About the Guest(s):

Bob Kaiser: Bob Kaiser is a seasoned leadership expert with over 26 years of experience studying leadership versatility. He is a co-author of numerous leadership studies and articles, focusing on effective management strategies.

Rin Sherman: Rin Sherman is a respected thought leader in the field of organizational psychology and leadership effectiveness. With decades of practical and research experience, she frequently publishes insights on leadership dynamics and team performance.

Robert Hogan: Robert Hogan is the President of Hogan Assessments, a renowned personality assessment company. With a strong academic background and extensive practical experience, he is widely regarded as an authority on personality and leadership.

Episode Summary:

In this episode, the hosts delve into a fascinating Harvard Business Review article on leadership versatility by Bob Kaiser, Rin Sherman, and Robert Hogan. Highlighting that truly versatile leaders are surprisingly rare — less than 10% can adeptly balance being both forceful and supportive or strategic and operational — the discussion emphasizes the growing importance of versatility in leadership roles.

They explore the correlation between versatility and positive outcomes such as increased employee engagement, team agility, and overall effectiveness. Significantly, versatility is identified as a learned trait, rooted in self-awareness, and honed through challenging experiences. The episode stresses that leaders must understand their own tendencies to prevent their strengths from turning into weaknesses due to overuse.

Key Takeaways:

Leadership Versatility is Rare: Less than 10% of leaders manage to balance various traits like being forceful and supportive or strategic and operational.

Self-Awareness is Crucial: Understanding one’s own tendencies and thinking patterns is the foundation for developing versatility.

Growth Through Discomfort: Real learning and growth often come from stepping out of comfort zones.

Impact on Outcomes: Versatility in leadership is strongly correlated with positive leadership outcomes like enhanced employee engagement and team productivity.

Communication and Feedback: Effective communication and staying open to feedback are essential for maintaining self-awareness and self-regulation in leadership.

Notable Quotes:

"If you're comfortable, you're probably not learning. If you're learning, then you're probably not very comfortable."

"It also does not surprise me that [versatility] is rare, that someone having the ability to be both strategic and operational and operate in all these different spaces."

"The very best leaders are those that keep a healthy amount of skepticism and curiosity about how other people experience them."

"As you climb the chart, you would think that, ‘Oh, I have more experiences under my belt,’ but actually you get more unaware of self."

"Can I figure out in this moment, what does my team need of me? What does my organization need of me? What is the market telling me?"

Resources:

Harvard Business Review Article on Leadership Versatility by Bob Kaiser, Rin Sherman, and Robert Hogan

For more information on Robert Hogan's work, visit Hogan Assessments.