Will,
Super insight here-
"Each path varies depending on the competency of its people, the time horizon available to get it done and the paramount goal of the leader. By paramount goal I mean does the leader want to cultivate the talent or just use existing talent?"

Great reminder that my job as a leader is not just to get the job done...
It's not just to effectively manage the team members and their talents...
But it's vital that I'm looking for every opportunity to grow the people on my team, to help them discover new talents, develop current ones and to continue to enhance the relationships of the team!

Thanks for the insight!!!