WHILE every leader has their own distinct personality and way of approaching things, broadly speaking, leadership falls into six categories.
Whereas personalities are shaped over the years and tend to be immutable, leadership styles – while at times instinctive – tend to be more fluid. Different situations and organisations require different leadership styles. Recognising the leadership style of those working around you creates the opportunity to build the best team possible.
For those of you curious about where your leadership skills might fit in, PARTNER summarises the seven styles below. Knowledge is power; self-knowledge is powerful.
AUTOCRATIC / AUTHORITARIAN
My way or the highway – this leadership style expects employees to defer to all management decisions. This type of leadership can be effective in the short term; these leaders definitely get things done. However, communication can suffer as employees fear asking for help or expressing opinions.
DEMOCRATIC
This collaborative, participative leadership type is perfect for an organisation full of experienced team members – as all team members are involved in the decision-making process. It requires a good communicator who can manage and control strong and diverse opinions.
COACHING
This type of leadership is emerging as an increasingly popular way to motivate staff. In organisations with poor retention rates, a coaching leader can boost employee motivation, create a leadership pipeline and strategic vision, and develop lower-level talent.
STRATEGIC
Another visionary – a strategic leader is particularly effective at implementing a vision. It requires high amounts of respect for the leader as they’re often serving a strategy that’s not immediately obvious at all levels of an organisation.
TRANSFORMATIONAL
This type of leader is perfect for turning around failing workplaces or those with demotivated staff. Bringing about change through leadership demands a strong vision and good communication skills to encourage an existing team to set goals and work together – often about work culture or values – to accomplish.
LAISSEZ-FAIRE
The opposite of an authoritative leadership style, a laissez-faire leader will delegate responsibilities to his team. This requires real confidence as a leader, but if executed well, laissez-faire leadership can encourage innovation and encourage commitment, as every employee has a stake in success.
CHARISMATIC
Personality-based, this type of leader is individually inspiring. Building up a following, this type of leader is self-motivated, commands immense loyalty and can be good for establishing a brand. Organisations should note there is a danger to the cult of personality leadership, as it relies so heavily on one individual.
Have you come across any of these leadership styles? Which do you think is most effective?
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*Organisation psychologist and author Daniel Goleman defined six categories of leadership style after a three-year study of more than 3,000 mid-level managers in America.