Knowing your leadership style is just the beginning. Understanding how it lands — and adapting — builds the trust and influence that set great leaders apart.
- Gartner client? Log in for personalized search results.
Which of the 4 Leadership Personas Are You — and How Does It Shape Your Brand?
By Mark McDonald | September 3, 2025
Executive success hinges on the power to influence, at scale
C-suite leaders navigate a minefield of complex challenges, constantly balancing external pressures with internal realities. Your ability to influence and win executive support is nonnegotiable, especially in times of disruption. Moving the needle on new strategies, investments and deployments requires powerful internal alliances and seamless stakeholder alignment.
Yet executive leaders say their toughest hurdle is overcoming internal resistance to change during times of disruption. That’s where a strong personal brand comes in.
Shape your personal brand to meet the needs of various leadership styles
Secure your peers’ commitments and sidestep conflicts by sharpening your personal branding — the intersection of how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you.
Most executives’ personal branding fits into one of four leadership personas
The most common leadership personas (also known as “social styles”) offer a shorthand to identify your brand and that of your peers.
Analytical leaders tend to take an “ask versus tell” approach with others and are more task-oriented than people-oriented.
Driver-type leaders are also task-oriented –– but are more likely to “tell versus ask.”
Amiable leaders are more people-oriented than task-oriented and lean toward asking versus telling.
Expressive leaders are people-oriented versus task-oriented but are more likely to “tell” than “ask.”
Knowing how your leadership persona shapes your brand helps you leverage your strengths and drive stronger interactions.
Personal branding tip No. 1: Weigh how you see yourself against how others may see you
For example:
Analyticals
Self-view: efficient, resourceful, decisive doers, determined, confident, entrepreneurial
External perception: stubborn, fault-finding, pedantic, perfectionistic, slow, indecisive, unemotional
Drivers
Self-view: serious, exacting, logical, rational, goal-focused, great planners
External perception: impatient, autocratic, critical, insensitive, domineering, demanding
Amiables
Self-view: supportive, open-minded, patient, cooperative, careful, consensus-building
External perception: slow to decide, submissive, afraid to upset, lacking goals, weak
Expressives
Self-view: innovative, enthusiastic, fast, reactive, ambitious, inspirational, visionary, motivational, friendly, open
External perception: overconfident, exaggerating, overexcitable, disorganized, undisciplined, lacking follow-through, daydreamers
Personal branding tip No. 2: Boost success by building an adaptive leadership style
Once you’ve identified your leadership persona, use these tactics to strengthen how you lead, collaborate and interact with your peers and leadership team.
Analyticals
Listen first and learn from others.
Lead with a personal touch and connect to the feel of the situation.
Give people time to process and internalize information.
Drivers
Give clear direction, enlist team support and connect tactics to strategy.
Stay open to different ways to reach a goal.
Encourage your team as they learn.
Amiables
Stay relentless about outcomes.
Ask for real contributions, not just participation.
With drivers, highlight the need for adoption.
With analyticals, help connect the dots.
Expressives
Deliver measured messages and share context.
Move slowly at first to go faster in the long term.
Let others be the heroes.
Personal branding tip No. 3: Continually manage and modify your personal branding
Stay aware of yourself, your peers and the challenges facing your enterprise.
When pressure mounts, it’s tempting to put personal branding on the back burner. Resist that urge. Especially in times of disruption, your effort pays dividends. Take a moment to assess, understand and adapt your brand. Build consistency between how you see yourself, how others see you and the actions that drive personal and corporate success.
Are you a New To Role C-suite leader? Get everything you need to make a real impact — right from the start — with Gartner Executive FastStart™.
Personal branding FAQs
What is personal branding?
Personal branding has two sides: an internal and external view. Internally, it’s how you see yourself and how you want others — peers, teams or the public — to see you. Externally, it’s how others actually see you. When these match, you lead with power and impact.
How does an executive leader build a personal brand?
You build your personal brand through every interaction with your team and stakeholders. Each touchpoint shapes how people judge your messages, actions and requests. It’s how they hear you — and why they choose to act.
Attend a Conference
Accelerate growth with Gartner conferences
Gain exclusive insight on the latest trends, receive one-on-one guidance from a Gartner expert, network with a community of your peers and leave ready to tackle your mission-critical priorities.
Drive stronger performance on your mission-critical priorities.