Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson’s Alpha Male Leadership Types divide leaders into four main types. These are:
- The Commander;
- The Visionary;
- The Strategist;
- The Executor;
Each of these has specific strengths and weaknesses. In higher detail:
- The Commander leads by passion. Think Steve Jobs. They lead with passion and can motivate others, but they are bad at dealing with data that doesn’t gel with their passionate vision of reality, and they can come across as intimidating and mercurial to others;
- The Visionary leads with a compelling vision for the future. Think Bill Gates. They are amazing at creating new visions for the future that might be radically different, but they might leap several steps, ignoring the foundation for their vision, and they may reject proof that goes against it;
- The Strategist identifies patterns and creates a strategy for the near future. Think Michael Eisner of Disney. Strategists are brilliant geniuses who can, however, come across as cold to others, not caring about people, but only about data and patterns.
- The Executor leads with tireless discipline. They take on massive workloads but usually demand the same of others. They are great at performing at their best with massive amounts of work, but they can force others or even abuse them in demanding the same;
Ludeman and Erlandson also mention the recommended step for each of the four types, according to this logic:
- Commanders must take care not to ignore data or perspectives that clash against their passion. They must use their passion but stay open to other points of view, even when contradicting, and must resis the urge to fluctuate emotionally;
- Visionaries must take care to ground their vision in reality, not ignoring its foundations or the practical steps necessary to reach it. They have to take care to not let themselves drift off and lose contact with reality;
- Strategists must take special care to come across as warmer to others. They must resist the urge to only respect geniuses and brilliant people and make an effort to value everyone in their team, see the brilliance in everyone;
- Executors must take care not to impose their standards on others, that might be disrespectful or even abusive. They must understand not everyone has to endure gigantic endeavours or amounts of work, and that different people serve different purposes;
The Alpha Male Leadership Type assessment tool is a very powerful one, especially when complemented by a personality assessment tool like my Four Perceived Personalities, allowing you to diagnose someone’s leadership type and preferred communication type.
