Knowing the seven most common leadership styles is a good idea whether you are currently a leader, aspire to be a leader, or want to gain an insight into those leading you.
Leadership Styles
Effective leaders develop a leadership style based on their personality, the type of work they’re involved in, experience, and what they feel works best for them.
They typically fall into eight to ten leadership styles that have been defined over the years.
Although leadership styles are defined by certain characteristics, many times a leader will exhibit traits and characteristics from more than one leadership style.
Leadership styles are important because as you learn each one and the dominant traits, you can determine what leadership style fits you and what other styles you might want to develop based on your personality, your leadership role, and the people you are leading.
As you will see some people respond better to leaders with a certain leadership style and struggle with others.
Let’s dive into it!
Autocratic leadership style
One of the best ways to identify the autocratic leader is to think of the military. These leaders tend to make decisions on their own or with a small inner circle of trusted advisors.
They expect employees to do exactly what they ask and tend to place a high priority on efficiency and results.
This type of leadership is great for companies that have to follow strict guidelines or comply with laws or regulations. It can also be helpful for employees that have little experience and need to be told exactly what they are supposed to do in their daily tasks or projects.
A common trait of this leadership style is it places importance on compliance which leaves little room for creativity and can make employees feel stifled.
Hands-off leadership style
The hands-off leadership style, sometimes referred to as the laissez-faire style, is the opposite of the autocratic leadership style.
This leadership approach delegates tasks often and provides little or no supervision.
One advantage to this type of leadership is if working with a seasoned staff, the leader has time to work on projects other than supervising staff members.
One disadvantage to this style is new employees aren’t well trained in their role and employees that need supervision and motivation on a regular basis may feel unsupported.
Participative leadership style
This leadership style is often called “democratic style” and is a combination of autocratic and hands off styles.
This style asks employees for input before making important decisions. When employees feel heard and the leader asks for their feedback, employees feel more supported. Employee retention and job satisfaction is often higher with this leadership style.
Because this style values participation and discussion it is a great fit for companies that are innovative and creative such as the tech space.
One of the challenges to this leadership style is when working with large groups it can be time consuming to facilitate group discussions and distill the feedback to create an action plan. In these cases productivity can suffer.
Bureaucratic leadership style
This leadership style is comparable to the autocratic style in that both styles insist on following the rules to the letter. This leadership style is well suited to tasks that are well defined like repetitive jobs or tasks that are a set routine done the same way every time.
They value set routines, are detail focused, and task oriented. Many times this type of leader is self disciplined and can be strong willed.
This can be a great style if your company operates under strict regulations such as finance or healthcare.
Bureaucratic leaders often are more focused on keeping work and social separate so employees can sometimes feel like their work is all about hitting goals and completing tasks with little social involvement.
This style of leadership is slow to make changes. Creativity isn’t valued as much as with some other leadership styles because creativity often means change to the routines and tasks.
The bureaucratic leadership style doesn’t perform well in dynamic environments where things are constantly changing since they are typically slow to make changes.
Coaching leadership style
The coaching leadership style is adept at evaluating their teams strength and weaknesses. They also have insight into how to motivate individual team members.
As the name of this leadership style implies, these type leaders coach employees – to set and meet goals, improve their performance, and cultivate self awareness.
Many companies seek out this type of leadership because it is a positive style of leadership that values the development of new skills. This type of leadership is often a mentoring style of leadership.
One challenge this style faces is it requires one on one time with team members which is difficult in companies that are constantly facing hard deadlines.
Servant style leadership
This leadership style’s foundational philosophy is people come first coupled with employees who respect leaders that show respect for them.
Servant leaders are usually known for the high moral and loyalty they garner from their teams. As a result productivity is often good also.
One possible weakness for this leadership style is taking on so much in service to their organization and teams they can suffer burn out. Certain personalities with this leadership style can struggle with being authoritative when needed.
Many non profit organizations have servant leaders at the helm due their ability to lead others while creating loyalty and trust among their teams.
Visionary leadership style
Visionary leaders are excellent at facilitating change. When an organization is experiencing rapid growth or has become stagnant, visionary leaders shine.
They are big picture thinkers so they can miss details or opportunities. They may gloss over current issues in favor of looking to the future. This sometimes leads to teams feeling unappreciated.
Many visionary leaders are optimistic and risk takers which is perfectly suited when a company needs to make changes that affect employees.
What is your leadership style?
As you read through the different leadership styles does one resonate with you more than others?
If so, it could be your core leadership style. If two styles have traits that you identify with you may be a blend.
The best fit will feel authentic to you. Don’t think you have to completely change your style if it is very different from your natural self. Experiment with styles and see what works for you while striving to be yourself. There’s nothing worse than trying to be someone you’re not!
Certain traits of leadership can be learned and developed no matter what leadership style you may be.
At New Leaf Leadership Development we believe the best place to start with any personal growth is self-awareness. Take our free assessment to discover your core personality which will go a long way towards developing a leadership style that is effective for you while being authentic.
In conclusion
Leaders that know and understand their leadership style can affect positive change in their teams and have a fulfilling career.
