Your personality, life experiences, communication style, decision-making preference, level of emotional intelligence, and general perspective and way of thinking all contribute to your leadership style. There are many ways that a person's leadership style can be described, but the most basic and popular definition focuses on how that person manages others.
In a three-year study, Harvard Business Review examined and analysed the performance of over 3,000 middle-level managers. The objective was to pinpoint specific leadership behaviors and evaluate how they affected the environment of the workplace and financial performance.
The research discovered that a manager's leadership style contributes 30% to the bottom-line profitability of an organisation.
People can display a variety of styles, but we all have a dominant style that is the most natural and comfortable way for us to lead. Do you understand the impact your style has on your performance and those around you? You can learn to adapt and try new things as well as how to best utilize your dominant style by becoming more self-aware.
The majority of organisations are unwilling to acknowledge how important leadership style is. Thousands of pounds are spent each year on leadership assessments, tools, and surveys to help people identify their leadership style. What happens after the results are analysed is critical for assisting leaders in understanding how to best utilise their advantages and strengths in order to produce exceptional performance.
Understanding your style and learning how to adapt in different situations can provide you with the following additional benefits:
They key leadership styles are:
The pioneering leader
Demands and exemplifies excellence and self-reliance. When a team is already motivated and skilled and the leader needs quick results, this leadership style performs best. However, if used frequently, this style can exhaust team members and stifle creativity.
The authoritative leader
Focuses on the end results and rallies the group around a shared vision while delegating the means to each person or group. When the team needs a new vision due to changing circumstances or when explicit guidance is not necessary, this style performs best. An entrepreneurial spirit and fervent enthusiasm for the mission are fostered by authoritative leaders. When the team consists of experts with greater expertise than the leader, an authoritative style will not work.
The affiliative leader
Works to forge emotional ties that foster a sense of unity and affiliation with the organisation. When the team needs to regain trust or when conditions are stressful, this style performs best. This approach shouldn't be used exclusively because it can encourage subpar performance and a lack of direction if it is all praise and nurturing
The mentoring leader
Cultivates talent for the future. When a leader wants to assist people and teams in developing long-lasting personal strengths that improve their success as a whole, this style of leadership performs best. It is least effective when teams or individuals are resistant to change or learning.
The inflexible leader
Instant compliance is required, according to the coercive leader. In times of crisis, such as during a takeover attempt or a turnaround of a company, or in genuine emergencies like a fire or an event that has a significant impact on a large number of customers, this style is most effective. When this approach is used in other situations, it can alienate people and stifle creativity and flexibility.
The democratic leader
encourages participation to create consensus. This approach works best when the leader needs the team's support for or ownership of a choice, strategy, or objective, or when they are unsure and in need of new suggestions from their team. When time is of the essence and decisions need to be made quickly, it is not the best decision-making style to use.
Are you aware of your leadership style and how it impacts your team and organisation as a whole?