From Hero to Team: A Brief Look at the Evolution of Leadership Styles

Maria Malmgren
Sep 18
5 min read

I was recently listening to an interview with a well-known leader. In one of his answers to a young listener, he reflected that when he was a teenager and volunteering as an Air Cadet, he learned leadership was “the art of influencing human behaviour to accomplish a mission in the manner desired by the leader.”

That definition didn’t resonate with me. It felt a little manipulative and out of step with the collective wisdom I see in most meetings and team settings. It didn't fit with my experience of the value of a team weighing in on the options and co-creating alignment on the best way to proceed, given what we know and how we have defined success.

On reflection, I realized leadership has evolved significantly since this leader’s teen years. I became curious about how leadership styles have shifted and what today’s leaders and teams need to thrive.

Silhouetted figure in a red cape stands heroically on a mountain peak at sunrise, overlooking vast mountains, evoking a sense of adventure.

From Superman to Super Teams

Fifty years ago, the dominant leadership style was the solo hero leader. Leaders were expected to have inherent traits, (intelligence, confidence, decisiveness, etc., ) and their focus was to drive task accomplishment. Think Superman.

Organizations relied heavily on transactional leadership: command-and-control, reward and punishment, and hierarchy-driven authority. Stability, efficiency, and compliance were prioritized and leadership was mostly about compliance and managing performance.

Over time, leadership has shifted. It’s become more adaptive, relational, and inclusive.

Today, effective leaders build trust, invite diverse voices, and leverage collective strengths. The new image of leadership is less Superman, more team of superheroes.

Four people smiling around a laptop in an office. One points at the screen. Vibrant art in the background. Casual, collaborative mood.

Leadership Is Context Dependent

Modern leadership is less about one person’s traits and more about how leadership is enacted across relationships and systems. The aspiration is to lead ethically, transparently, and with service, to create shared accountability, ownership and results.

Then: Leadership was “the strong individual directing others for performance.”
Now: Leadership is “the collective capacity to adapt, relate, and create value within and beyond the team.”

And yet, leadership is context dependent. In emergencies and other situations, clear directive leadership is essential. But much of the time, the best results come from engaging people, building trust, and fostering shared responsibility.

The Shift: From High Performance to High Impact

Aspirational leadership is shifting toward collective intelligence, learning, and sustainable impact beyond the team and serving stakeholders, communities, and ecosystems. Success is evolving from high performance toward high impact and value creation.

"No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you're playing a solo game, you'll always lose out to a team."

– Reid Hoffman

Of course, we still see leaders reverting to command-and-control styles, where compliance and fear take priority. Why? Because it’s easier to be unconscious. But it’s harder on teams, organizations, and society.

The leaders I work with are excited to strengthen their collective leadership capacity to support their teams to adapt and create long-term value. And yes, under stress and urgent deadlines, even the best leaders can slip back into old patterns. That’s human. Awareness is the first step toward change.

Four people in a bright office collaborating, one points at diagrams on the wall. Others hold documents, smiling. Creative, positive atmosphere.

Are You Still Leading Like a Hero?

Signs you may be working in a hard to sustain leadership habit:

You and your team see you as solely responsible for results.
You feel progress will crumble if you step away.
You’re working harder than ever and sometimes/often, are a/the bottleneck for decisions.
Your team sometimes views you as a micro-manager.
You sometimes/often feel overwhelmed, resentful, or burned out.
You rely on authority instead of collaboration.
You struggle to delegate.
Your trust in your team comes and goes.

Signs your team may be caught in hero-style leadership:

Team members seem checked out or are just checking boxes to get the work done (maybe as a result not feeling seen, valued or heard?).
Boundaries are too loose (“not my problem”) or too rigid (“only my problem”).
Team blame and judgment are high; trust and accountability are low.
Your people need direction rather than demonstrating ownership.

If you see yourself or your team here, don’t lose heart. Many of us grew up with this model of leadership and we lean on old habits under stress. What matters is becoming conscious and choosing differently.

Woman in a blue shirt leans on her hand, appearing stressed or tired, in a bright, office setting.

The RAIN Practice for Conscious Leadership

One example of the importance of collective effort and teamwork over the impact of individual stars, is a quote from Matthew Tkachuk, a player with the 2025 Stanley Cup winners, the Florida Panthers:

"Heart meets talent. Our team was a team when things were getting hard for them. They look to one guy, but our team ~ we do it collectively and that's why we're here lifting the Stanley Cup right now because we're a team and not a bunch of individuals."

There are lots of great models using RAIN as an acronym. Try using a new practice to help you shift from directing performance to building collective capacity:

Recognize where you are the leader you aspire to be … and where you slip back into old habits.
Acknowledge your current style without judgment, and choose to adjust in the moment.
Increase curiosity and trust by deepening relationships. Remember, trust is built on values and connection.
Nurture others’ ideas and contributions.

If you’re moving toward a decision, add two more steps:

Elevate others’ voices by creating space for ideas before deciding and
Decide on the solution that creates the best value for your stakeholders and your team can execute on.

Vibrant rainbow cloud arches across the sky above a forest of evergreen trees, with mountains in the background.

RAIN Will Bring You a Rainbow

As Dolly Parton once said, “If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” Dolly is a leader as a performer and a citizen and her generosity and service amplify her success ~ she has donated millions (if not over a billion) of dollars to causes from literacy to medical research.

And let’s take it one step farther.

Don’t just put up with the rain. As a leader, actively create RAIN … so you and your team can enjoy the rainbow. It can be hard work to move towards and nurture collaboration. It takes longer and often feels harder to create a team culture.

Jim Tamm, a former judge and an expert in building collaborative workplace environments noted, "Collaboration is much like a birth. The painful process of delivery pales against the joy of seeing your baby take the first breath."

While it can feel as though collaboration weakens leaders' decision making, working as a team strengthens what comes AFTER the decision , what truly paves the way to success ... the team's commitment to the decision, their individual and collective accountability to fulfill their responsibilities and to achieve identified results.