Introduction
In our advisory work with business leaders – whether founders of start-ups, CEOs of fast-growing SMEs, or executive committees of international groups – one constant emerges: effective leadership is not a single style, but a response to the context and to the needs of employees.
Too often,the debate polarizes between “good” and “bad” leaders. We hear hasty judgments: “He has lost his leadership” or, in family businesses, “She doesn’t have her parents’ leadership.” Many articles still question whether leadership is innate or acquired. Yet these approaches remain partial.
During a case study at Harvard Business School, a group suddenly trapped by a natural disaster saw an obvious leader emerge in just a few hours. This insight struck me: leadership is not a fixed attribute, but an immediate response to the needs of the group. There is no leader without followers.
To understand leadership, we must first understand what those who choose to follow are seeking. In other words, it is the context and the needs of employees that shape the relevant type of leadership.
Starting from this conviction, we have combined two analytical frameworks:
- the S-curve of business development and its inflection points,
- the pyramid of employee engagement drivers.
We have thus analyzed the different stages of business development, identified engagement drivers at each phase, and established correspondences with the most effective leadership styles.
Here is a pragmatic framework, directly inspired by field experience, to serve collective performance.
Inflection Points
The development of a company follows an S-curve, punctuated by key inflection points. At Inflex’On, we distinguish seven:
- Explore
- Emerge
- Grow – with three sub-phases: Speed-Up, Accelerate, Take-Off
- Mature
- Transform
- Decline
- Turnaround
These stages shape growth, crises, and the reinventions necessary for any sustainable enterprise
For more details, see our full article on inflection points or our videos.
Engagement Drivers: The Pyramid of Motivation
Just like Maslow’s pyramid, engagement drivers evolve as the organization matures. Each stage in a company’s development activates a specific need among employees – a need that leadership must address.
The core observation is that followership stems from a need an employee feels. This need is ultimately met as the company reaches a new phase, which in turn creates anew need and prompts a search for leadership suited to that new need. In examining the leadership–followership dynamic, each need is considered as a potential driver of engagement.
Our engagement driver pyramid ranks the drivers from the need for security to the need for development. Lower-level needs must be satisfied before progressing to higher ones. In this article, I describe the drivers I have identified among employees while observing their daily lives throughout the various stages of the companies I have led.
- Need for Security
In the phases of exploration or crisis (start-up, turnaround), uncertainty prevails. Employees look to leadership to reduce stress and make decisions. They seek a reassuring figure who provides clear direction. - Need for Inspiration
Once viability is achieved, teams desire a higher sense of purpose. They want to be guided by a vision, a meaningful mission. This is the engine of strong emotional engagement. - Need for Impact
As the company accelerates, talented individuals want to contribute actively. Execution alone is no longer enough. They expect to be heard, involved in decisions, and valued for their ideas. - Need for Recognition
When the company achieves market leadership, employees want their contribution to be visibly recognized. Recognition becomes a lever for retention and motivation. - Need for Development
In the maturity phase, employees seek to continue learning and evolving. Their personal development becomes a strategic issue for supporting the future transformation of the organization.
Leadership Styles
There are many typologies of leadership. We focus on five main families, each enriched with sub-categories, covering the styles most commonly found in organizations.
1. Directive Leadership
An authoritative approach, useful in urgency or instability. The leader gives clear instructions, makes decisions, and reduces uncertainty.
💡 Relevant for: Explore, Emerge, and Turnaround phases (need for security)
2. Collaborative Leadership
Fosters co-construction, autonomy, and participation.
• Democratic style: the leader widely consults the team.
• Laissez-faire style: the team operates autonomously.
💡 Relevant for: periods of strong growth (Accelerate, Take-Off), when the need for impact and collaboration dominates
3. Transformational Leadership
Mobilizes through vision, meaning, and innovation.
• Visionary style: focused on an inspiring future.
• Charismatic style: grounded in the leader’s personality.
💡 Relevant for: Speed-Up and Transform phases, when the need for inspiration or change is central
4. Transactional Leadership
Relies on a system of rewards and punishments to achieve objectives. Servant leadership, a more humanistic variant, aims to meet the team’s needs.
💡 Relevant for: Mature phase, when the dominant need is recognition and operational stability
5. Coaching Leadership
Focuses on developing potential. The leader acts as a mentor, offering feedback and personalized support.
💡 Relevant for: Speed-Up and Transform phases, when individual and collective development needs prevail
Leadership and Life Cycles: A Cross-Reading
The most appropriate leadership style is never a universal recipe; it depends on organizational context and the dominant needs of employees at each stage of business development. As the organization evolves, expectations shift – and leadership must adapt accordingly.
• Explore and Emerge phases:
The company faces the unknown: limited resources, unstable models, and fuzzy benchmarks. Employees—exposed to a high degree of uncertainty—have a fundamental need for security. This calls for directive leadership: a leader who sets the course, makes key decisions, takes responsibility, and provides structure. At this stage, clarity outweighs participation.
• Entering growth—Grow (Speed-Up):
Survival is no longer the main issue. The emerging need is for inspiration. Teams want to understand where they are headed and why. They seek meaning, a mission, a mobilizing project. Coaching leadership becomes effective here, allowing the leader to transmit vision, develop skills, and engage teams in a learning dynamic.
• As growth accelerates—Grow (Accelerate):
The need for inspiration turns into a desire for impact. Employees want to contribute actively to building the company, influence decisions, and see their ideas implemented. Transformational leadership becomes essential: it mobilizes energy around an ambitious vision, values innovation, and encourages initiative.
• At the consolidation stage—Grow (Take-Off):
The company begins to establish its market position. Talents, now experienced and involved, strive for a more horizontal operating mode. The prevailing need becomes one of collaboration. Collaborative leadership comes to the fore: decisions are shared, collective intelligence is harnessed, and everyone can express their potential in a participative environment.
• In the maturity phase—Mature:
The excitement of growth gives way to a search for recognition. Employees want their commitment to be valued and visible. Transactional leadership meets this need well by setting up clear recognition systems, precise objectives, and regular feedback. This style helps stabilize teams and maintain long-term performance.
• When change is required—Transform:
The need evolves toward development. Teams want to progress, learn, and stay relevant in a changing environment. Leadership must combine a coaching stance—supporting skill development—with a transformational style—driving cultural and strategic change.
Turnaround : A special case
Turning around a struggling company requires extreme leadership agility. Restoring trust (directive), mobilizing collective intelligence (collaborative), and providing an inspiring direction (transformational) are all vital. Knowing howto switch between these styles, responding accurately to the organization’s emotional climate, is one of the most advanced skills of contemporary leadership.
Conclusion : Towards Systemic and Plural Leadership
The central question for a leader is not: “What type of leader am I?” but rather:
“What kind of leadership does my organization need today, and how can I best deliver it?”
For a CEO or member of the executive committee, this is a strategic opportunity:
Is it more relevant, to support the company’s growth and transitions, to broaden one’s own spectrum of leadership styles and cultivate this individual agility?
Or will the organization’s strength come from the acknowledged diversity of profiles within the leadership team, or even from occasionally bringing in interim managers whose approach suits the context and immediate needs?
For the Board of Directors, this reflection leads to important questions:
What mix of styles and personalities will secure each key phase of the business lifecycle?
Should we seek “chameleon” leaders, able to adapt at every inflection point, or build a management team where complementarity and diverse aptitudes relay each other according to challenges?
And to what extent should governance anticipate these needs and guide transitions, for example through training, peer mentoring, or introducing specialized (internal or interim) leaders in critical times?
There is no single path:
Sometimes, a leader will nurture their evolution by broadening their repertoire to support the company through multiple cycles. Other situations will call for an association of complementary leaders, a combination of talents, or targeted intervention by interim managers to catalyze or secure decisive phases.
In all cases, opening and aligning this reflection—within both the Board and the leadership team—constitutes a tremendous opportunity to strengthen collective trust and the organization’s strategic agility. It is in this alignment that resilience and momentum are forged, enabling each transition to become a springboard for progress rather than a threat.
By asking together:
“What leadership does our organization call for today, and how can we create the conditions to meet it with excellence and confidence?”
the Board and its leaders give themselves the opportunity to anchor the organization in a sustainable dynamic, where each evolution becomes a source of energy and shared growth.
