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I see the following types of leaders in the workplace:

• Executive leader: These are senior people in the organization who love to pontificate, say things that sound wise, inspire and implore the organization to act. In their position, they have to think and act strategically and are dealing with matters of life and death to the organization. For them to roll up their sleeves and do “real” work may be counterproductive.
• Thought leader: These types of leaders have an opinion about almost everything and are not afraid to share it. They use executive presence to make their illogical inferences sound logical. They typically hand out action items, but never take on tasks unless they have to. The underlying message is, “Look how smart I am.”
• Change agent: These are the real leaders, those who with broad shoulders and fierce determination. Such people avoid crusades, they target business benefits, and systematically build coalitions and momentum to bear on the problem or opportunity. They know how to build a business case, a roadmap of deliverables, and a project plan that can be implemented. They know how to prioritize use of scarce resources, and evolve when circumstances change.
• Self-leaders: These are people who “lead themselves” and are sometimes known as “individual contributors” and also disparagingly as the “grunts.” Such people put their head down and grind away at tasks, to keep the wheels of execution turning. They do the thankless jobs that are behind the scenes, and which have to be done over and over again. Sometimes they are referred to as “followers.”

The taxonomy described here is interesting, but the point is to find out what is considered value add in your organization and do only that work. Remember to thank those who do value add work behind the scenes.