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 Managers often get feedback on their leadership style through formal training. But that training only identifies the leadership styles that you're currently exhibiting - not telling you much more than the strengths and weaknesses of each of the styles.
Leadership Styles at Work
We believe that the focus of this training should be on the situational use of leadership styles and the flexing of those styles. For example, what is the most effective style to use when placed in a certain situation? This is one of the guiding principals behind the various models of leadership styles.
This last point is an important one because research shows that the leader's ability to adopt his or her leadership style to the situation at hand is important to their organization's success. The best leaders are skilled at several styles and instinctively understand when to use them at work.
Choosing a Leadership Style
In the following sections we are going to explain the six different leadership styles that were identified by Daniel Goleman in connection with his theory of emotional intelligence. We've chosen Goleman's model of leadership style because it's both simple and all-encompassing.
In his writings, Goleman described a total of six different leadership styles. Much of this information already appears in our article on situational leadership. If you're interested in the effective application of different leadership styles, then you might want to look at that article too because it also speaks to the theory put forth by Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey.
Each of the examples of leadership styles appearing below contains a brief description of the leader's characteristics as well as an example of when the styles are most effective.
Coaching Leaders
In the Coaching Leadership Style the leader focuses on helping others in their personal development and in their job-related activities. The coaching leader aids others to get up to speed by working closely with them to make sure they have the knowledge and tools to get their job done. This situational leadership style works best when the employee already understands their weakness and is receptive to ideas on how to improve.
Pacesetting Leaders
When employees are self-motivated and highly skilled, the Pacesetting Leadership Style is extremely affective. The pacesetting leader sets very high performance standards for themselves and the group and exemplifies the behaviors they are seeking from other members of the group. This leadership style needs to be used sparingly since workers can often "burn out" due to the demanding pace of this style.
Democratic Leaders
The Democratic Leadership Style gives members of the work group a vote or a say in nearly every decision the team makes. When used effectively, the democratic leader builds flexibility and responsibility and can help identify new ways to do things with fresh ideas. Be careful with this style, however, because the level of involvement required by this style and the decision-making process can be very time consuming.
Affiliative Leaders
The Affiliative Leadership Style is most effective in situations where morale is low or teambuilding is needed. This leader is easily recognized by their theme of "employee first." Employees can expect much praise from this style; unfortunately, poor performance may also goes without reprimand.
Authoritative Leaders
If your business seems to be drifting aimlessly, the Authoritative Leadership Style can be very effective in this type of situation. The authoritative leader is an expert in dealing with the problems and challenges at hand and can clearly identify goals that will lead to success. This leader also allows the employees themselves to figure out the best way to achieve those goals.
Coercive Leaders
The Coercive Leadership Style should be used with caution because it's based on the concept of "command and control" which usually causes a decrease in motivation among those interacting with this type of manager. The coercive leader is most effective in situations where the company or group requires a complete turnaround. It is also effective during disasters or dealing with under performing employees - usually as a last resort.
Mastering Multiple Leadership Styles
The formula for a leader's success is really quite simple: The more leadership styles that you are able to master, the better the leader you will become. Certainly the ability to switch between styles as situations warrant will result in superior results and workplace climate.
In fact, Goleman's research revealed that leaders that were able to master four or more leadership styles - especially the democratic, authoritative, affiliative and coaching styles - often provide superior performance from their followers as well as a healthy climate in which to work.
That being said, it's not easy to master multiple leadership styles. That's because in order to master a new way of leading others, we may need to unlearn old habits. This is especially important for leaders that fall back on the pacesetting and coercive leadership styles - which have a negative effect on the work environment.
Learning a new leadership style therefore takes practice and perseverance. The more often the new style or behavior is repeated, the stronger the link becomes in our brains between the situation at hand and the desired reaction.
You can work with a coach, a mentor or keep you own notes on how you reacted under certain conditions. Learning a new skill requires time, patience, feedback and even rewards to stay motivated. If you're going to attempt to learn a different leadership style, make sure your method contains each of these elements.
About the Author - Leadership Style
Bill Sharlow is the Editor of Money-Zine.com. Copyright © 2004 - 2007 Money-Zine.com
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