ALPHA LEADER
“Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the hard may be; for without victory there is no survival. ”
―Winston S. Churchill
THE ALPHA LEADER ARCHETYPE
Alpha leaders are competitive and high-performing individuals striving for transactional power and authoritarian influence. The Alpha is a natural leader who is not satisfied until they are in charge and calling the shots.
Alphas are comfortable with responsibility in a way non-alphas can never be. Brazen, bold, and bullish, the high-achiever Alpha Leader is in the game for achievement, success, money, power and influence. Independent and action-oriented, alphas have extraordinarily high levels of performance with an equally high tolerance for risk.
Leader of the Pack
Alphas represent about 70% of all senior executives. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a modern corporation without alpha leaders. The first letter in the Greek alphabet (Α, α) has been used to define the dominant individual in a particular field. To be the one at the top requires a rare array of skills and qualities. We are not talking about the 1%. We’re talking about 0.01%.
The high-performing Alpha Leader is at the apex of power, wealth, influence, and affluence. Alphas reach the top ranks as entrepreneurs or in large organisations because they are natural leaders. You belong to the historical lineage of leaders of kings and queens, generals, tycoons and presidents.
The Alpha ensures that the execution hits the mark and sticks—the force and piercing power work together to maximize the depth and impact. Highly intelligent, confident, and successful Alphas have an army of ideas ready to be released and realized. The data-advised Alpha has the talent to hit the target repeatedly. A hint of a killer instinct is necessary to remain competitive at the apex. Without the intent to win and bring success to the table, what would be left for the Alpha?
Dealing with others through frustration
Personal and organisational leadership is the single hardest skill in business. The leader role is not meant for everyone. As Alphas approach the C-level, in addition to delivering the numbers, they are also expected to become inspirational people managers. This new situation may cause friction.
Linked to their ambition, speed and need to dominate the game ahead of others, the power of frustration keeps Alpha’s own achievement going. Yet recognising and understanding the frustration that the Alpha evokes around themselves is harder to deal with.
High Performance
Alphas take extraordinarily high levels of performance for granted, both in themselves and in others. As a leader, alpha is often challenged to understand those who add value in different ways and levels. Because the Alpha’s intuition is so often proven right, they feel justified in focusing on the flaws of other people’s ideas or arguments. As a result, coworkers get intimidated, and there’s a risk of negative sentiment around an alpha.
Alphaspeak
Communication clashes appear with those who do not communicate in alphaspeak. In addition, it is challenging to understand team members and stakeholders who actually prefer their leader to have higher emotional intelligence than IQ and achieve the KPIs. Not to mention more sensitive team members, who are plain scared about the Alpha, who appear to be loud and intimidating.
Navigating the cross-swell of expectations and aligning with the “softer” values is a major challenge for Alpha.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
ALPHA LEADER
STRENGTHS
Power Game
Alpha leadership is needed, especially when the leader must exercise an urgent and aggressive turnaround attempt. This is often linked to a situation, which requires strong vision and execution to create immediate change. Alpha leadership can be linked in coercive and authoritative leadership styles where success must be achieved in a short time frame.
High Performance
Prolific productivity marks the character of the Alpha. Ingrained habits are geared towards achieving goals. As a result, the Alpha has a high and constant output in reaching these milestones.
Wealth
Alpha Leaders have a specific and well-articulated relationship with money and wealth, and they are often successful with money. Mastering wealth is firmly linked to their transactional mindset and confidence in closing deals. The approach to wealth often comes with hackling and frugality, a goal-driven planning process and the drive to win.
ALPHA LEADER WEAKNESSES
Anxiousness and boredom
When not engaged in the action, the Alpha’s frustrate fast with the less eventful period. Alphas struggle to deal with phases where the results are not tangible and when the commercial thinking is not present.
Crash and Burn
Alpha’s tend to keep the ‘pedal to the metal’ without enough result in recovery. The quality and quantity of sleep is often an issue. Without a proper strategy for rest, there is a slow but gradual loss of health and energy. What was a meteoric rise can become a gut-wrenching fall.
Corruption
The greater the power, the greater the attraction towards shortcuts that make the job easier and more lucrative. Inflated with power, it is hard to see who can confront them and their actions. When the gap with reality grows, the Alpha Leader can see themselves beyond ethical conduct.
CONCLUSION
You are tasked to impact millions and to make it happen!
To achieve the next level, you must step into the true version of yourself and raise your standards and action. As an Alpha leader, you often already see this higher level. The question is more about “how” and “when”.
You are underperforming.
You have all that it takes to multiply your earnings, revenues and influence. And yes, this success is linked to a more sustainable way.
You are underperforming as long as you are not able to fix your flaws. Until then you are undermining your performance and accumulating losses in your professional and private life. You have all that it takes to be successful in a less volatile way resulting in better health and less frustration, drama and misunderstandings.
There is a powerful way forward to unlock your own more sustainable high-performance standard. The approach connects the dots of your personal and professional leadership and calibrates our growth to the trajectory of more steady and sustainable success.
There are no champions without a coach.
Book a call if you are open for a zero-pressure discussion where I can find out if we can add value to you or not.
Learn more about the Eight Archetypes
The Eight Archetypes are distributed in four different spheres where Seekers lead the need to change, Builders are here to manifest, Connectors to connect, and Leaders to lead.
The Seeker sphere introduces the two archetypes of the Healer and the Activist. The second group of Builders hosts the Designer and the Engineer archetypes. The third level is the group of the Connectors - the Captain and the Dealmaker. The fourth level introduces the Leader archetypes: the Alpha Leader and the Omega Leader.
