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Sitting at my desk, thinking about what to write for this month’s blog, out of nowhere the song lyric “what’s love got to do with it?” popped into my head.

In the 50s, 60s, and at least the early 70s the concept of finding a good job with a good company and having a career in which you worked your way up the corporate ladder was a mainstay of the image of American business. Throughout my childhood most of the fathers (mothers mostly still stayed at home) of my friends worked for the same company their entire career. Jokes, TV sit-coms, and popular movies alluded to the 25 year career followed by retirement with a gold watch and a pension.

Have you ever solved a problem for someone and instead of saying “thanks” the other person reacts with hurt feelings, leaving you baffled as to why they told you the problem in the first place?

I recently attended a conference for entrepreneurs and small business owners. As you would suspect, the main topic of discussion was how to be a success. It was clear to me that everyone who attended the conference did so because they want to be successful. The interesting thing to me was that while the speakers were all talking about how to be successful the term itself was left open.

In the first two parts of this five part series on PST and leadership we looked at the nature of leadership and the five qualities of leadership affected by PST. In the last three articles look at how each specific PS leads. Each article looks at two PST based opposite PS and provide real world examples of each style*.  

In the first two parts of this five-part series on Perceptual Styles Theory and leadership, we examined the five qualities of effective leaders, regardless of Perceptual Style. In these last three articles, we’ll look at the unique leadership qualities of each specific Perceptual Style, along with real world examples of each.*The Activity Leadership Style

In Part 1 of this five part series on leadership and PST we defined leadership as a reciprocal relationship in which one person points in a direction and others follow.  

Leadership is a complex skill that is difficult to pin down. Much of the research on the subject has focused on obvious traits such as command, decision making, risk-taking, etc. While these definitions capture much of what is widely recognized as leadership in business and politics, it limits leadership to one or two of the six distinct human Perceptual Styles.  On the surface, it’s true, some of these psychological styles look more like natural-born leaders than others—but leadership is not a Perceptual Style quality; it’s a human quality. 

Developing your leadership capacity requires that you take a step beyond your own talents and begin to not only understand but value and support the talents of those around you. It means that you have to step beyond your own natural desire to be seen, understood, and appreciated and become the one that does the “seeing” the “understanding”, and the “appreciating”.

“Which is harder, do you think, owning your strengths or accepting your limitations?”