Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Lorraine Bosse-Smith has more than twenty years experience in Corporate America. She is President of Concept One, Inc., a corporate training and consulting firm, as well as The Total You, a wellness and fitness center. She is a dynamic speaker, inspiring and engaging audiences nationwide. She is the author of Finally FIT, Fit Over 50, Leveraging Your Leadership Style, A Healthier, Happier You, and I Want my Life Back! She lives in Loveland, Colorado.

Dr. John Jackson is the Senior Pastor of Carson Valley Christian Center, which he planted in 1998. In one exciting decade, CVC has grown from its core of eight adults to have a God-sized impact on the suburban and rural areas surrounding Minden, Nevada. John has more than twenty-five years of leadership experience in both the non-profit and profit sectors, and serves as the Executive Director of Thriving Church Ministries (www.thrivingchurches.com). His books include Leveraging Your Leadership Style, Leveraging Your Communication Style, God-Size Your Church, and Pastorpreneur.

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Leveraging Your Leadership Style Workbook

Abingdon Press

Chapter One

Leveraging Your Leadership Style is all about positive and proactive influence in the context of healthy relationships. What that means in practical terms is that leaders have to learn to operate using their own leadership style in relationship (and sometimes in tension!) with everyone else on their team. Marcus Buckingham, author of First Break All the Rules, suggests that leaders need to understand several different aspects of those they work with:

Striving Talents, Thinking Talents, and Relating Talents

Striving talents explain the why of a person. They explain why we get out of bed every day, why we are motivated to push and push just that little bit harder.

Thinking talents explain the how of a person. They explain how we think, how we weigh alternatives, how we come to decisions.

Relating talents explain the who of a person. They explain whom we trust, whom we build relationships with, whom we confront and whom we ignore.

As you think about the striving, thinking, and relating talents of each of your team members, you will no doubt begin to reference our four leadership styles: Commander, Coach, Counselor, and Conductor. Each of the leadership styles has a different approach to being on the team and leading the team. For you as team leader or team participant, your challenge is to understand the "why," the "how," and the "who" of people's participation in and leadership of teams. The more you can understand yourself and others as well as the interaction between them, the more you'll leverage your leadership! This workbook will help you put into real-life practice the principles we described in the Leveraging Your Leadership Style book itself.

A Trip down Memory Lane

When I was a kid, my parents never liked owning a home. In fact, they have only ever owned one home. It had a pool and was really nice. But it took a lot of work, and it kept them from the one thing they loved for us to do together ... travel! I can't tell you how many "road trips" we took when I was a kid. In fact, one of the luxuries of my dad's 24-7 job was that we got three to four weeks of vacation every year. So as a kid, I learned to count vacations not in light of days gone from home, but in miles traveled! I complained terribly (mostly about riding in a cramped backseat with my three siblings), but as an adult, those trip memories are some of my greatest childhood treasures.

So I thought we'd take a short road trip together. I've become convinced that every team and every leader are a little bit like drivers and passengers on the road trips of my childhood. In fact, each trip is different based on what the driver is like. Think about the teams you serve on or perhaps the teams you lead. Do any of these road trip descriptions sound familiar to you?

Road Trip!

Road Trips with a Commander: Commanders are about achieving the goal. Finishing the journey is the most important thing. Well, not exactly. Finishing the trip is close to being the only thing! Getting there ahead of schedule, ahead of others and ahead of projected personal calculations are the primary objectives. If you are a passenger with a Commander, do not drink any water. Bathroom stops are highly discouraged! Side trips will only happen for this group if they are a shortcut! A passenger traveling with a Commander driver will finish the journey before anyone else. But, unless this group is full of Commanders, it is probably not the happiest carload of people.

Road Trips with a Coach: Coaches are about the team. Making sure that all the passengers in the vehicle are happy with each other is a key concern. Coaches develop a game plan that will help them complete the journey, but they are also very concerned that the team members are fulfilled on the journey. If you are a passenger with a Coach, be prepared for frequent rest stops to make sure everyone is "on-board." In fact, a side trip might even happen if everyone agrees that it would be fun. Passengers traveling with good Coach drivers will finish the journey—together.

Road Trips with a Counselor: Counselors are about the health of the individual. Counselors want to know that each person is fulfilled, living a life of purpose and meaning and also fulfilling their potential. Taking a road trip with a Counselor? Expect frequent probing, supportive, and penetrating questions about how you are experiencing the journey. Side trips for this group could happen if the driver is convinced that it would be personally enriching to each passenger. You will probably arrive at your destination later than most, but you will have a great deal more understanding of the journey you've traveled.

Road Trips with a Conductor: Conductors are about the strategy and the structure of the trip. Conductors will want to ensure that the trip is well planned, researched, and executed. Mileage markers (and bathroom stops!) will be known in advance and calculated. Conductors will start later than others because of the preparation time involved, but the overall efficiency of the trip should far surpass any other driving type; and if it doesn't, expect pressure! Passengers traveling with Conductors can rightly expect an on-time arrival with the most direct route planned in advance. Don't expect time for side trips on this bus; they don't fit into the efficient schedule the Conductor has planned.

So, have you taken a road trip with one of these drivers? Have you been one of these drivers? I hope you are smiling ... because I'll bet you recognize yourself in these drivers. I know I do (and I'm sure my poor family recognizes me as well)! Self-awareness is a key to leadership.

Let's Hit the Road

Growing and developing your work teams is a little bit like taking a road trip. Sometimes we can get cranky with our fellow passengers under ordinary circumstances; and if your team members have widely different styles, your road trip may feel more like crossing the plains in a covered wagon! You'll have to think through what kind of driver you are and what kind of passengers you have in your car. Spend a moment now and think that one through.

1. What kind of driver are you on a road trip? What is the highest value for you when you are taking a long journey?

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

2. Pretend you are taking your family of four on a 500-mile road trip in your family car. How would you go about preparing for the trip? What would the trip be like for your passengers? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

3. Think for a moment about your team. Do they think just like you? Or are you often surprised (annoyed?) when they appear to have different values or priorities than you do? See if you can identify what type of driver each member of your primary team would be if they were taking a road trip. ___________________________________________________________...