The Korn/Ferry Institute in California has identified that 70% of all leaders fall into four types:

• Driven expert (a ‘smarty pants’)
• Principled partner (a ‘steady Eddie’)
• Charismatic advocate (a ‘wheeler and dealer’)
• Enterprising cultivator (a ‘people magnet’).

It recognised that while people often cite their strengths quickly, they also tend to gloss over their weaknesses. However, a good manager will be as aware of their weaknesses as they are of their strengths.

For example, according to this categorisation, a ‘Driven Expert’ would be self-confident and a respected expert in his or her field, but may have lower than average interpersonal skills. An ‘Enterprising Cultivator’ would be people-oriented and inspiring, but may lack strategic skills or not look for new challenges. A ‘Charismatic Advocate’ is business savvy, but may lack organisational skills. And a ‘Principled Partner’ may be trustworthy and credible, but unlikely to drive change.

The Institute encourages individuals to compare themselves against these four main leadership types. Core to this is undertaking a review of your own strengths and weaknesses to begin the process of building self-awareness.

Your role in a team

While understanding your own key strengths is critical, it is also important to have an enhanced awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of everyone in your team. The key is to have a balanced team. Dr Meredith Belbin discovered through his research that individuals appear to assume different team roles, and he identified nine of these:

• Shaper
• Implementer
• Completer finisher
• Co-ordinator
• Team worker
• Resource investigator
• Plant
• Monitor
• Specialist.

The roles focus on thought, people and action. For example, the ‘Implementer’ is good at turning ideas into actions, but may be inflexible in the way they work. The ‘Shaper’ has the drive to overcome obstacles, but in doing so may offend people’s feelings. The ‘Specialist’ is knowledgable and self-starting, but may only focus on that narrow area.

Many organisations adopt the Belbin model when adopting balanced workplace teams. The model is a useful technique that helps to:

• Check for strengths and weaknesses in a team
• Develop a team’s strengths
• Manage a team’s weaknesses
• Manage conflict
• Form part of a recruitment process
• Develop leadership.