Styles of Leadership

8 Most Common Leadership Styles

1. Democratic Leadership

Democratic leadership is just that—a leader who bases decisions on the opinions of every team member. Each worker has an equal voice in the direction of a project, even if he or she has the ultimate word.

Because it gives lower-level workers the opportunity to exercise power that they will need to use wisely in future positions they could take, democratic leadership is one of the most successful types of leadership. It also has some similarities to the way corporate board meetings might decide issues.

A democratic leader may, for instance, provide the group with a few alternatives for decisions during a board meeting of the firm. After that, they might start talking about each choice. Following a debate, this leader may decide to put the choice to a vote or take into account the opinions and suggestions of the board.

Leaders Who Are Autocratic

The opposite of democratic leadership is autocratic leadership. Decisions are made by the leader in this method without consulting anybody who reports to them. Workers are expected to follow instructions at the leader’s appointed time and speed without being given any input or consideration beforehand.

An example of this would be if a manager were to alter the work shift hours for several employees without first discussing the affected workers.

This leadership style sucks, to be honest. These days, the majority of businesses cannot continue to have such a dominating culture without losing workers. It is advisable to have a leadership style that is more receptive to the ideas and viewpoints of the team members.

Laissez-Faire Direction

You’ll correctly think that laissez-faire leadership is the least invasive style of leadership if you can still recall your high school French. Leaders who use the French phrase “laissez faire,” which means “let them do,” give their staff members almost total power.

For instance, the founder of a fledgling business may have a laissez-faire attitude and set no firm office rules about deadlines or work hours. While they concentrate on the general operations of managing the business, they may have complete faith in their staff.

Laissez-faire leadership has the potential to empower workers by allowing them to work as they see fit, but it may also hinder their progress and miss important chances for the firm to expand. It’s crucial to maintain control over this leadership style as a result.

tactical leadership

Strategic leaders are situated at the nexus of an organization’s expansion prospects and core activities. He or she ensures that everyone else’s working circumstances stay the same while taking on the responsibility of executive interests.

Because it allows for the simultaneous support of several staff types, strategic thinking makes this a desired leadership style for many organisations. But when it comes to how many people they can help at once and what the really best course for the firm is if everyone is getting their way all the time, executives who behave in this manner run the risk of creating a harmful precedent.

Leadership that Transforms

The constant goal of transformational leadership is to “transform” and enhance the organization’s customs. Although the team members may follow a routine of weekly or monthly duties and objectives, the leader consistently challenges them to go beyond their comfort zones.

When working under this kind of boss, all staff members may get a list of objectives to be met along with due dates. Although the objectives may seem straightforward at first, as you advance in the firm, this boss may increase the pressure to meet deadlines or assign you more difficult tasks.

Growth-oriented firms strongly support this kind of leadership since it inspires workers to realise their own potential. However, if direct subordinates don’t get the proper coaching to help them adjust to new responsibilities, transformational leaders run the danger of losing sight of each person’s unique learning curve.

Leadership via Transactions

These days, transactional leaders are not that uncommon. These managers give their staff rewards based on the specific task that they do. A typical example of transactional leadership is a marketing team that is scheduled to get a bonus for contributing to the generation of a certain number of leads at the end of the quarter.

When you first start working under a transactional employer, you may be given an incentive plan to help you rapidly become proficient in your daily responsibilities. If you are employed in marketing, for instance, you can be rewarded with a bonus once ten emails are sent out. Conversely, you could only get a bonus from a transformative leader if your efforts led to a significant number of email subscribers.

Establishing tasks and duties for each employee is made easier by transactional leadership; but, if workers consistently feel that their efforts are valued, they may be more inclined to do the minimal minimum. Incentive programmes are one tool this leadership style may utilise to inspire staff members; however, they should be used in conjunction with spontaneous acts of gratitude and in line with the organization’s objectives.

Leadership in the Coach Style

This leader concentrates on recognising and fostering each team member’s unique skills, much like the coach of a sports team. They also concentrate on tactics that will improve the cohesiveness of their squad. While there are clear parallels between this leadership style and democratic and strategic leadership, the focus is mostly on the development and achievement of individual workers.

Instead of making everyone concentrate on the same abilities and objectives, this leader may assemble a team where each member has a unique set of talents or area of specialty. Over time, this leader concentrates on building robust teams that can effectively communicate and value each other’s distinct skill sets in order to complete tasks.

A manager using this type of leadership might provide staff with new assignments to complete, assistance, or get together to share constructive criticism in order to help them build on their strengths. Additionally, they might push one or more team members to develop new abilities from other colleagues in order to build on their strengths.

Leadership in Bureaucracy

Leaders in bureaucracy follow the rules. Unlike autocratic leadership, this kind of leadership may listen to and take into account the opinions of its subordinates, but if such opinions go against business policy or established procedures, the leader is more likely to ignore them.

A bureaucratic boss could be encountered in a bigger, more established, or conventional organisation. In these organisations, bureaucratic bosses may reject a powerful approach that a coworker or employee suggests that seems novel or unconventional. They may be resisting because the business has already found success with its present procedures and they don’t want to squander time or money on a failed experiment.

Although workers under this kind of leadership may not feel as in control as they would under an autocrat, there is still a limit to the amount of flexibility that employees have in their employment. This may swiftly stifle innovation, thus businesses pursuing lofty objectives and rapid expansion should avoid doing this..