What is the Seagull Leader and how does it differ from active involvement?

Kris Kluver, in The Dysfunctional Family Office, names the Seagull Leader as the disengaged founder who can't actually let go. The Seagull swoops in. Hovers over situations. Creates chaos. Flies away. Offers criticism without context and direction without follow-through. Leaves others to clean up the messes while taking credit for involvement. Active involvement is the opposite. An active leader is present consistently, accountable for outcomes, and willing to be challenged. The Seagull is none of those. They want the optics of involvement without the responsibility of staying in the work. The pattern is one of the most damaging in UHNW family transitions. The new CEO can't establish authority while the Seagull keeps disrupting. The team can't trust direction because direction shifts every time the Seagull appears. The fix usually requires the family to name the pattern directly, in a private conversation, and invite the Seagull to either fully engage or fully step back. The middle is what causes the damage.