Episode 265 Transcript:

[00:00:00] What kind of leader are you really? In this episode, we’re going to explore the seven manager archetypes.

Here are the two questions. This podcast answers. One, how do you successfully transition into your first official leadership role? And two, how do you keep climbing that leadership ladder and continuously get promoted, 

although the competition and the expectations get bigger. This show with a manager track podcast will provide the answers. I’m your host, Ramona Shaw. 

I’m on a mission to create workplaces where work is seen as a source of contribution, connection and personal fulfillment. And this transition starts with developing a new generation of leaders who know how to lead. So everyone wins and gross. In the show, you’ll learn how to think, communicate and act as a confident and competent leader. 

You know, you can be.

Welcome to The Manager Track podcast. I am really happy that you’re here with me today. I wanna talk about something that I think will be pretty insightful for you.

I’ve been thinking a lot, [00:01:00] lately about something that comes up in almost every coaching conversations that I have, and it’s the idea that we have certain parts of leadership that just feel natural to us. While other aspects of leadership of what we consider to be sort of leadership, best practice, things that we should be doing that we all learn and hear about, they feel like we’re constantly swimming upstream.

It just feels inauthentic. Unnatural, and it’s hard to do. For example, in our leadership accelerator, which is our 90 day manager readiness program, in other words, we ask our participants at the very beginning how they would describe their natural leadership style in three words, and I hear the same patterns over and over again. It’s specific words that they themselves as. It’s almost a bit like an archetype, and when they say that, I can already foresee what potential blind spots they may have based on their natural [00:02:00] leadership style.

Now I’m really emphasizing the word natural because just because that’s how they describe themselves or their natural leadership style doesn’t mean that they can’t. Develop the other areas, it just needs more attention and effort and often that is the exact benefit that they get out of the program is that their manager toolkit all the different tools and approaches and different styles that they can use based on the situation and based on the person that they’re leading, becomes stronger, becomes better, and again, more expansive.

And that allows them to be a more confident in difficult situations, but also so much more effective. Now if you take this idea of understanding your natural leadership style a bit further, we then become aware of our natural strength again and potential blind spots or weaknesses, just areas that don’t come as natural to us.

So maybe you are absolutely brilliant at getting things checked off your list and driving [00:03:00] results, but then when it comes to delegating, well, let’s just say it’s not your favorite thing.

Letting go of control, letting things be okay at 70% of the quality that you would still deliver that may not feel good, or be something that you’re willing or able to tolerate. Or perhaps you’re the person everyone comes to when they need a moral boost. But the moment conflict starts brewing you find yourself looking for the nearest exit.

So here’s what I’ve discovered. After working with hundreds of managers, we all have these default settings, these instinctive ways we approach leadership. Some of these instincts are our superpowers. And others, they’re sort of the quiet saboteurs holding us back from the next level. 

Now, today I want to share something that’s been incredibly eye-opening for me and for my clients and it’s what I call the seven Manager [00:04:00] Archetypes.

This framework has transformed how I think about leadership development, and I think it might do the same for you. So by the end of our time together, you’ll not only understand these archetypes, but you’ll probably have a pretty good idea which one describes you

and stick around because I’ll share a quick quiz you can take afterward to confirm your type and get personalized insights about your leadership journey.

So before we get into the specific archetypes, let’s talk about why this matters in the first place. What exactly is an archetype when we’re talking about leadership, it’s not about putting you in a personality box or slapping a label on you that you can’t escape, it’s much more fluid than that.

Think of your leadership archetype as a mirror. It simply kind of reflects the patterns in how you think, how you make decisions, and how you relate to the people around you. These patterns over time,

Usually through a combination [00:05:00] of experience, habit, and sometimes even survival mechanisms from earlier in our career. Really powerful things. First, it skyrockets your self-awareness. Suddenly you might start seeing the why behind your default reactions, your preferences, and your decisions in how you lead in your specific behaviors.

That aha moment where you start to see the connection and the patterns is really useful. It’s like putting on glasses and seeing clearly for the first time. Second, it significantly improves communication. When you can articulate how you naturally lead, you can explain your approach to your team.

You can name what support you might need from them. You can collaborate better with colleagues who lead differently, and you can share your intention behind your actions, but also be somewhat open and transparent about your authentic leadership style or your natural leadership style, or be difficult. [00:06:00] And third, and this might be the most valuable, it helps you catch your blind spots before they turn into those full-blown problems. Because every strength when overuse can become a liability, even more so than your deficiencies or those weaknesses. It’s like when you dislike a particular stretch, like you feel, oh, I’m really tight in one area of my legs, and when I do this kinda stretch, it just doesn’t feel good.

It’s probably exactly the stretch that you should be doing on a daily basis to be healthy and to use your body effectively, right? Not for something else to dominate and something else to get weaker along the way. So this framework isn’t about trying to become someone that you’re not.

It’s about expanding your leadership range so that you can be more effective, more often in more situations. Okay, so let’s [00:07:00] explore these seven archetypes as I describe each one, see if you recognize yourself or maybe someone on your team or a boss, you.

Currently have or you’ve had in the past. And remember, we all have elements of multiple archetypes, but typically one or two will feel most dominant and feel like, yeah, that’s kind of describing me.

Okay, so we’re gonna start with the operator. This is your process minded leader. If you are an operator, you love bringing order to chaos.

You are the person who creates structure and systems that make everything run smoothly. Your team knows exactly what to expect, and there’s a process for everything. Typically, you are reliable, you are consistent, and you are methodical. The gift you often bring is clarity and predictability, and not much, if anything

[00:08:00] Falls through the cracks on your watch, and a lot of people really appreciate that. It’s likely one of the reasons why you’re getting promoted, but there’s the shadow side, so operators can sometimes become rigid. They might get so focused on following a process that they forget The process exists to serve people.

Not the other way around. So they may struggle when situations demand flexibility or quick pivots when a strategy suddenly changes, when stuff falls apart. So if you are an operator, your growth move is to remember that systems serve people, not the other way around. Do ask yourself, is this process still serving us?

Where might we need more flexibility? Next up, the second archetype is the go gather. Our driven doer, go-getters are high energy, goal-oriented momentum [00:09:00] builders. So if this is you, you probably have an impressive track record of getting things done. I would assume you set ambitious targets and then you roll up your sleeves and you make them happen.

So you lead by example. You bring incredible energy to everything that you do, and you pride yourself for that. So your gift is moving projects forward, and creating momentum where there wasn’t any. Now the risk or the challenge for go-getters is that they can burn themselves out by taking on too much.

So they may unintentionally leave people behind because they’re moving so fast. It could be that they struggle with delegating because let’s be honest. Sometimes it just feels faster to do it yourself, right? We’ve probably been there.

So if you are a go-getter, your growth move is to shift from doing, to developing others to actually scale yourself, to become a leader and not trust an executor. So ask yourself, am I the bottleneck here? [00:10:00] Who could I develop by letting them take this on?

Even if it slows us down temporarily. Now moving on to the third archetype. This is the connector, a relationship driven leader. Connectors build trust, psychological safety, and strong bonds across the team. This comes supernatural to them. If this is you, you’re probably highly attuned to the group’s emotional climate.

You notice when something is off or someone is, seems off, and team members will give you feedback and let you know that they feel seen and heard when they work with you. You are kind of the glue in many cases that holds people together. So the gift of a connector is to create an environment where people feel that they can bring their whole selves to work, where they fully feel appreciated.

Now, the shadow side is this connectors may avoid. [00:11:00] Necessary conflict or tension because they want everyone to get along. They might also take on others’ emotional burdens, and that can lead to emotional overload or compassion fatigue, to quickly go back to the conflict, we don’t want unneeded conflict, but there is tension and opposition and sometimes conflict that’s necessary in order to surface something the problem with connectors is that they sometimes prioritize harmony over productive tension if you’re a connector, your growth move is to remember that directness is actually care. So being direct is kind. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is to have that difficult conversation. Ask yourself, what conversation am I avoiding that needs to happen?

And then fourth, we have the improviser. Our agile energizer improvisers are creative, flexible, and they thrive in uncertainty. If this [00:12:00] sounds like you, you probably bring a spark of energy and a possibility to your team. Quick on your feet. You pivot when needed and you find creative solutions to problems, you’re often the person who says, what if we tried and you open up new possibilities. So your gift is creativity and adaptability in a world that’s constantly changing and that gets you pretty far. Now the tricky part is that improvisers may lack the structure or follow through.

That might generate lots of ideas, but struggle to implement them consistently and sometimes they can create whiplash for their team because they create too many changes. It can feel a bit overwhelming to the team.

So if you are an improviser, your growth move is to use structure to support, not to stifle creativity. So ask yourself, where do we need more consistency to make our creativity sustainable? Or where might the team be confused around direction or alignment [00:13:00] because of the numerous changes going on or ideas that you presented even if it’s just an idea that you have, that may be interpreted by others as a directive.

Number five is the thinker. Our strategic analyzer thinkers are thoughtful, they’re calm, they’re often big picture focused. So if this is your style, you’ll probably excel at seeing patterns and connections other people miss you. Ask insightful questions that cut through the noise. You stay levelheaded when others are reactive and you’re often thinking several steps ahead.

You might notice yourself in meetings, hearing other people talk, and you are already way ahead, or you can clearly see what they’re missing or how they’re rambling you’re crystal clear and seeing those things and very analytical in your approach. Your gift, therefore, is to bring, perspective and strategic clarity to complex situations.

The shadow side of the thinker is that they can get stuck overthinking or falling [00:14:00] into an analysis paralysis they may also seem emotionally distant to their teams because they’re so focused on the intellectual aspects of leadership and may not have a whole lot of room or understanding.

For emotions or if emotions are part of someone’s argument or opinion, that can be difficult to manage. They may also struggle to translate their complex mental models into clear direction for others. So if you are a thinker, your growth move is to recognize that connection isn’t soft,or unuseful. It’s actually a leadership skill. So ask yourself, how can I make my thinking more accessible to others? Where do I need to connect before I direct? And as I say this, this sounds like something to put on a sticky note. Okay.

Our sixth archetype is the protector. This is the heart-centered leader. Protectors are loyal, caring, and they put their team first. If this is you, [00:15:00] you probably go to great length to shield your people from organizational politics or unnecessary stress. You advocate fiercely for your team members and people feel safe with you because they know you have their back.

Your gift is creating loyalty and commitment through genuine care. The challenge for protectors is that they may struggle with boundaries or with saying no. They may avoid tough conversations because they don’t want to hurt feelings, and they can burn out from taking responsibility for everyone else’s wellbeing.

So if you’re a protector, your growth move is to remember that clarity is kindness, very similar to the connector. The most caring thing you can do is to be clear about expectations and feedback and to ask yourself, am I avoiding a conversation that would actually help this person grow?

I. And finally we have the [00:16:00] achiever. Our high standards leader, achievers are ambitious, hardworking, and they lead by example. So if this describes you, you probably set exceptionally high standards for yourself and others. You’re constantly rising the bar on quality. You pay attention to details others might miss, and you’re always looking for ways to improve.

So your gift really is. Excellence, you elevate the work of everyone around you. But here’s the shadow. Achievers tend to micromanage or chase perfection that might struggle to celebrate wins because they’re already focused on the next goal, and because of that, they can inadvertently create cultures of burnout by modeling.

Unsustainable work habits, at least for other people, maybe not for themselves. So if you are an achiever, your growth move is to recognize that letting go is leadership. So ask yourself, does this actually need to be perfect? [00:17:00] What would good enough look like here? I. So these were the seven archetypes, and I’m curious which one sounds most like you.

And I hope you are curious about this too. You probably have resonated with a few of them or with a few of those statements. Maybe you see yourself as a blend of two of these, or maybe you are ever able to pinpoint exactly what you think is your archetype.

So take a moment to reflect which path. So take a moment to reflect which patterns feel most familiar. The good news is I’m not gonna leave you alone with this. I’ll get to that here in a moment. but if you are wondering where do these, where these archetypes actually come from and why we fall into these patterns in the first place?

Most of us develop our leadership style based on what worked early in our careers. And based on our personality types. So these strengths, these natural strengths that we have based on our personality, help us succeed, get promoted and [00:18:00] build trust, and we get rewarded for these behaviors.

So naturally we double down on them. Like our brain isn’t recognizing this thing got you to a good outcome. So do that again. And it’s like reinforcing the behavior. Over and over again until they become pretty solid leadership patterns. Now, here’s the interesting thing about leadership. It’s that what got you here won’t get you there. So the very strength that propelled you into a management role might actually not be what you need to excel. As a leader, and this is where our new manager training the leadership accelerator does so much work and benefit to the new managers that go through it, is because they recognize that those patterns that made them successful, like being the go-getter or being the connector, or being the protector, or being the achiever.

Those are all the things that got them promoted and these patterns were sort of like success strategies that they build up. But now in a management role, you have to fully [00:19:00] diversify. It’s not that you have to let those go, it’s that you acknowledge these as strength, but now you might have to like tune them down or hold them back a little bit in certain situations.

And you have to diversify your skillset so that you are able to adjust to different situations and to different people. Now in addition to that, when we’re on distress, we feel we’re in high pressure situation, which often is the case when we’re in a new job or we have now suddenly a leadership responsibility and we know all eyes are on us, we actually tend to lean even harder into our default patterns, even.

When the situation calls for something completely different, it’s, it’s almost like we can’t see it, and that is where many leaders get stuck. It’s like operating on autopilot in roles that demand adaptability, and a broad set of styles that you adjust to based on a situation. Ahead of you, and that’s why naming your pattern can be so powerful.

Like I called out in the beginning of this episode, [00:20:00] once you see it, you can start to shift it and you can watch yourself in those moments where you are about to default to your comfortable style and then pause and consider different approaches if needed,

so what does this mean for your leadership journey? Here’s the good news and what I wanna emphasize. Again, you don’t need to abandon your archetype, you just need to expand your range and be able to see which archetypes actually work well in different situations, and then be able to choose the right style based on the situation you’re dealing with.

It’s about knowing when to lead differently, when to lean into your natural strength, and when to stretch beyond them, when to flex, when to pause, when to grow, and when you understand your own archetype, it becomes easier to recognize and appreciate of the styles of others, and that means.

More empathy [00:21:00] with your coworkers, your peers, your boss. Probably better feedback, smarter team development. And I’ve seen leadership teams transform when they start having open conversations about their different archetypes and suddenly there’s less judgment and more mutual understanding of their differences.

And that’s why it’s really helpful to slow down and think things through before making a decision.

For example, you might say like, oh, that’s why you always want to slow down and think things through before you make a decision. You are a thinker by default. That is a pattern. Now I get it. Why you do what you do and that makes sense, and it is the value that you bring to our team.

I can recognize this more. So this awareness can fundamentally change how you lead your team and how you interact with your peers and with your boss. So what kind of leader are you Really? That was the question we set up in the beginning of the episode.

If one of those seven archetypes we explore today resonated [00:22:00] with you, I encourage you to take the next step and check out our manager archetype quiz. It has a few questions. It’s very fast. It only takes a few minutes. To complete, but it gives you a personalized snapshot of your leadership style, including your strength, your blind spots, and practical ways to grow.

You can find the quiz at archova.org/quiz. We’re gonna put that in the show notes, but I’m gonna say it one more time. Archova, which is A- R-C-H-O-V a.org/quiz, And you can find that link in the show notes for this episode.

So here’s the suggestion that leads to some incredible team conversations. Send the quiz to a few teammates or peers and then compare your results and have a conversation about it. , It’s fun, it’s eye-opening. It’s a great conversation starter for any team or even team meeting or event that you might have to grow together to learn more about each [00:23:00] other.

And with that, I hope this episode was insightful and you’re keen to take the quiz to affirm your style and also share it with other people so they can learn more about themselves too.

And ideally, as you said, have a conversation about it. Use it to build awareness. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Manage Track Podcast. We will be back next week.

I’ll see you then. Bye for now.

If you enjoy this episode, then check out two other awesome resources to help you become a leader. People love to work with. This includes a free master class on how to successfully lead as a new manager. Check it out@archova.org/masterclass. 

The second resource is my best-selling book, the confident and competent new manager, how to quickly rise to success in your first leadership role. Check it out at orchova.org/books or head on over to Amazon and grab your copy there. 

You can find all those links

In the show notes down below.