Domains of Leadership Strengths

This is the second in a series of five posts from a book review of Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie.

1. In Gallup’s research of literally thousands of executive teams, the researchers have determined four domains of leadership strength of great teams:
a. Executing: Being able to take something from idea to reality.
b. Influencing: Selling the team’s idea both internally and externally.
c. Relationship Building: Acting like glue and being able to keep the team as a cohesive whole.
d. Strategic Thinking: Being able to think about the macro-picture,--what things could be.

2. If you look closely at how these four domains cluster, they agree with management research conducted in the past (Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid, for example). In Rath and Conchie’s model, consider a graph with on the X axis Task (Strategic Thinking and Executing) and on the Y axis Relationship (Relationship Building and Influencing). While this is an oversimplification, it does point out congruity with past findings in the area of leadership.