Hats of Leadership
By Ryan Treadwell
Leadership requires the discernment and knowledge of what dynamic role is best to take up at any given moment. The common phrase used to describe this is “switching hats.”
While it is vitally important for leaders to know their individual giftings and strengths, it is equally important for leaders to recognize:
- Which roles they are weak in
- Which roles they need development
- Which roles they should hand off to others around them
Whatever hat the leader decides to approach each moment with should always serve to better their teams and the people they are influencing. One of the biggest challenges of leadership is knowing what type of leader you need to be in any given moment.
Choosing the right hat requires awareness of the big picture.
Leaders stand on the balcony, able to see the whole vision of what they are working toward, while also able to enter the crowd to influence individuals toward what they see.
Pulling together all of the context — from the big picture to the individuals a leader is influencing –and coming to a conclusion for the next steps to take is a significant challenge for leaders.
In a perfect world, a team gets on board with vision, counts the cost perfectly, does what is required, stays excited, and everything goes perfectly.
In reality, there will never be a time when everything goes perfectly. There will always be moments where problems arise and expectations are not met. Knowing these situations are inevitable, leaders need to be dynamic, creative, and flexible, so that they can understand the problems, embrace them, and then have the courage and wisdom to take action and move forward.