Imagine this: it's Monday morning and you're sitting in a meeting room. Your boss walks in, places a spreadsheet on the table, and dives straight into numbers, targets, and missed goals. You feel the tension rise as team members glance nervously at each other. Questions or suggestions are brushed aside with a wave. Decisions are made quickly, with little discussion, and suddenly you're back at your desk, feeling frustrated and unheard. If this scenario feels familiar, you've encountered linear leadership.

Linear leadership is like a straight line—top-down, goal-driven and often impersonal. It focuses on short-term results. It views teams as tools to achieve predefined outcomes. Communication typically flows one way, from the top down. Feedback from employees is limited or even discouraged.

This approach might deliver short-term gains, but over time it can lead to employee burnout, low morale, reduced creativity and high turnover.

A linear leader relies on their authority to get the team to achieve an objective.

But there's another approach that aligns better with your intuition and significantly enhances team performance—Circular Leadership.

Circular Leadership sees leadership not as a line but a circle—a continuous cycle of feedback, respect and collaboration. It values relationships, communication and mutual respect as much as results. Instead of solely driving towards numerical targets, circular leaders balance performance with team well-being because this is the best way to improve both. Decisions are made collectively, ensuring everyone’s voice matters. This profoundly impacts team learning, overall performance and morale.

Under Circular Leadership that Monday morning meeting is transformed. Your leader begins by checking in with the team, genuinely interested in everyone's thoughts and feelings. Goals and numbers are still important but now ideas and suggestions from everyone are actively encouraged. This collaborative approach boosts engagement, motivation and accountability, and it leads directly to improved team performance and retention.

A circular leader collaborates to build self-directing teams that consistently perform well.

The positive impacts of Circular Leadership are significant:

  1. Enhanced Team Performance: People thrive when they feel valued and heard. Open communication and genuine collaboration lead to higher productivity, better problem-solving and consistently strong outcomes.
  2. Improved Retention: Employees stay longer because they feel respected and integral to their team's success. Lower turnover means reduced costs, preserved institutional knowledge and stronger team cohesion.
  3. Greater Creativity and Innovation: When team members feel safe to share their ideas, creativity flourishes. This open, inclusive environment encourages innovation and keeps teams adaptable and competitive.
  4. Increased Resilience: Teams guided by circular leaders are better able to navigate challenges and setbacks. Shared decision-making and mutual support create a robust team capable of adapting and thriving, even in tough circumstances.

Circular Leadership doesn't just look good on paper—it feels right in practice. It nurtures an environment where teams perform exceptionally well because they're inspired, resilient, and deeply engaged.

If you've felt the strain of linear leadership and sensed there must be a better way, Circular Leadership offers a clear, positive alternative. Leadership can be—and should be—engaging, empathetic, empowering and, best of all, enjoyable. That’s the Circular Leader difference.

Warm regards,
Alex

The Circular Leader app will be available for your iPhone or iPad in Q3 2025 and a short time later on Android devices. The app is FREE, with no time limit. Get it and use it forever, at no cost.