23rd
Six Styles of Leadership.
Style 1
Visionary, describes leadership that inspires people by focusing on long-term goals. An effective visionary leader listens to the values held by the individuals within the group, and thus can explain his or her overall goals for the organization in a way that wins their support.
Style 2
Coaching, which is in essence management by delegation, describes leadership that helps people assume responsibility for a stretch of the road that leads to the organization’s success. An effective coaching leader listens one-on-one to employees, establishes personal rapport and trust, and helps employees work out for themselves how their performance matters and where they can find additional information and resources. Delegation of decision-making authority to the employee within his or her area of responsibility—including the power to make and learn from mistakes—is crucial to the effectiveness of this leadership style. Coaching leadership not only frees leaders from doing work for others, but fires-up and accelerates innovation and learning at all levels of the organization.
Style 3
Affiliative, describes leadership that creates a warm, people-focused working atmosphere. An affiliative leader listens to discover employees’ emotional needs, and strives to honor and accommodate those needs in the workplace. The danger of affiliative leadership, the authors caution, is that it focuses on the emotional climate while ignoring the work itself, and thus should be used in combination with other leadership styles such as the Visionary style.
Style 4
Democratic, describes leadership that obtains input and commitments from everyone in the group. When faced with uncertainty about how to proceed, a leader elicits fresh ideas and renewed participation by faithfully listening to everyone’s opinions and information. The listening may be challenging, particularly in a diverse group and when sensitive issues are raised. Dangers include “dithering,” as when meetings drag on for weeks without making progress.
Style 5
Pacesetting, describes leadership that sets ambitious goals and continually monitors progress toward those goals. (This style is sometimes referred to as “management by objective.”) Although this is a superior motivator for certain types of employees and under certain situations, the unrelenting pressure it creates over long periods of use can result in burn-out and loss of both creativity and productivity.
Style 6
Commanding, describes leadership that issues instructions without asking for input about what is to be done or how: “do it because I say so.” The authors caution that while this style is invaluable during a true crisis, over the long haul it erodes motivation and commitment, leading to massive turnover and a downward spiral of morale and productivity. No listening is required for this style….
