Episode 36: Why your leadership style needs to flex and adapt to different needs, with Chris Pearce

Leadership Amplified by Dr Karen Morley

Much of my conversation with Chris Pearce centered around being flexible in your style and leading authentically. Chris started his career in the Army, then spent a number of years in leadership roles in transport organisations such as FedEx, Linfox and MaxiTrans, and is now with ecoDynamics as Group Fleet and Asset Manager. The connection between flexibility and authenticity is always an interesting one. With some coaching clients, there is a challenge about being flexible in your style VERSUS being authentic. How can you be both? If you’re being your authentic self, who you truly are, shouldn’t you be consistent; people should know what they’re getting? Yes. And no. It’s how you use various styles that is the key. As Chris reflected on various leadership experiences he’d had, from the military to corporate life, and the impact they’d had on both him, the team and its performance, one of the interesting distinctions he made was between a style, and how you use it. He contrasts two different leaders he experienced early in his career, who both used the command and control style. He noted a significant difference in his experience as one boss wielded the style with a high care factor, and another pushed hard but you could see he wasn’t his genuine self. The first used the style for the team, the second used the style for control. The outcomes were quite different – with the first leader, there was better team cohesion, there was never any doubt that they would achieve their goals, the bonds became strong. This set the tone for Chris - it’s OK to be yourself as a leader, and that works better for your team. When you trust that they’ll achieve the outcome, they are more likely to. His introduction to corporate life was ‘like walking into a circus without a ringmaster’, as roles were so much less clear. This was his turn to create the clarity, to help the team to work towards a common goal, understanding the parts they played. Chris concludes our conversation with three pieces of advice for other leaders; keep learning, treat people as people, and have fun.