天美传媒

Many motivations make a leader. We need to move beyond the 鈥渂orn to greatness鈥� stereotype to embrace slow-burn communal leadership.

Someone has to make a decision. Whether it鈥檚 an important business choice or a where-to-go-next scenario on a Saturday night, informal groups often come to an impasse with several options on the table and no clear winner. And then someone just seems to take the lead, and others follow. That person likely displays what we commonly think of as leadership traits 鈥� assertiveness and confidence 鈥� and others perceive that person as leadership material and are happy to hand over the reins.

Yet this is only one kind of leader, the kind who actively seeks out a starring role. In by 天美传媒鈥檚 Yih-Teen Lee, with Gouri Mohan, Dorothy R. Carter, Cynthia K. Maupin and Nathan T. Carter, the question of how leaders emerge is probed in some detail.

In studies of self-directed teams, where leadership emerges naturally, the authors discover that how a leader is chosen and valued can depend on where the team is in its life cycle. They also demonstrate that the most assertive person may not be the only good leader in the long term.

The motivations that make a leader

Shakespeare called this over four centuries ago with 鈥渟ome are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.鈥�

Effectively, there are a few distinct 鈥渨hys鈥� that motivate a person to lead. Broadly, we can classify them as a desire to lead based one鈥檚 identification with a leadership role and intrinsic desire, versus a communal motive that views leadership as a duty or service to others.

Typically, it鈥檚 the confident and self-motivated people we identify with leadership traits. This is the person most likely to take over a decision unsolicited. And when teams are newly formed and people don鈥檛 know one another鈥檚 abilities well, actions like speaking first, taking initiative and directing conversation serve as signals of competence. What is being evaluated is whether a person can lead.

On the other hand, communal, 鈥渙ther-oriented鈥� individuals are less concerned about the self and more about community. Their traits 鈥� including building trust, collaboration and empathy 鈥� aren鈥檛 as flashy as dominance and bravura. But as a team matures, these traits often come to matter more. They are associated with warmth and, in a new finding, with competence. What is being evaluated is whether a person should lead.

Leadership begets more leadership

Another quirk of leadership is that it鈥檚 often the early bird who gets the worm. Early leadership impressions are highly durable, meaning that those who are seen as having potential in the early days often stay ahead of the crowd. Once recognized as leaders, they often gain structural and psychological advantages that reinforce their influence.

Tracking teams over time, the study found that driven, ambitious leaders who stepped up during a team鈥檚 formation rose rapidly because they were perceived as highly competent. And those first perceptions became the lasting groundwork that helped these leaders remain leaders longer term.

However, although these leaders remained in power, they weren鈥檛 necessarily the only leaders. Instead, communal leaders, driven by duty and group care, eventually received 鈥渟low recognition鈥� as their interpersonal skills created a sense of warmth and competence. In essence: Driven leaders are born to greatness, whereas communal leaders achieve greatness or have it thrust upon them, and they are also great.

The delayed advantage of communal leadership

Past research has often promoted dominance and confidence as ideal leadership skills, but that鈥檚 because it often doesn鈥檛 look at the long term. It鈥檚 important to remember that leadership isn鈥檛 a one-time event. Even becoming a leader isn鈥檛 a one-time event. Instead, in self-managed teams, leaders continue to evolve and emerge.

Though communal leadership is often underestimated next to assertiveness 鈥� and perhaps, not coincidentally, consists of traits often associated with women 鈥� in organizations in which collaboration is key, it鈥檚 an essential profile to have on your roster.

Today鈥檚 workplaces often embrace a range of work styles, including informal shared-leadership structures, agile and self-managing teams, and dynamic teaming arrangements. In such contexts, it鈥檚 a serious oversight not to take advantage of leadership styles that are warm, collective and inclusive.

For organizations, the study recommends that leadership development programs:

• recognize and support leaders arriving from all motivational pathways.
• help communally minded leaders have access to resources earlier in their careers.
• buttress self-motivated leaders with techniques to grow sustainably and avoid backlash if early expectations aren鈥檛 met.

Organizations that recognize and cultivate different forms of motivation are better positioned to develop leaders who sustain healthy, effective and collaborative teams over time.

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