Leadership by faces

Influence of a leader’s body and facial expressions in driving the managerial culture of a company is baffling. With the support of the cartoonist Bruno Tesse, we have captured those patterns in a series called “Leadership by faces”. Any resemblance with you boss, anybody you have worked with or your company culture will obviously be totally fortuitous.

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#1 - The Commander

Leadership by authority

The body language, facial expressions and top down approach of the CEO drive a very hierarchical chain of command. The culture is execution driven. Innovation is not encouraged. Feedback is not customary. Discipline is the name of the game. Cross-functional or business collaboration is likely to be limited with silos defined by the span of authority. HR policies are likely to be more egalitarian than equitable. This will work in lower margin, predictable businesses... Any millennial wants to apply?

#2 - The Artist

Leadership by creativity

Fosters an environment of creativity and experimentation. There are few processes and if any, they are piloted by a diligent right hand person. There is high tolerance to ambiguity and moderate levels of control. It is an innovation and brainstorming driven culture. Collaboration levels are likely to be high. It is best suited to top line driven, higher margin, fast evolving industries. Can you survive in what looks like a loosely organized chaos?

#3 - The Teacher

Leadership by expertise

Tends to drive a detail-oriented and controlling culture. Delegation will occur when functional and technical skills have been established, which is the pre-requisite for trust. Logical persuading is likely to be the dominant influencing style. Decision making may be a bit slow when addressing new topics as quality of decision tends to supersede speed of decision. It is best suited to industries with a high technical content and relatively long cycles. Never come unprepared! Are you ready to go back to school?

#4 - The Poker Face

Leadership by composure

The preferred behaviors are characterized by strong emotional control. It makes facts and a rational look at issues the preferred approach. EQ is hardly mobilized. It can be very effective and reassuring in a crisis management situation. It can also be unsettling as it can encourage people to second guess the leader's mind. Are you able to leave your emotions at home?

#5 - The Cheerleader

Leadership by enthusiasm

Creates a can do and positive attitude around the organization. Positive feedback is widely delivered. Conversely, constructive feedback is not the norm and difficult people decisions are not made on a timely basis. Difficulties and obstacles may be overlooked, leading to setting unrealistic targets. Can you always be happy on demand?

#6 - The Angry Bird

Leadership by fear

This bad-tempered executive keeps everybody on their toes. The organization devotes unreasonable amount of time and resources anticipating the CEO's needs to avoid his/her tantrums. It creates both a "cover your ass culture" and a tendency to hide the bad news. Either way, accountability is severely affected. It instils a culture where people are managing up. Does not this sound like the 1970's though?

#7 - The Fearful

Leadership by anxiety

The Fearful CEO drives a highly risk adverse organization. Decision making tends to be very slow, predictability and stability are always favored over change. On the positive side and as the worst is always viewed as an option, there is good level of anticipation and scenario planning, which can be a strength in turbulent times. On the other hand, the ability to adapt and react quickly are limited. The Fearful tends to rely on a few trusted advisors who eventually concentrate a lot of power around the organization. How patient can you be addressing the need for reassurance of your boss?

#8 - The Challenger

Leadership by stimulation

The Challenger fosters a culture of intense questioning and positive doubt. The ambition level will be high and the objectives set will tend to be quite stretching. The downside is that there will often be a high level of iteration before arriving to a final decision. This can thus lead to some frustration about rework and some anxiety about having given one's best on every occasion. Aren't there days when you would just want to relax vs. being constantly kept on your toes?

#9 - The Visionary

Leadership by inspiration

The visionary can see the future and elaborate a compelling representation of where the company needs to go. This way of elading creates a lot of engagement and tends to be very inspiring. It can be a very valuable guide in times of uncertainty. Unfortunately, it does not naturally correlate to more basic managerial and leadership skills (planning, organizing work, creating team spirit). People might have to figure out the journey even if the destination is clear. How comfortable can you be with a vision without a plan?

#10 - Guess who?

Leadership by realism

The challenge of appointing the right CEO for a company is a complex combination of factors :

Between ensuring the right amount of continuity - if it ain't broken, why fix it, and introducing change if not radical transformation where needed

Between having a preference for internal candidates and yet focusing on everything they don't bring, compared to the "messiah" who has been identified on the market

Between recognizing the need for diversity (nationality, background, gender, etc) and picking the winner with a well-known, well-established group of candidates on the company's home market

The trade-offs involved will often mean that the winning candidate emerges as the others get methodically eliminated.

The moral of the story: since most of us cannot choose our CEO, let's make the most out of his/her leadership characteristics; he or she must be there for a reason...

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