In my experience, I have seen two main types of leadership: motivational and operational.

Motivational leaders inspire and paint broad pictures of vision of strategy. They have the ability to pass their energy to their employees, partners, friends, etc. They get energized by ideas and the possibility of what-if. For the most part, they ignore the details of execution and are dis-interested in the details of how things get done.

Operational leaders are the doers. They have the ability to put together a team, an organization, and the necessary process to achieve a vision. They usually are plain speakers who work behind the scenes. For the most part, they don’t question the vision but instead focus on achieving it. They are detailed oriented and are rarely worried about communicating a 3-year vision statement.

In college football, the head coach is usually the motivational leader getting players, fans, and alumni all pumped up.  The offensive and defensive coordinators are the operational leaders calling plays that achieve the vision. In business, these roles are usually split between the CEO (motivational leader) and COO (operational leader).

The best organizations have both types of leadership. The most successful organizations not only have both types of leaders but also have motivational and operational leaders who have strong mutual respect for each other.

In most organizations one form of leadership is absent. When you don’t operational leadership, employees complain that the vision is out of touch with the products. When you don’t have motivational leadership, people complain that they don’t know why they are doing something.

The single biggest mistake of leadership is having one person try to do both. Leaders who know what they are good at will find someone who complements their style. Great motivational leaders who team with great operational leaders will build great organizations.