Leadership Skills
42-page analysis
of your leadership
style and qualities
Leadership Styles
MMDI Leadership Styles are based on the psychological theory of C.G. Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers. There are eight leadership styles, which can be used to develop your own leadership effectiveness.
The best way to explore your use of the leadership styles is to complete our combined personality and leadership test, It provides a free online report and an additional 300 pages of optional reports to help you become a better leader. They include a 42-page analysis of your use of the eight leadership styles.
What makes a good leader?
We conducted research with 500 leaders and 4,000 staff to find out what makes a good leader. The results show that different industries, disciplines, and contexts require the use of different leadership styles to be effective.
The table below describes each of the eight leadership styles, and gives examples when the style should or should not be used.
|
LEADERSHIP STYLE Myers Briggs type, Jungian type, MTR-i team role | |||
| Description | When to use | When not to use | |
|
PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP ESFJ/ENFJ, Extraverted Feeling (Jung), or Harmonising (MTR-i) | |||
| People-oriented, motivator, builds personal relationships, likeable, interpersonal skills, cares for others | Commitment from others is critical, or sensitive situations | Decisions need to be forced through, conflict is being avoided | |
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IDEOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP ISFP/INFP, Introverted Feeling (Jung), or Campaigning (MTR-i) | |||
| Value-driven, has passion for key issues, focuses on important themes, champions the cause | The group has lost its sense of identity, or it is doing too many unimportant things | There is a problem that needs to be solved with dispassionate objectivity (eg: technical issues) | |
|
CHANGE-ORIENTED LEADERSHIP ENTP/ENFP, Extraverted Intuition (Jung), or Exploring (MTR-i) | |||
| Tries things that are new, prototypes, introduces change, looks for unexpected outcomes, creates new opportunities, experiments | The group is 'stuck in a rut', or the status quo needs to be challenged | There are already too many initiatives under way and some stability is needed | |
|
VISIONARY LEADERSHIP INTJ/INFJ, Introverted Intuition (Jung), or Innovating (MTR-i) | |||
| Develops long term vision, produces radical ideas, foresees the future, anticipates what is outside current knowledge | Radical change is needed, change is a long term activity | There are immediate dangers, the group may not survive in the short term | |
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ACTION-ORIENTED LEADERSHIP ESTP/ESFP, Extraverted Sensing (Jung), or Activating (MTR-i) | |||
| Takes action, produces results, leads from the front, sets an example, does what is asked of others | There is some inertia, or lack of achievement has destroyed motivation | The group is being too expedient, current success may ebb in the future | |
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GOAL-ORIENTED LEADERSHIP ISTJ/ISFJ, Introverted Sensing (Jung), or Clarifying (MTR-i) | |||
| Observes, listens, clarifies goals, establishes realistic expectations, makes aims crystal clear | The direction is vague or expectations have not been articulated | There are already too many goals or too much information | |
|
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP ESTJ/ENTJ, Extraverted Thinking (Jung), or Conducting (MTR-i) | |||
| Organises, makes plans, sets measurable goals, coordinates work of different people, manages resources | There is chaos/lack of organisation, or there are no measures of achievement | There are so many processes that creativity has been stifled | |
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LEADERSHIP THEORIST ISTP/INTP, Introverted Thinking (Jung), or Analysing (MTR-i) | |||
| Analyses, uses models, produces explanations, compares other situations, engages in intellectual debate | The situation is complex or driven by technical solutions | People's feelings are paramount, or the group go round in circular arguments | |
Find out more
The MMDI personality test shows how much you like using each of these leadership styles. There is a free online report that describes your personality type and leadership style. There are 300 pages of optional reports to help you become a better leader.