Introduction

When we lead for the first time, we might adopt a style of leadership that we have experienced from someone else, or that we’ve heard or read about. If it seems to work, we will likely stick with it – in effect, it becomes “our” style.

But there are many approaches available to us, and a good leader can adapt their style according to the situation and the people involved.

How people choose to lead can have a significant impact, not only on a company’s culture and its identity, but also on team and organizational performance. People use many different leadership approaches. Some take a “hands off” approach, while others prefer to take more control.

It can be difficult to know which leadership style best suits your team, your organization or even the particular situation that you find yourself in, such as a crisis.

A good understanding of these leadership styles can help you to adapt your way of working to your boss’s preferred style, allowing you to work more effectively with him or her.

It can also help you to become a more effective leader yourself, especially if you are able to adapt your leadership style to suit the people who you manage, your organization’s culture, or the changing circumstances of your job.

In this module we will:

• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of your natural leadership approach.
• Identify different leadership styles.
• Decide which style is most appropriate for your workplace.
• Identify any changes that you may need to make to lead more successfully.

Starting Point:

Take the Quiz: Kurt Lewin’s Leadership Styles Framework

Authoritarian (Autocratic) Leadership

You lead in an authoritarian way when you make decisions without consulting your team members. You tell people what to do, and how to do it.

“I do not adopt softness towards others because I want to make them better” Steve Jobs.

Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership

• Allows little or no input from group members.
• Requires leaders to make almost all the decisions.
• Provides leaders with the ability to dictate work methods and processes.
• Leaves group feeling like they are not trusted with decisions or important tasks.
• Tends to create highly structured and very rigid environments.
• Discourages creativity and out-of-the box thinking.
• Establishes rules and tends to be clearly outlined and communicated.

The benefit of authoritarian leadership is that it is very efficient:

• People do not have a say on the decision’s you make.
• Allows for quick decision-making especially in stress-filled situations.
• Offers a clear chain of command or oversight.
• Works well where strong, directive leadership is needed.

The downside is that an authoritarian work environment is often.

• Demoralizing and demotivating for people.
• You may also miss out on getting input from skilled, knowledgeable team members if you use this approach, which can severely limit innovation and performance in your team.
• Hurts morale and leads to resentment.

What is more, in many cultures, people quite understandably resent and resist authoritarian leadership. It can cause disengagement and unhappiness in your team, and even cause people to be aggressive or hostile; and it can lead to high absenteeism and increased staff turnover.

Authoritarian leadership is often appropriate when you need to make quick decisions during crises, but it is harmful in many modern working environments.

How to Be Successful

The autocratic style can be beneficial in some settings, but also has its pitfalls and is not appropriate for every setting and with every group. If this tends to be your dominant leadership style, there are things that you should consider whenever you are in a leadership role.2

Listen to Team Members

You might not change your mind or implement their advice, but subordinates need to feel that they can express their concerns. Autocratic leaders can sometimes make team members feel ignored or even rejected.

Listening to people with an open mind can help them feel like they are making an important contribution to the group’s mission.

Establish Clear Rules

To expect team members to follow your rules, you need to first ensure that guidelines are clearly established and that each person on your team is fully aware of them.

Provide Tools

Once your subordinates understand the rules, you need to be sure that they have the education and abilities to perform the tasks you set before them. If they need additional assistance, offer oversight and training to fill in this knowledge gap.

Be Reliable

Inconsistent leaders can quickly lose the respect of their teams. Follow through and enforce the rules you have established. Establish that you are a reliable leader, and your team is more likely to follow your guidance because you have built trust with them.

Recognize Success

Your team may quickly lose motivation if they are only criticized when they make mistakes but never rewarded for their successes. Try to recognize success more than you point out mistakes. By doing so, your team will respond much more favourably to your correction.

 

Participative (Democratic) Leadership

With participative leadership, you have the final say on decisions, but you involve team members in the decision-making process. This builds trust and good working relationships, and team members feel empowered and engaged with their work.

Everyone is given the opportunity to participate, ideas are exchanged freely, and discussion is encouraged. While the democratic process tends to focus on group equality and the free flow of ideas, the leader of the group is still there to offer guidance and control.

The democratic leader is charged with deciding who is in the group and who gets to contribute to the decisions that are made. Researchers have found that the democratic leadership style is one of the most effective types and leads to higher productivity, better contributions from group members, and increased group morale.

The downside of participative leadership is that it can slow the decision-making process, which can lead to missed opportunities. This can be particularly damaging in emergencies or crises.

“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress” – Barack Obama

Characteristics of Democratic Leader

• Group members are encouraged to share ideas and opinions, even though the leader retains the final say over decisions.
• Members of the group feel more engaged in the process.
• Creativity is encouraged and rewarded.

The benefit of Democratic Leadership because group members are encouraged to share their thoughts, democratic leadership can lead to better ideas and more creative solutions to problems. Group members also feel more involved and committed to projects, making them more likely to care about the end results.

• More ideas and creative solutions
• • Group Member commitment
  • High productivity

  The downside is while democratic leadership has been described as the most effective leadership style, in situations where roles are unclear or time is of the essence, democratic leadership can lead to communication failures and uncompleted projects.

  • Group members may not have the necessary knowledge or expertise to make quality contributions to the decision-making process.
  • Democratic leadership can also result in team members feeling like their opinions and ideas aren’t taken into account, which may lower employee satisfaction and morale.
  • Communication failures
  • Minority or individual opinions overridden.

  How to Be Successful

  Democratic leadership works best in situations where group members are skilled and eager to share their knowledge. It is also important to have plenty of time to allow people to contribute, develop a plan, and then vote on the best course of action.

   

  Delegative (Laissez-Faire) Leadership

  Delegative or laissez-faire leadership is very hands-off. When you use this style, you allow team members to set their own goals and deadlines, and you let them determine how to do their work. Researchers have found that this is generally the leadership style that leads to the lowest productivity among group members.

  Delegative leadership is most effective when team members are highly motivated and highly skilled, and when you can provide frequent feedback on performance and progress. It’s also effective when you work with freelancers or consultants.

  The downside of delegative leadership is that it can lead to poor performance in teams where people have low skill levels, little motivation, or poor knowledge

  “It’s better to hang out with people better than you” Warren Buffett

  Characteristics of a Laissez – Faire Leader:

  • Hands-off approach
  • Leaders provide all training and support.
  • Decisions are left to employees.
  • Comfortable with mistakes
  • Accountability falls to the leader.

  The benefit of laissez-faire leadership style

  • It encourages personal growth. Because leaders are so hands-off in their approach, employees have a chance to be hands-on. This leadership style creates an environment that facilitates growth and development.
• • It encourages innovation. The freedom given to employees can encourage creativity and innovation.
  • It allows for faster decision-making. Since there is no micromanagement, employees under laissez-faire leadership have the autonomy to make their own decisions. They are able to make quick decisions without waiting weeks for an approval process.

  The downside of the laissez-faire style depends so heavily on the abilities of the group, it is not very effective in situations where team members lack the knowledge or experience, they need to complete tasks and make decisions. This can lead to poor job performance and less job satisfaction.

  This is leadership style is also not suitable for situations where efficiency and high productivity are the main concerns. Some people are not good at setting their own deadlines, managing their own projects, and solving problems on their own. Under this leadership style, projects can go off-track and deadlines can be missed when team members do not get enough guidance or feedback from leaders.

  • Lack of role clarity: In some situations, the laissez-faire style leads to poorly defined roles within the group. Since team members receive little to no guidance, they might not really be sure about their role within the group and what they are supposed to be doing with their time.
  • Poor involvement with the group: Laissez-faire leaders is often seen as uninvolved and withdrawn, which can lead to a lack of cohesiveness within the group. Since the leader seems unconcerned with what is happening, followers sometimes pick up on this and express less care and concern for the project.
  • Low accountability: Some leaders take advantage of this style as a way to avoid responsibility for the group’s failures. When goals are not met, the leader can then blame members of the team for not completing tasks or living up to expectations.
  • Passivity: At its worst, laissez-faire leadership represents passivity or even an outright avoidance of true leadership. In such cases, these leaders do nothing to try to motivate followers, don’t recognize the efforts of team members, and make no attempts at involvement with the group.

   

  How to Be Successful

  Working in a creative field where people tend to be highly motivated, skilled, creative, and dedicated to their work can be conducive to obtaining good results with this style.

  Laissez-faire leaders typically excel at proving information and background at the start of a project, which can be particularly useful for self-managed teams. By giving team members all that they need at the outset of an assignment, they will then have the knowledge they need to complete the task as directed.

  A leader with this style may struggle in situations that require great oversight, precision, and attention to detail. In high stakes and high-pressure work settings where every detail needs

to be perfect and completed in a timely manner, a more authoritarian or managerial style may be more appropriate.

Using a laissez-faire approach in this type of scenario can lead to missed deadlines and poor performance, particularly if group members are unsure of what they need to be doing or do not have the skills they need to perform tasks with little to no direction.

Servant Leadership

A servant leader is someone who focuses on other people’s needs first, before considering his own. He listens and empathizes with his team members and is able to look at situations from their perspectives. He supports their professional and personal goals and involves them in decisions where appropriate.

As a servant leader, you’re a “servant first” – you focus on the needs of others, especially team members, before you consider your own. You acknowledge other people’s perspectives, give them the support they need to meet their work and personal goals, involve them in decisions where appropriate, and build a sense of community within your team. This leads to higher engagement, more trust, and stronger relationships with team members and other stakeholders. It can also lead to increased innovation.

Remember that servant leadership is about focusing on other people’s needs – not their feelings. Don’t avoid making unpopular decisions or giving team members negative feedback when this is needed.

Also, do not rely on it exclusively – use it alongside styles like Transformational Leadership, where you develop an inspiring vision of the future, motivate people to deliver this, manage its implementation, and build an ever-stronger team.

However, this type of leadership is often thought of as a long-term strategy, as it takes time to build up trust and loyalty. In addition, some critics believe that, people who practice servant leadership can find themselves “left behind” by other leaders in their organization, particularly in competitive situations.

In the example below, we’ll explore how a servant leader might act:

Everyone on Ava’s team knows that she is always “there for them.” She regularly checks in with her people and is interested in helping them to develop the skills that they need to advance their career, even if this means that they might move on to another company. She often gets team members involved when a decision needs to be made or a problem needs to be resolved, and she always makes an effort to ensure that decisions are made in the team’s best interests. As a result, her team is one of the most successful and long-standing in the department, with very low staff turnover, high productivity, and high engagement levels.

However, because of the highly democratic decision-making process in her team, it can sometimes take a while before a final decision is reached, meaning deadlines can suffer as a result

To be a servant leader, you must work on developing these 10 characteristics:

1. Listening. You’ll serve people better when you listen to them intently and make an effort to understand what they’re saying.
2. Empathy. Servant leaders are good at looking at situations from other people’s points of view, and they value other people’s perspectives.
3. 3. Healing. A good servant leader will support his people’s emotional needs by ensuring that they have a healthy workplace and are happy and engaged in their roles.
   4. Self-Awareness. The ability to see how your actions and behavior impact those around you is key to becoming a successful servant leader.
   5. Persuasion. Servant leaders use persuasion – rather than authority –

   to encourage their people.

   6. Conceptualization. A strong servant leader makes an effort to go beyond his and his team’s objectives, by encouraging it to think about the “bigger picture” and the company’s longer-term goals.
   7. Foresight. Servant leaders can predict what’s going to happen in the future by learning from their past experiences, identifying what’s happening now and understanding the consequences of their actions.
   8. Stewardship. A servant leader always takes responsibility for his team’s actions and performance and is not afraid to be held accountable for them.
   9. Commitment to the Growth of People. Servant leaders encourage their people to develop their skills, and they are committed to helping team members to achieve their career objectives.
   10. Building Community. A servant leader will strive to build a sense of community within his organization, and he encourages his people to interact with other teams across the company.

   Servant leadership is best for managing:

   • Companies that like to invest in their people and have a strong sense

   of community.

   • Highly skilled people who require flexibility.
   • Creative teams, where decisions are made by the team rather than

   by management.

   However, it is least suited to managing:

   • Results-driven environments that require a high level of organization

   to survive – sales or production teams, for example.

   • A crisis situation, where quick decisions and fast action are needed.
   • Organizations, such as hospitals, where procedures and guidelines are

   intrinsic to success.

   Transformational Leadership

   Leadership expert James McGregor Burns introduced the concept of transformational leadership in his 1978 book, “Leadership.” He defined transformational leadership as a process where “leaders and their followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation.”

   “One of the most difficult things is not to change society- but to change yourself” – Nelson Mandela

   Bernard M. Bass later developed the concept of transformational leadership further. According his 1985 book, “Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations,” this kind of leader:

   • Is a model of integrity and fairness.
   • Sets clear goals.
   • Has high expectations.
   • Encourages others.
   • Provides support and recognition.
   • Stirs the emotions of people.
   • Gets people to look beyond their self-interest.
   • Inspires people to reach for the improbable.

   More than 25 years after Bass’ book, transformational leadership is often argued to be one of the most important ideas in business leadership.

   “Transformational leaders…are those who stimulate and inspire followers to both achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity. Transformational leaders help followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers’ needs by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group, and the larger organization.” Bass & Riggio

How to Become a Transformational Leader (Article by emerald works)

We’ve distilled Bass’ ideas into a process that you can use to become a transformational leader. This involves you:

Creating an inspiring vision of the future.

Motivating people to buy into and deliver the vision.

Managing delivery of the vision.

Building ever-stronger, trust-based relationships with your people.

Note:

As you can see, our process doesn’t map directly onto Bass’ list. However, it does translate the traits that he set out into clear and actionable steps.

Use these steps, along with the tools we outline below, to develop your transformational leadership skills.

 

Step 1: Create an Inspiring Vision

People need a compelling reason to follow your lead, and therefore you need to create and communicate an inspiring vision of the future.

Your vision sets out your team or organization’s purpose – why you all get up in the morning to do what you do. You develop this partly by understanding the values of the people you lead, partly by understanding the capabilities and resources of your organization, and partly by conducting an intelligent analysis of your environment and selecting the best way forward within it.

This is the subject of business unit strategy, and developing a coherent strategy takes a lot of hard work and careful thought.

If you’re developing a vision for your organization, use Mullins’ Seven Domains Model to analyse your environment. Then, use tools such as Lafley and Martin’s Five-Step Strategy Model to develop your strategy. This is usually then expressed in a business plan and summarized in a mission statement.

If you are developing a vision for your team, start with the company’s mission and vision, and explore the ways in which your team can contribute directly to it.

Now, starting with your mission statement, you need to appeal to your people’s values, and inspire them with where you’re going to lead them, and why.

 

Use business storytelling as part of your call to action: this will help people appreciate the positive impact of your vision on the people you’re trying to help. (Hint: if the only person you’re trying to help is yourself, you won’t inspire anyone.)

Then, talk about your vision often. Link it to people’s goals and tasks to give it context, and help people see how they can contribute to it.

Transformational leaders also know that nothing significant happens unless they encourage their people. So, make sure that you know about the different kinds of motivation, and use these to inspire your people to deliver their best.

 

Step 3: Manage Delivery of the Vision

A vision is no use on its own: it needs to become reality. However, many leaders make the mistake of developing a vision, but of not putting in the hard and often mundane work of delivering it.

To manage the delivery of your vision, you’ll need to combine effective project management with sensitive change management. This will help you deliver the changes you need with the full support of your people. Communicate each person’s roles and responsibilities clearly and connect these to your plans. Everyone should fully understand what they’re responsible for and know how you will measure their success. Next, set clear, SMART goals for everyone, including some short-term goals that will help people achieve quick wins and stay motivated. Use management by objectives to link short-term achievement to your longer-term goals.

You may need to build your self-discipline and stamina, so that you don’t let yourself down. And, set a good example to your people – especially if they’re affected by delays or difficulties – by being a model of hard work and persistence.

Also, stay visible by practicing management by walking around. This is an ideal technique for transformational leaders because it helps you stay connected with daily activities and allows you to answer questions as they arise.

Tip: Clear communication is essential to transformational leadership.

 

Take time to make sure that your communications are heard and understood, and give clear, regular feedback, so that your people know what you want.

 

Step 4: Build Ever-Stronger, Trust-Based Relationships with Your People

Step 2: Motivate People to Buy into and Deliver the Vision

As a transformational leader, you need to focus your attention on your people, and work hard to help them achieve their goals and dreams.

Use Dunham and Pierce’s Leadership Process Model as your starting point. This tool outlines how important your people are to your success as a leader.

It also underlines the fact that leadership is a long-term process, and that, as a leader, you need to work constantly to build relationships, earn trust, and help your people grow as individuals.

Meet your people individually to understand their developmental needs and help them to meet their career goals. What do they want to achieve in their role? Where do they see themselves five years from now? How can you help them reach this goal?

You can build trust with your people by being open and honest in your interactions. Use the Johari Window to disclose safe personal information about yourself, and to get a better understanding of “what makes your people tick.”

Lastly, set aside time to coach your people. When you help them find their own solutions, you not only create a skilled team, but you also strengthen their self-confidence and their trust in you.

Key Points

Transformational leaders inspire great loyalty and trust in their followers. They have high expectations, and they inspire their people to reach their goals.

You can become a transformational leader by following these steps:

Create an inspiring vision of the future.

Motivate people to buy into and deliver the vision.

Manage delivery of the vision.

Build ever-stronger, trust-based relationships with your people.

Keep in mind that, to succeed as a transformational leader, you’ll need to work on your own skills, and set aside time and space for personal development.

 

End