Seven Transformations
of Leadership
By David Rooke and Williams R.
Torbert
Presented by Hien & Angeline
Research & Action Logic
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Article a result of survey basedresearch or managers &
professionals.
Action logic: How leaders
interpret their surroundings &
how they react when power or
safety is challenged.
7 Action Logics
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Opportunist
Diplomat
Expert
Achiever
Individualist
Strategist
Alchemist
The Opportunist
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Focus on personal wins &
controlling external environment
People are an opportunity for
exploitation
Legitimize unethical behavior
Reject feedback
Externalize blame
The Diplomat
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Focused on gaining control of
own behavior
Conform to group
Avoid/Ignore conflict
Supportive + help bring people
together
The Expert
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Perfecting knowledge
Data and logic
Focus on continuous
improvement, efficiency and
perfection
Always think they are always
right
“I don’t do feelings, I’ll leave that
to Barry Manilow”
The Achiever
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Team orientation
Open to feedback
Concerned with meeting goals
Inhibit thinking outside of the
box
The Individualist
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Abstract thinkers
Interweave competing personal
and company action logics
Resolve gaps between strategy
and performance
The Strategist
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Focus on organization constraints and
perceptions
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Strategist masters the second-order
organizational impact of actions &
agreements
Adept at creating shared visions across
different action logics.
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which they treat as discussable and
transformable
(both personal and organization transformation)
Deal with conflict more comfortable
They are better at handling people
instinctive resistance to change
The Strategist
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Three distinct levels of social
interplay
Personal relationship
 Organization relationship
 National and international
developments
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Example Bavaria a CEO back in
1985 measured as a strategist
The Alchemist
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Ability to renew or even reinvent
themselves and their
organizations in historically
significant ways
Has an extraordinary capacity to
deal simultaneously with many
situations at multiple levels
Alchemist can talk with both
kings and commoners
The Alchemist
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Can deal with immediate
priorities yet never lost sight of
long term goals
Alchemists individuals who live
by high moral standards
Mainly focus intensely on the
truth
Example:
Nelson Mandela
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To Strategist and Beyond
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The Strategist and Alchemist
action logics is qualitatively
May seek spiritual and ethical
guidance from mentors
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Mutual mentoring with peers who
are already part of their networks
Seven Ways of Leading
Leadership Teams and Leadership
Cultures within Organizations
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The most effective teams are those
with a strategist culture
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The group sees business challenges as
opportunities for growth and learning on
the part of both individuals and the
organization
Most senior manager teams operate
at the Achiever action logic
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They prefer unambiguous targets and
deadlines, and working with clear
strategies, tactics, and plans, often
against tight deadlines
Leadership Teams and Leadership
cultures within Organizations
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For mature companies where
senior management teams
operate as Experts
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Vice presidents see themselves
as chiefs and their “teams” as an
information-reporting formality
In creative, Consulting and
nonprofit organizations are
Individualist teams
The END