STANDSTILL agencies have 1 leader
STANDOUT agencies have 2 leaders
Effective agency leadership requires very different, but nevertheless complementary, attributes, skills and personality traits. To build a STANDOUT agency, the leader needs to combine ideas and delivery, vision and integration and have both an external focus and an internal focus.
We ALL have the ability to do these things to some degree, but we are more comfortable, and naturally excel, at some more than others. Many people put this down to being either extrovert or introvert.
I think it’s far more nuanced than that, but it is, for example, extremely rare to find somebody that is as adept at big picture thinking and generating ideas as they are at managing detail and making the ideas happen. It’s what Wickman and Winters in their excellent book Rocket Fuel, refer to as being a Visionary or an Integrator.
STANDSTILL agencies have 1 leader (or a group of directors who are too much alike). By nature of starting their own business, they tend to lean to the more visionary style. They have incredible power in some areas, but unwittingly hold themselves back. Unless they have a strong personality working for them as a number 2, the agency becomes stuck.
STANDOUT agencies have 2 (or more) leaders who provide balance. Some of them provide ideas and vision, others communicate and make things happen. Sometimes the roles interchange.
What leadership style do you and your co-founders have?
Do you complement each other or are you too much alike?
Is it ideas you lack, or the ability to make them happen?
#StandoutOrDie #StandoutSecrets