Exceptional Leadership in a Time of Crisis
How do you become an exceptional leader in a time of crisis? Start by understanding your default leadership style.
In their book, “Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership,” Lee G. Bolman and Terrance E. Deal define four frames of leadership: Structural, Human Resource, Symbolic, and Political.
This blog will walk you through each of these leadership styles’ strengths and potential weaknesses. Once we know what leadership style comes naturally to us, we can then build a plan for how to improve other aspects of our leadership. Building up our skills in each of the frames allows us to adapt to changes and crises and become exceptional!
Structural
“I’ve prepared a three-ring binder so that we can evaluate our event.”
One of my favorite structural leaders was always ready with the data and figures that we needed to understand the ins and outs of their organization. Does this sound like you or someone you know?
If you are a structural leader like my client and friend, then data, numbers, policies, roles, and expectations are your bread and butter. Structural leaders can see through complicated scenarios by relying on the information.
I love structural leaders. Have you ever had a friend who always had an extra pen in a staff meeting, a few additional copies of the report, or knew exactly what page you were supposed to be on during a budget review? If so, they were likely a structural leader.
Every frame of leadership is positive. The challenge is that when we lean into our default leadership style, think it is “the only way to do things,” or don’t push ourselves to grow, then we limit ourselves. For instance, a love of data and policies in its excess could become a tendency to ignore or avoid the gray areas of our work—and gray areas in nonprofit work are plentiful!
Human Resource
Hi, My name is Mary, and I’m a Human Resource Leader.
Human Resource leaders value a positive work environment which they try to create by focusing on the internal team.
Maybe you’ve heard phrases like, “I love working here. We’re a family.” or “Our staff has each other's backs.” If so, this person is likely describing a work environment created by a leader whose default lands in the Human Resource frame.
Some of the best examples of human resource leadership I’ve seen are when leaders nature intrinsic motivators that encourage their staff to stay with the organization for a long time.
As we’ve discussed, our default frames of leadership are all positive. There isn’t one frame that is better than the other. The key is to understand your default leadership style and then build up skills in areas that aren’t your default.
For instance, if a Human Resource leader relies too heavily on that frame, they may place the team above all else and make unfortunate choices like avoiding conflict to preserve happiness and forgetting to focus on policies and structures that help teams feel safe and supported.
Symbolic
How do you facilitate change within your organization?
Over the past two years, we’ve all experienced a significant amount of change, and you know as well as I do that sometimes change is hard for staff. However, symbolic leaders are skilled at facilitating change.
Suppose your default leadership frame is symbolic, then you know how to cast a vision and motivate your team. It is the difference between saying:
“We are merging to reduce overhead costs.” vs. “We are combing forces with XYZ to streamline services and create greater impact.” OR “We are selling our building.” vs. “The pandemic highlighted ways that we can change to support the needs of our staff and clients.”
Symbolic leaders are exciting to work for; they always have the bigger picture in mind. However, if you only focus on the symbolic leadership frame, you might be likely to ignore the more minor details and fail to follow through on your big ideas.
Political
Political leaders know how to negotiate for services and work with external partners to advance their organization. Have you ever known a leader skilled at securing services and partnerships from city officials or community coalitions? If so, they were likely a political leader. Although, just as with any frame, we run into trouble if we lean into our default exclusively. For instance, political leaders may spend too much time with external partners and ignore internal teams.
Situational leadership
So, what does it take to be an exceptional leader in a crisis? Situational Leadership!
The answer is being able to draw on all four frames of leadership! You need to have a clear understanding of your default frame of leadership to help inform areas of your skillset that you want to improve upon or identify team members that you might want to surround yourself with who have differing default frames.
For instance, each situation you encounter calls you to exercise different leadership skills. When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, you needed to immediately set up new systems and structures. (Structural) Then, you had to make sure your staff was okay and that they had the necessary resources to continue working. (Human Resource) You needed to continue to share stories of impact and signify to donors and stakeholders that you were relevant at that moment. (Symbolic) AND you had to negotiate with outside partners to maintain your impact on the community. (Political)
You are already exceptional if you’ve been leading organizations over the past two years. However, nurturing a growth mindset, determining your default frame, and building your skills in the other three areas will help you be the best leader you can be.
If you are interested in leadership coaching or want to know more about exceptional leadership, contact us at Spark Group today!
⭐ Join my weekly newsletter where I share tons of exclusive tips, tools, grant opportunities, and resources to my subscribers. Subscribe on the Spark Group home page.
