There will come a time in everyone’s life, whether they work in management or not, that an opportunity for leadership presents itself. It doesn’t matter if you are leading a department meeting or overlooking a team for a specific project, the way that you lead is important. Every leader winds up adopting their own unique style of leadership so it’s vital to develop skills so that you’ll be capable of using whatever method is necessary to reach the goals set out for you.
Everyone wants to be an effective leader and to do so one has to familiarize themselves with the different types of leadership styles. By understanding the people and the situation you’ll be able to choose the appropriate behavior to lead and help your team toward a successful outcome.
Here is a break down of the five different leadership styles.
Democractic or Participative
A democratic or participative leader asks for everyone’s input and takes the feedback seriously making any decisions. This style of leadership can improve employee engagement because workplace satisfaction is higher when people feel that their voices are being heard and their opinions matter. Democractic leadership allows much more room for discussion and participation than other styles so it can benefit companies where creativity is important.
Authoritarian
Unlike democractic leadership, authoritarian leaders make most decisions completely alone, or relaying on a very small group of people. The focus is on efficiency and results and they do not want feedback from everyone. This style only works well for companies that have heavy compliance regulations or strict guidelines since it’s all about results. Authoritarian may work the best if you’re dealing with people that are new to an industry and don’t have a lot of experience. This is not a popular leadership style simply because people can feel stifled under a leader of this type.
Pacesetting
Pacesetting leaders create a high standard that holds everyone accountable. It is effective when a company needs results fast because the leader focuses on performance. Creating a fast moving environment can motivate people, however, if there are people on the team that perform better when they receive guidance and feedback than the pacesetting style of leadership may not be as effective.
Coaching
The coaching style of leadership involves the ability to quickly recognize people’s strengths and weaknesses. A coaching leader maintains an open and positive environment while setting clear expectations. It’s important to understand what motivates your team so that you know who to assign certain projects and can set achievable goals for everyone. One downside to using the coaching style is that it is a bit more time-intensive than other forms of leadership.
Visionary
Visionaries inspire everyone around them and has the ability to create true change, which is usually seen as progress. When people act with confidence it often helps to motivate their team and can help them in gaining the trust of those that follow them. When using the visionary style of leadership correctly new ideas can be implemented without many issues. A visionary leader is often found in companies where the business is growing rapidly or the organization i experiencing a transformation.