Geraldine Gallacher | CEO
What is Leadership Identity?
Many leaders come to coaching with the assumption that to be more effective they need to focus on acquiring new skills or new knowledge. That there’s a gap in what they know that might be holding them back. Or they’ve bought into the idea that leaders who command strong followership and influence must have some mysterious, perhaps even unattainable, set of personality traits.
However, the answer lies not so much in looking outwards but rather in looking inwards first. Figuring out what powers our action, what we believe in and what we’re striving for significantly improves our chances of bringing teams with us. It helps us to carve out a clear leadership identity.
A strong leadership identity acts as a guiding compass. It helps leaders navigate complex decisions and maintain strategic direction, particularly in high-pressure situations. When individuals have this clarity, it grounds them, supporting their ability to lead through complexity, manage competing demands with consistency, and respond in line with their values and purpose.
Developing Leadership Identity
Developing a leadership identity is an iterative process. It is developed through a person’s unique set of experiences. It is built on self-awareness, understanding one’s strengths, weaknesses, values, and beliefs and how well this self-perception aligns with others' perceptions of them. When this internal story about who they are is well defined and when their actions stem from this understanding, they demonstrate greater consistency and clarity of intention.
Identity is not static; it evolves. If it becomes too rigid, it can limit growth and adaptability. Leadership identity goes deeper than work issues alone - events in one’s personal life can have a profound effect on leadership identity. Often major life events like personal loss, significant career setbacks, starting a family or unexpected crises can trigger a reshaping of identity. These sorts of experiences can lead one to accept their vulnerability which can in turn dial up empathy. This can result in a shift in leadership style from a more agentic one where taking charge is primary to a more communal one where taking care comes more to the fore. The point is that leadership identity evolves with experience.
The Barriers to establishing a leadership identity
It is common for leaders to face conflicting expectations, such as demonstrating strength at the same time as showing empathy and being both self-assured and humble. Leadership identity can also be eroded in the face of contradictory feedback, or when one’s style doesn’t accord with the prevailing leadership style of the organisational culture.
For example, research indicates that people negatively judge female leaders when they demonstrate stereotypical leadership behaviours which are seen to be incongruent with being a woman. The most obvious one being assertiveness. Too often this results in being seen as too “bossy” a word reserved for describing women and yet too little results in them being seen as not strong enough. This is the classic ‘double bind dilemma” for women and it can hamper them in the process of developing their own authentic leadership identity.
Similarly, with men, they may feel that they need to meet social expectations of leadership and masculinity as being strong and commanding, which can conflict with their desire to be vulnerable and emotionally open.
Building Leadership Identity with Intention
Developing a leadership identity is not about constructing a brand or a persona. It's about uncovering and strengthening the internal story that shapes how a person leads and aligning that story with how others experience them. It's about leading from a place of intention.
These are the five strategies that we use with leaders to help them understand and strengthen their leadership identity.
What do you stand for?
Identify leadership situations in which your approach felt both authentic and effective. Examine these moments carefully and think about what values you were acting on and what beliefs guided your decisions. These are the foundations of your leadership identity.
Actively Seek Feedback
People rarely understand how others perceive them, but self-awareness allows leaders to understand their core values and consider how they intentionally weave them into their leadership approach.
For example, a leader who values inclusivity might discover, through feedback, that while team members she rates highly feel included, others feel overlooked largely because they think very differently. Seeking 360-degree insights can help close this gap, offering a fuller picture and allowing leaders to better align their intentions with their actual impact.
Test and Learn
According to Ibarra, leadership identity is not discovered through thinking, but through action. Much like how, when younger, we internalise adult reactions to our behaviour and gradually shape our sense of self. In the workplace, leadership identity forms the same way, through our interactions. The key is to experiment with different leadership styles, not to mimic them, but to see what aligns with our values and what feels authentic as that’s what will have the most significant and lasting impact.
Anchor to Purpose
Identity gains strength through connection to a higher purpose. Ask yourself: What kind of impact do I want to create? Your vision can help to serve as your guide. Remember, this is not necessarily about an unselfish or 'good' purpose, but it must be meaningful to you. This could be anything from respecting others’ deadlines to, ensuring everyone in the team feels included, to sponsoring others’ progression.
Review and Adapt
Regularly examine changes in your leadership identity. Consider what you may have outgrown. Which aspects of your leadership hold greater importance in your current context? As leadership evolves with time, your identity will grow, too.
Why is leadership identity so important?
Leaders looking to make an impact and create influence need a way to stay grounded amid conflicting expectations. Understanding their leadership identity acts as their guide that enables them to remain focused and intentional in their leadership and decision-making. Using this as a guiding compass helps leaders with be more consistent in their behaviours and approach. Consistency helps others to interpret and understand their way of leading, building trust and followership because they know what to expect and also because they believe in the same end goal—ultimately resulting in greater influence and effectiveness
