7 Key Tensions Every Leader Must Balance

In decades past, executives were usually taught to practice command-and-control leadership. Today they’re often advised to be more nimble, more adaptive, and less controlling. The truth is that most executives need to be able to move back and forth between those two leadership styles. IMD leadership professor and social psychologist Jennifer Jordan offers tactics for navigating these tensions.

More on this topic from HBR:

00:00 The 7 traditional vs emerging leadership styles
03:30 Why do I need to balance these styles?
04:35 How do I know which style to use?
05:35 Who in the business world balances styles well?
07:36 What if I’m not good at a certain style?
09:16 Do people still need strong leadership?

Produced by Scott LaPierre
Video by IMD
Animation and design by Alex Belser

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[groooobytooby]

What??? You can slide between every style depending on the situation ….. that’s a true leader. There is a time for everything.

[soulsearch]

When I intently watch a video that am assuming I like (or can like), I wait for that moment when it climaxes for me in value, to then give it a like. This video started with the pyramid principle in mind, giving me the clear path of where it is heading. Couldn’t resist, and gave it a like from the get-go. 🎉

[LauraBeez]

All 7 Key Tensions require a tremendous amount of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and ability to read the room.
Traditional ... Emerging
Power Holder ... Power Sharer
Tactician ... Visionary
Constant ... Adapter
Perfectionist ... Accelerator
Intuitionist ... Analyst
Miner ... Prospector
Teller ... Listener

[returningtoperfection]

Based on this analysis I see the traditional leader as someone who has a foundation but is stuck in cement unable to move anywhere meaningful.

An emerging leader is like a kite flying in the wind, although they can fly they are grounded by a flimsy piece of string, one cut in the correct place and then the lite flies away without any hope of salvation.

A good leader should be like the moon in the river. It is foundational, unchanging always moving forward aiming for the stars and preparing to move into bigger better and wider.

[lappynet]

I love this. Definitely going to look into this topic further

[matthiasgeiger]

So we are using Mathias Döpfner, a person, who makes a fortune out of spreading misinformation and hate as an example by Harvard Business Review? Bold.

[Deanforbes]

This is interesting. Does this reach outside the business workplace as well?

[BenWalsh-tifd]

It’s really sad how few CEOs have any of these traits and they were mostly elevated through nepotism. They seem to only know two strategies; increase leanness because they don’t understand how to truly invest resources and people to experience true value creation and of course the fake it till you make your next offer. Meritocracy is a myth to distract the corporate peasants.

[ahmedmohareb]

"...powerShare is someone who shares power". how enlightening.

[HereTheHeckOfIt]

Leadership flaws seem to affect people way more in the long-term. Also, there is nobody in existence that has all seven qualities. Good luck - to all of us, I guess 🤷‍♂️

[sengs.]

you can add the hammer ( holder side) versus the screwer ( sharer side ), either way the toxic manager

[chefrobpengson]

Problem with Harvard is they dont have timeless wisdom, they have a lot of modernk knowledge

[jeremyherschler]

Underlying all of this is the contextual intelligence to understand the scene in order to respond appropriately. Without an appreciation of context and its message or implied directives, you'll never know what to do to lead well. How about creating a video on the art of contextual intelligence? We all need to be sort of cultural anthropologists and appreciate the zeitgeist or public mood...

[frankcramer]

Davis Melissa Rodriguez Daniel Moore Donna