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As an extrovert, Karl has to learn to put on his "game face" and act like an introvert to be a better leader. Introverted leaders, too, need to act like extroverts at times for the same reason. But recent research from Oxford suggests an interesting turn: leaders need to incorporate characteristics of both types at the exact same time to be the best leaders they can be.
One unique aspect of business is that certain abilities that lead to success can be learned in other areas. For example, sports and music both develop useful skills like communication, discipline and focus. Teams and performing arts groups have similar hierarchical structures to businesses, with a conductor or coach at the forefront.
A recent study by Oxford's Tamar Parush and Niina Koivunen from the University of Vaasa sought to identify qualities of leaders in the arts and discuss how these can be used in the corporate world. As part of the study, the two researchers sat in on an unusual managerial training course: a group of senior executives with little to no musical training were asked to take turns being the conductor for a choir of singers. After the session, Danish conductor Peter Hanke gave the participants feedback on their leadership styles.
During the exercise, Mr. Hanke asked members of the choir to stand when they felt inspired by the conductor, and to sit when they did not. Clearly, it was necessary for the conductor to appear decisive and authoritative when leading the group. However, the executives also had to acknowledge that the choristers were the real experts, and that the conductor should give over some control to them. The conundrum for the executives was how much control to give while maintaining the ability to lead and inspire. It's not so different from the corporate world, where an executive can be asked to manage a new department with workers who are often more competent than themselves.
Taking control and ceding it correspond to two methods of leadership discussed by my McGill colleague Henry Mintzberg, which are called 'heroic' leadership and 'post-heroic' leadership. A heroic leader is charismatic, decisive and takes charge of situations; a post-heroic leader is a person who distributes power among their employees and remains open to learning from their subordinates.
We are in the midst of a major research study of introverted leaders in the executive suite. What struck us is how these types of leadership also match up almost exactly with the characteristics of extroverted or introverted leaders. Introverts have a natural tendency to manage in the post-heroic style: they are more contemplative, empathetic and prefer to listen to what others have to say. Extroverts, on the other hand, relish being the centre of attention and are inclined to dominate others in conversation.
The rookie conductors soon found that they needed to incorporate all these characteristics at the same time in order to successfully lead the group. This is what Ms. Parush and Ms. Koivunen called the "paradox" of leadership: the managers were to be authoritative, yet deferential – to take charge, but also to let the choristers do what they do best.
It's not just a matter of acting differently in certain contexts, but not straying too far to either extreme at any one time. The goal is to inspire your workers while giving them the freedom to do their jobs properly. A central realization is that as an executive, your people know more than you do most of the time; your job is to inspire, encourage and make the final decisions.
An extroverted leader may be inspiring but needs to be careful not to talk too much at the expense of listening to the people around her. Likewise, an introvert should make sure to appear confident and decisive in order to earn the trust of the people he manages. In other words, strive to be like a conductor – your managing style will be better for it.
Karl Moore is an associate professor at the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University; research assistant Jon Victor is attending Yale University.