I read an article in 20091 that has stuck with me for 16 years—and still guides my thinking about leadership today. 🤯
I was a brand new CIO and questioning whether I had what it takes to be a CIO (thank you, imposter syndrome).
The article outlined three types of CIOs—strategists, transformers and operations experts—and suggested that different organizations need different types of CIOs at different points in time.
There was no judgement about the leadership types. None of them were identified as good or bad leaders … just different.
The point was that you need to know what type you are, and get clear on what the organization most needs at this time.
The Right “Fit”
The article was written about CIOs, but the principle applies to most leadership roles.
When we see leadership breakdowns, we often see a mismatch between role archetype and organization’s stage.
We’ve all experienced the wrong leader for the role—a visionary in a role that needs a detail-oriented operational manager, or conversely, a tactician who loves to be “in the weeds” in a role responsible for setting a new vision and strategy.
It’s not just leadership type that creates a mismatch either. Sometimes experiences can determine a leader’s effectiveness, too.
When I was in higher education, I saw an unusually high failure rate for leaders coming from corporate roles, and have seen the same for higher ed leaders transitioning into industry.
Leaders coming from enterprise often struggle to apply their skills in a startup, and those coming from startups or small businesses can find the bureaucracy structure and scale of a much larger organization challenging to navigate.
No one leadership type or set of experiences is good or bad. And not all leaders fail to thrive in a different organizational setting or role.
But for the greatest chance of success, there should be strong alignment between your leadership type and experience and your company’s current needs.
Self-Awareness is Key
It all begins with knowing the type of leader you are. (Team transformation and change over here. 🙋♀️)
Do you imagine what a trip to Mars would look like or are you the leader who makes the trains run on time? Do you work best when you blow sh*t up or is small, steady, incremental change more your style?
Now consider: what does your initiative, team, or organization most need right now—and how does your leadership line up?
And even more importantly, what will your organization tolerate?
I learned this lesson the hard way. One of my biggest career failures was accepting a role where I was clear on who I am as a leader (and they were clear on that, too) and the organization needed and said they wanted change, but …
They had no organizational will to actually affect the type of change that I was there to drive. It. did. not. go. well.
Self-awareness is key—and so is courage in these situations.
As a leader, you’ve got to know yourself and be willing to walk away from opportunities or situations where what an organization needs/wants is not what you’re best suited to deliver.
Or recognize when what was once aligned no longer is, and it’s time to move on.
You—and they—will be happier for it, trust me.
Bonus read: Although not everyone will thrive in a different context, there are plenty of folks who can successfully traverse organization types and roles. If you’re interested in making a career pivot, here’s how:
The article was a multi-page, cover story in a printed version of CIO Magazine that delved into each CIO archetype in detail, with characteristics of each type and individual leadership stories. I went looking for it a few years ago and could not find the full piece that I remembered, but did find this article that was likely part of the larger spread.