foster the skills that will allow you to lead the dance between the two, expanding your leadership potential.
Independence Strengths
The stronger your orientation toward independence, the more comfortable you are with the isolation of your role. Drawing boundaries between you and your direct reports comes naturally. Independence allows you to make decisions and respond to situations with timeliness and efficiency. When work is not done to your satisfaction, you step in and do it yourself. You are risk-averse, desiring to always be in control.
Interdependence Strengths
The greater your desire to build your team, foster relationships and empower individuals, the further your leadership leans toward interdependence. As an interdependent leader, you are comfortable committing the time needed for providing ongoing feedback that fosters individual learning and growth. You thrive on risk-taking and use failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.
The Cautions At Each End Of The Spectrum
While there is a sense of control and tidiness in independent leadership, isolating yourself from your team limits your ability to understand their needs and foster their individual and team potential. Independent leadership leads to a sense of control, speed and efficiency. Yet, the stronger your need to control, the greater your need to micromanage. Micromanaging robs your direct reports of learning, devalues their sense of worth and fosters resentment, which can lead to mediocrity and higher staff turnover.
As an interdependent leader, you can get so involved in understanding and fostering individuals that it becomes difficult for you and your team members to see the line between friendship and leadership. Successful interdependent leadership requires the ability to demonstrate to your stakeholders that the time needed to teach and empower your team pays off in increased productivity, creativity and staff retention.
The Dance
Expanding your leadership potential requires you to learn to dance between the two ends of the independence-interdependence spectrum, from an “I” mindset to a “we” mindset. Allow yourself the flexibility to shift and foster your leadership potential. Visualize your leadership as a dance by asking yourself questions like:
• Am I dancing a solo?
• How can I invite others to join in?
• How can I support them in learning the “dance” (the knowledge, skills and attitudes)?
• How can I invite and allow others to take the lead?
• How can I learn the steps of others to adapt the dance, allowing it to evolve into something new and unique?
Leading from the independent end of the spectrum by pulling back from your team and allowing them to own their roles and their failures is necessary once you have invested the interdependence time in building respectful relationships that have fostered their learning and aptitudes. The dance continues with each new employee and every new organizational demand.