Six domains of leadership people can feel.

What it looks like in practice

You understand what energizes each person, fit your support to them, and pair care with clear expectations.

Research anchors: Mayer et al., 1995; Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995; Gerstner & Day, 1997 (see references)

Example behaviors

• Makes time to learn what is going on for each person, beyond the task list.
• Knows what each person hopes to grow toward, and helps them move that way.
• Offers different kinds of help to different people, based on what each one needs.
• Fits coaching to the person, and asks what they have in mind before offering answers.
• Handles hard conversations with respect: listens first, then is plain about what needs to change.
• Keeps the goal the same for everyone, while flexing the path when someone's situation calls for it.

What it looks like in practice

The team helps shape the vision, can say the "why" in their own words, and sees itself in how success is measured.

Research anchors: Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1996; Robinson et al., 2008; Burde, 2016 (see references)

Example behaviors

• Brings the team into setting direction early, while ideas are still taking shape.
• Checks in on the direction together on a regular rhythm, and keeps what still holds.
• Works with the team to turn big goals into a short list of what comes first.
• Helps people put the purpose into their own words.
• Grows other voices who carry the message when the leader is away.
• Agrees with the team on what progress will look like and how it will be tracked.

What it looks like in practice

You stay close to the real work, learn in public as a participant, and let your experts keep visible authority.

Research anchors: Hallinger, 2003; Robinson et al., 2008; Vescio et al., 2008; Burde, 2016 (see references)

Example behaviors

• Spends time where the core work happens and knows it firsthand.
• Asks sharp questions that show real study of the details.
• Explores new ideas side by side with colleagues who know them best.
• Shows up to team learning as a learner, not an observer.
• Teaches what they know well, and invites others to push back.
• Keeps building their own expertise, and lets the team see it.

What it looks like in practice

You name the trade-offs, look at the whole system, make room for disagreement, and then close the decision on a clock people can count on.

Research anchors: Heifetz, 1994; Mumford et al., 2000; Uhl-Bien et al., 2007 (see references)

Example behaviors

• Names the tensions in a problem before reaching for a fix.
• Looks at how the pieces of a situation connect before deciding what the real problem is.
• Keeps more than one option alive long enough to find a better one.
• Makes it safe to disagree, and gives debate room before closing it.
• Explains the reasoning behind a call, and owns it.
• Takes time to weigh what matters, then decides when they said they would.

What it looks like in practice

Decision rights are clear before work begins, people are involved while options are still open, and someone owns the next step.

Research anchors: Hallinger & Heck, 2010; Wang et al., 2014; Burde, 2016 (see references)

Example behaviors

• Shares real decision power with the team on choices that matter.
• Works out with the team who decides what, before the work starts.
• Draws in voices from across roles, including people who will live with a change.
• Involves people while options are still forming, not after.
• Lets the team help design how the plan gets done and who does what.
• Brings the team together to work through snags and competing demands.

What it looks like in practice

You respect what already works, run small tests before big rollouts, and let evidence decide what to keep, stop, or adjust.

Research anchors: March, 1991; Edmondson, 1999; Burde, 2016 (see references)

Example behaviors

• Asks how a working routine could get even better, while respecting why it exists.
• Looks at past practice with fresh eyes as conditions change.
• Tries new approaches in small steps and adjusts along the way.
• Tests a promising alternative without waiting for a problem to force it.
• Grows a change in measured steps once early signs look good.
• Keeps a regular rhythm for adjusting how the team works as it learns.