✨The Doors of Leadership (023)

I spent part of this week travelling interstate for work. Three nights, two separate places, and two vastly different experiences.

The difference? The doors.

At one place, the door was solid and secure. I locked it with ease and slept peacefully. Safety wasn’t something I questioned; it was simply there.

At the other place, I realised I couldn’t lock the door from the inside out. No matter how comfortable the room looked, I didn’t feel safe. I kept thinking, what if someone could just walk in?

That small detail shaped my entire experience.

The Leadership Parallel

As I reflected, I realised: leaders are a lot like doors.

🚪 The over-bolted door
All protection, no access. Safe but intimidating.

🚪 The clear, simple door
Secure and approachable. This leader offers clarity and direction, you know exactly where you stand.

Both offer safety but in vastly different ways.

This quote by Flora Whittemore is a reminder that leadership is about access, transitions, and the choices we make when opportunity comes knocking.

Which Door Are You?

Leadership is about more than policies, KPIs, or strategy. It’s about the felt sense of safety you create for others.

From your own experience, which leaders felt intimidating to approach, and which ones made you feel safe to be honest?

What did their “door” feel like?

If I had to choose, in the context of leadership, I’d want to be the second door - approachable, clear, and empowering. But I’d still keep a little of the first door’s strength, for the moments when protection and boundaries matter most.

That said, it’s a no-brainer that in the context of a good night’s sleep - to rinse and repeat the next day with gusto - the first door would be the obvious choice!

Situational Leadership

For those who want to dive deeper into leadership style, you would find “Situational Leadership,” a flexible leadership model developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard relevant. The model emphasizes that there is no single "best" leadership style.

Situational Leadership Just like doors shape how safe and welcome we feel, leadership isn’t one-size-fits-all. Situational Leadership is the idea that leaders adapt their approach to the competence and confidence of their people.

The Four Leadership Styles of the Situational Leadership®

Style 1- Telling, Directing or Guiding: The leader makes decisions and closely supervises execution. This is a short-term approach intended to create movement.

Style 2- Selling, Coaching or Explaining: The leader still makes decisions but provides background and context and engages with the follower to reinforce buy-in and continued progress.

Style 3- Participating, Collaborating or Facilitating: The follower makes decisions with support from the leader in an effort to instill and enhance task mastery.

Style 4- Delegating, Empowering or Monitoring: The follower is trusted to not only make task-related decisions but to suggest strategies for improvement and identify best practices.

It’s a reminder that flexibility is strength. The best leaders know when to be the solid lock, when to guide the way, and when to simply hold the frame so others can step through.

A Question for You

Which door are you becoming for the people you lead?

Because here’s the truth: people can’t burn bright if they’re always worried about whether the door is really locked. Safety, psychological and otherwise is the foundation for everything else.

This week, notice: Are you the door people approach easily, or the one they hesitate to knock on?

To your spark,
Mary