1. © 2014 by RedLine Leadership Associates
www.redlineleadership.com
What is RedLine Leadership?
Should front-line supervisors do the same things that top executives do? Do middle
managers need to be good at the same skills as supervisors? Do executives need to be better at
leadership skills than middle managers, and do middle managers need to be better than
supervisors? The answers to these questions may not be as simple as they seem. The RedLine
Leadership Perspective explains the demands on leaders and skills necessary as a leader evolves
and progresses within an organization.
Two Perspectives on Leadership Development
Two different perspectives in the leadership literature describe how leadership skill
requirements change at different levels of an organization (Muse, Dai, & Wu, 2011). The
Continuity Perspective illustrates that jobs at each level still require the competencies of jobs at
lower levels, but the leader must become more skilled at each competency.
Leadership Roles
Supervisors Executives
HI
LO
Middle Managers
Continuity Perspective of Leadership Development
As Leaders progress they must improve more
on all leadership competencies, but more on
some than others
Knowledge/
Skill Level
Leadership
Competencies

2. © 2014 by RedLine Leadership Associates
www.redlineleadership.com
The Discontinuity Perspective argues that leaders must “let go” of some skills and focus on
new, different skills to be effective at higher levels of an organization.
Leadership Roles
Supervisors Executives
HI
LO
Middle Managers
Discontinuity Perspective of Leadership Development
As Leaders progress they must let go of some skills
Knowledge/
Skill Level
Leadership
Competencies
Why Does It Matter?
Why does it matter? A company’s beliefs about leadership development will impact how
they manage their leadership talent. If an organization believes that leaders progress by
continually improving existing skills, their leadership development programs will focus on
exposing leaders to increasingly complex ideas about concepts they are already familiar with. If,
on the other hand, they subscribe to the Discontinuity Perspective they may focus on what
activities a leader should delegate, but will also introduce newer skills.
The RedLine Perspective
While these two perspectives are often seen as competing frameworks of viewing
leadership development, RedLine Leadership pulls from both perspectives to describe effective
leadership development. The RedLine Perspective draws from Continuity Perspective theory
that there are certain leadership competencies that should continue to be improved and
emphasized as a leader progresses in an organization. It also takes the concept of
deemphasizing some competencies as a leader advances from the Discontinuity Perspective.
The key concept introduced by the RedLine Perspective is to provide a framework to specify
types of skills that change in emphasis as a leader develops and grows.

3. © 2014 by RedLine Leadership Associates
www.redlineleadership.com
RedLine Perspective of Leadership
Development
Knowledge/
Skill Level
Team Members Senior Leaders
PROCESS
HI
LO
Team Leaders
SYSTEMS
Leadership Roles
As leaders progress the
fundamental nature of
what is important changes
The RedLine Perspective suggests that the most important competencies for team members
(or individual contributors) are those focused on Process. For the purposes of the RedLine
model, Process is defined as the specific, task-oriented work the team and its leader are directly
responsible for. For example, a front-line team member might be responsible for sales to
specific customers. Her work is focused on the specific sales process that is used by her team to
interface with customers. She is focused on competencies like Problem Solving, Process
Improvement, Communication, Individual Motivation, and Technical Knowledge.
When a team member moves into leadership Process-related competencies like Coaching,
Development of Direct Reports, and Confronting Direct Reports become important to success.
As a leader transitions from a team leader or middle management role to the senior level,
Systems competencies become critical. Systems competencies are sometimes called business
and strategic leadership skills. These higher-level competencies are focused on the organization
as a whole rather than on an individual’s direct reports. Some examples are Managing Vision
and Purpose, Business Acumen, and Strategic Agility. This increased focus on Systems as a
leader progresses is depicted by the red line in the above chart. Some process competencies
are less important at higher levels of leadership. This is depicted by the downward slope of the
black line on the accompanying chart. An example of a competency that decreases in
importance is Technical Knowledge.

4. © 2014 by RedLine Leadership Associates
www.redlineleadership.com
Clearly, some skills are important at all levels. Effective communication is critical to
leadership success, but the nature of effective communication changes as the leader transitions
from interacting primarily with direct reports to larger cross-functional teams, and at the
highest levels to stockholders, board members, and other external constituencies.
The RedLine Perspective provides a framework for looking at leadership development
within an organization, but it does not prescribe a “one-size-fits-all” approach. The general
principle of decreasing emphasis on Process competencies and increasing emphasis on Systems
competencies holds for most organizations, but each organization must consider the influence
of its specific context and culture on which competencies are important at different levels. For
example, research has shown that some skill ratings (not importance ratings) for some
competencies like Patience, Approachability, Personal Disclosure, and Humor decrease as
leaders reach more senior levels of organizations. In some organizations this decrease in
sensitivity toward others may not have a significant impact on the leader’s effectiveness, but in
a company whose culture is strongly based on personal interactions and team cohesiveness
across levels of management, this may have a major impact on the leader’s ability to lead
effectively.
Conclusions
An organization that wants to develop effective leaders must understand the changing
nature of what is required for leadership success as a leader progresses through their
organization. They must also be aware of how their unique organizational context may
challenge leaders differently at different levels. The best organizations will prepare their
leaders by providing leadership development opportunities that evolve not only in complexity,
but also in content as their leaders advance.
Reference
De Meuse, K. P., Dai, G., & Wu, J. (2011). Leadership skills across organizational level: A closer
examination. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 14, 120-139.
-Bob Berger is a Partner with RedLine Leadership Associates, a leadership and management
consultancy based in San Antonio, Texas. Contact Bob at bob.berger@redlineleadership.com