One of the biggest insights that has been coming up for people recently, whilst attending my leadership workshops, has been related to their preferred leadership position. Very often when we think of leadership we assume that the leader has to be at the front, leading the charge. And yes the leader does need to set the direction for the business, but they don’t need to stay in that leadership position all the time. Sometimes they might find that leading from the back, or indeed the side might be a better solution.
So What Are The Three Positions of Leadership?
In his book Dances With Horses, Klaus Ferdinand-Hempfling identified three positions of leadership that operate on a pull-push basis and when used appropriately can achieve significant results. Position One is Leading From The Front. This leadership position is most effective in an emergency, when you need people to follow you with no negotiation. It is also a great leadership position for the CEO of a business who needs to set the strategy and direction of the business and show others where to go. However, for team members it can dis-empower them as there is no flexibility to make decisions.
Position Three is Leading From Behind. From this position you can see everything happening in front of you and so can easily course correct if things go off track. It’s a leadership position where you effectively orchestrate the energy of the group and add momentum to what is happening. Team members feel empowered however, unless the team know where you are heading, chaos can erupt as everyone heads in different directions.
Leading From The Side is Leadership Position Two. It is a very collaborative style of leadership and a great place to be to form connection with your team members. It is the place of true partnership, and is a role that all great leaders must engage in to build relationships. However, if a leader stays in this position for too long nothing gets accomplished as no-one is leading the process.
The three different positions of leadership are derived from the way that a wild horse herd operates. Typically what you will find is that within the herd there is a lead mare who operates at the front of the herd and it is her job to find suitable grazing for the herd. She navigates where to go based on the weather conditions and the needs of her herd. Do they need food, water, shelter? Whatever they need she seeks out for them.
However, in the herd leadership is not a one horse job. It is shared and this is why you will always find the lead mare working in collaboration with the lead stallion. He positions himself at the back of the herd. From here he has great perspective on what is happening in front of him. He is easily able to keep an eye out for approaching danger and keep the herd united by influencing the direction and pace that everyone is moving in.
When grazing the lead mare will often mingle with the herd and adopt leadership position two whilst checking in to ensure the rest of the herd are safe.
Great leaders recognise that the art of great leadership is knowing when to adopt each leadership position, and be able to effortlessly move between the different positions as required. That said, in my experience leaders often have a preference for one position of leadership over another. Do you know what yours is?
Once you know your preferred leadership position you can then enlist the support of others with differing preferences to help you share the leadership role. After all I think we would all agree that in todays rapidly changing environment there is simply no way that just one person can shoulder all the leadership responsibility. It needs to be Shared amongst the team, so that everyone takes responsibility and contributes to the business success.
This is what one of my clients realised after learning about the three different leadership positions: “No wonder I’m exhausted. I’ve being trying to perform all three leadership roles myself. I now see how one minute I’m setting the business strategy (position one) then I’m running back to position three to energise the business, then back to position one, and then next position two. Now I recognise this I can see how I need to enrol others to help me share the leadership. This will give me more energy and focus and help us make our team more productive”.
If you would like to experience the three different leadership positions and discover your preferred role, then why not join me on my next open workshop, where we will be exploring how to Lead On-The-Hoof and develop the leadership skills you need to be successful in today’s environment. Simply click here to find out more.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
