1. Grey Hair: This is probably, the most obvious way of earning respect and probably the most brute force way of doing it because you virtually have lived through many years of your career, understanding the industry or your functional area so very well that you are already an acknowledged expert. You are an industry leader or a well-known functional expert or a senior Consultant and your wealth of experience is testimony of your expertise. May be some of you didn’t physically age but the “Grey Hair” tag is a sobriquet for your acclaimed prowess. Your reputation earns you respect.
2.War stories: The second category is made up of those of you who have not necessarily clocked Malcom Gladwell’s (now) proverbial 10,000 hours of Managerial Wisdom but are rather those who lived through unique experiences or faced some tough situations or are armed with lateral experiences and invaluable life lessons that can influence stakeholders. You are sometimes the failed entrepreneur, an Olympic medalist, a retired Army captain, a reputed mountain climber, you served international assignments, or you are simply a gifted lateral thinker. Invariably you can connect the change situation to your own unique personal experiences and can support them with brilliant narratives of “been there, done that and hence this…” that can convince your stakeholders. While the ones with “Grey Hair” can probably emulate you with their share of “War Stories” but you got here much faster.
3. Empathetic Exhaustiveness: When you neither have the “Grey Hair” nor the “War Stories” to boot, the only way to earn the respect of your stakeholders is to sell the change through your hard work and deep understanding of the business issues. If you belong to this category, you walk the talk and do not flinch from burning the midnight oil. You will go to any extent to get your homework done, analyzing every piece of information, and getting your hands dirty in the market or at the shop floor. And you don’t just stop at the hard facts, you make sure that you understand every stakeholder, their experiences and their motivations. Because this is the only way you can convince your stakeholder by demonstrating your comprehensive understanding of the business and the way it really impacts the stakeholders. You empathetically address issues and place the irrefutable rationale for the change. And hence you earn respect through Empathetic Exhaustiveness.
These are the three distinct Change Leadership styles I have witnessed and I’m keen to learn about other types from your experiences.
