Test if Your Leadership Style Attracts Clients
Your leadership style will determine how attractive you are to clients, according to Robert M. Galford, Managing Partner of the Center for Executive Development in Boston. He identifies six kinds of leaders and offers a quick online test so you can see what kind of leader you are:
1. An Ambassador (breaking ground without breaking glass)
2. An Advocate (taking up a cause or a mission)
3. Creative builder (an innovator)
4. Truth-Seeker (assuring that things are equitable)
5. A People-Mover (focusing on helping people, perhaps mentoring others)
6. Experienced Guide (to whom people turn for good, solid advice on a range of topics)
I took the test and scored best at being a "People Mover," with scores for "Ambassador," "Builder/Creator" and "Experienced Guide" close behind.
Galford views this as legacy thinking: "Clients these days are hardly unsophisticated. They usually can sense when a lawyer truly believes in (or finds meaning in) his or her work, even if it is mundane or routine. Those lawyers who do have that level of belief or understanding about what they are trying to develop as a legacy are enthusiastic about what they do, and it comes through. Clients like that. What kind of lawyer would you rather go to, someone who loves what they do, or someone for whom it is just a job?" he said.
He is the co-author of a new book, Your Leadership Legacy - Why Looking Toward the Future Will Make You a Better Leader Today (Harvard Business School Press, Sept. 2006). You can get it for $17.79 on Amazon.com.
Being a leader matters. Galford's YourLeadershipLegacy.com includes an online leadership styles assessment test. You can find it at http://www.yourleadershiplegacy.com/assessment.html.
