Expert leaders vs catalyst leaders
“You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.” – Mother Teresa
I live in an increasingly complex world. The industry I work in, influencer marketing, is fast paced, ever changing and has a high degree of uncertainty because we’re dealing with people. Adding to this are the increasing demands from clients and emerging new competitors every other day.
When I first started out in the digital advertising and marketing industry more than a decade ago, I aspired to be the Expert Leader. I wanted my team to respect me for my knowledge ie. “Kausern knows his sh*t.”
An Expert Leader was all about being tactical and problem solving oriented. My meetings with my team were directive. I did initiate participation from them but frankly, these “meetings to discuss strategic issues” were often orchestrated to gain buy-in.
That said, such an approach worked because back then, the industry was relatively stable with low complexity.
However, in today’s complex world, we need CATALYST LEADERS. A Catalyst Leader:
Articulates an inspiring vision and galvanise the right people to bring the vision to life.
Acts as a facilitator to seek an open exchange of views from diverse stakeholders on complex issues (not just to gain buy-in). The intent is to create a highly sustainable participative team.
Is genuinely curious and interested to learn from diverse viewpoints but know how to balance between being accommodative and assertive.
Reflects on own’s underlying assumptions and open to be corrected.
Adopts a mindset of being a leader who creates more leaders (instead of followers and ‘yes men’).
Ever since I joined Nuffnang 6 years ago, I have learned (and is still learning) to be a Catalyst Leader. It has helped us turnaround the business and remained profitable.
That said, 2022 has live up to its reputation of inflation worries, geopolitical risk and overall, fatigue from the past 2 years battle against Covid-19. The world is still on fire, figuratively and literally.
Like it or not, being the market leader in this industry, I’ve been feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. Consequently, I’ve unconsciously resorted back to being the Expert Leader, because I was impatient with the results.
And it didn’t go well with some of my team members. They felt their opinions no longer matter. Thankfully, I’ve developed a trusting relationship with them, as they courageously confronted and corrected me.
They reminded me that it takes a village to run a successful business especially the months ahead, where we’ve got our work cut out for us. They don’t need a “hero” leader because they too want to feel responsible and share the accountability for the company’s success. ●