There is a silent trap that many organizations fall into without realizing it: betting on just one type of leadership as if it were sufficient to sustain all phases of the business. We often celebrate innovative leaders, that I challenge the status quo, and also the management leaders, that make everything work efficiently. But the real power of leadership is in balance. No type, alone, accounts for the complexity an organization faces over time.
Every company needs, to a greater or lesser extent, two leadership profiles. The first is the holistic leader — someone with a vision of the whole, able to keep the machine running, connect parts and ensure the necessary stability so that the gears operate in tune. It is this profile that sustains the present and reduces operational risks. The second is the engaged creative leader — one who sees possibilities, challenges processes, proposes viable changes and leads the organization towards new paths. Your creativity is not free: is aligned with reality and business objectives.
The problem arises when a company insists too much on just one of these styles. When there is prolonged dominance of the innovation leader, risk is an organization that lives on ideas, but delivers little. Many projects start and few finish. Lack of structure, consistency and clarity of direction. On the other hand, when only maintenance leadership prevails, the company can enter a comfort zone that stifles renewal. Everything works, but nothing changes — until the market changes and it's too late to react.
Choosing the type of leadership is not a personal or cultural preference. It's a strategic decision. Companies in the process of consolidation, integration or operational expansion needs the holistic leader more. Companies facing stagnation, loss of competitiveness or market disruptions require more of an engaged creative leader. But neither of them can give up both for long.
The challenge is not in “correcting” one style with another, but knowing when and where each one makes more sense. Some areas need stability; others, of reinvention. Some moments call for control and predictability; others, experimentation and boldness. Mature organizational leadership is one that builds an ecosystem in which different profiles coexist, take turns and complement each other with intelligence.
If we want truly adaptable organizations, We need to stop looking for the “ideal leader” and start designing structures that value diversity of styles. It starts with a bold question: The type of leadership that dominates your company today is what it really needs now?
If the answer is no, Maybe it's time to balance the forces.
The right leadership, at the right time, It can be the factor that separates companies that just survive from those that actually evolve.