Leadership is a dynamic process. We’re constantly developing and refining how we assist our direct subordinates and the company is growing. And the longer we lead, the more likely we are to change how we see leadership styles.
However, in order to become better leaders in the future, we must first understand where we are now.
So, this article will explain what a leadership style is, then provide the best prevalent styles and how effective they are, to help you understand the influence each type of leader has in the workplace.
Table of contents
- What is a Leadership Style?
- Why is it Important to Know my Leadership Style?
- 10 Best Leadership Styles in the Workplace
- #1. Autocratic Style
- #2. Bureaucratic Leadership Style
- #3. Coaching Leadership Style
- #4. Charismatic Leadership Style
- #5. Transactional Leadership Style
- #6. Democratic Leadership Style
- #7. Servant Leadership Style
- #8. Transformational Leadership Style
- #9. Collaborative Leadership Style
- #10. Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
- Conclusion
- References
- Recommendations
What is a Leadership Style?
Leadership style refers to a leader’s approaches and behaviors when guiding, motivating, and managing others.
In a workplace, the manner in which a person strategizes and implements plans while accounting for stakeholder expectations and the well-being of their team is also determined by their leadership style.
Why is it Important to Know my Leadership Style?
Being aware of your leadership style is important because it helps you figure out the effect you have on those who are directly under you. What impression do your immediate reports have of you? Do they think you’re an outstanding leader?
It’s always important to get feedback to see how you’re doing, but recognizing your leadership style before you ask for it might be a good place to start.
As a result, when you hear ideas from junior employees, you may automatically pick which new leadership style is appropriate for you and incorporate the style’s traits into your day-to-day management responsibilities.
It is also possible that knowing your leadership style will eliminate the need for feedback. Each leadership style has its own set of flaws, allowing you to spot areas where you can improve ahead of time.
This is very important since, in an anonymous survey, some employees may be hesitant to speak up.
Are you ready to discover which leadership style you now possess?
10 Best Leadership Styles in the Workplace
The following are ten of the most popular leadership styles you will see in a workplace; they are grouped from the most rigorous, hierarchical style to the most fluid and unstructured styles.
- Autocratic
- Bureaucratic
- Coaching
- Charismatic
- Transactional
- Democratic
- Servant
- Transformational
- Collaborative
- Laissez-Faire
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#1. Autocratic Style
For all decision-making, procedures, and policies inside an organization, a top-down approach characterizes the autocratic leadership style.
An autocratic leader makes executive choices that he expects to follow rather than solicit an opinion from the team members.
The advantage of this leadership style is that it can be efficient for decision-making, keeps the team consistent, and make everyone’s roles clearer.
However, the disadvantages include;
- Inhibits creativity
- This leads to the diversity of ideas since individuals and teams feel like they don’t have a voice
- Gives no room for mentorship or professional growth
#2. Bureaucratic Leadership Style
This leadership style is based on a clear chain of command, stringent regulations, and follower conformity. This is a type of leadership that is typically found in government, military, and public institutions, as the name implies.
In the bureaucratic leadership style, job security and outcomes are both stable and the job roles are all very clear.
However, it doesn’t promote personal or professional development and doesn’t encourage teamwork or the development of relationships. It is also difficult to effect a change in this leadership style.
#3. Coaching Leadership Style
Leaders who practice this leadership style guide their teams through goals and difficulties in order to bring out the best in them. The characteristics include support, collaboration, and direction.
The advantages of this system of leadership include;
- Encourages two-way communication and collaboration
- Involves a lot of constructive feedback
- helps individuals enhance their personal and professional lives
- Focuses on being helpful rather than judgmental
- Creates possibilities for growth and creative thoughts
However, this leadership style has its limitations. It is resource-intensive, and it doesn’t always result in the most efficient way.
Also, it may not be the best leadership style to adopt for result-driven businesses.
#4. Charismatic Leadership Style
A charismatic leader is one who influences others through communication prowess, persuasiveness, and appeal.
Charismatic leaders’ ability to connect with people on a deep level, they are especially valuable in a workplace that is experiencing a crisis.
Pros
- Highly inspiring
- Makes followers feel heard and understood by encouraging a sense of friendship, participation, and unification
- Encourages people to make positive changes
Cons
- Promotes self-centeredness
- Often regarded as superficial
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#5. Transactional Leadership Style
Control, organization, and short-term planning are characteristics of transactional leadership. This leadership style uses a system of rewards and punishments to inspire their teammates.
This type of leadership has so many things in common with the autocratic style. The only difference is that transactional leadership entails a clear exchange between the leader and the team members.
For instance, it could promote an employee for their compliance and outstanding performance.
Pros
- Provides stability and structure
- It’s a wonderful technique to achieve short-term objectives
- Defines the team members’ attitudes to work as there are incentives and punishments serving their purpose
Cons
- Hampers creativity, progress, and initiative
- Doesn’t affect those who are not driven by external motivation
- This may discourage individuals from looking for career and personal development chances.
#6. Democratic Leadership Style
Democratic leadership, also known as participative leadership, entails including many individuals in the decision-making process. This form of leadership can be found in a variety of settings, including businesses, schools, and governments.
This leadership style encourages collaboration through higher group engagement and productivity. It is also inclusive of a variety of opinions and ways of thinking.
Cons
- The involvement of multiple people can lead to more communication gaps and confusion
- Takes a longer time to decide
- An unskilled group can cause more decision making
#7. Servant Leadership Style
Servant Leadership prioritizes followers’ needs and well-being. In other words, these leaders value their business, workers, and community before themselves by taking a serve-first attitude and adopting a growth mindset.
Practicing this leadership style can lead to increased performance of the members of staff. It will also create a safe environment where teammates are not afraid of failure.
It is undisputable that this increases trust with leaders. However, it is resource intensive, difficult to train other leaders in the serve-first mindset, can take longer to see results, and can easily pass as a weak system of leadership even though it is the best form of leadership one can find.
#8. Transformational Leadership Style
In the same way that the coaching style focuses on clear communication, goal-setting, and employee motivation, the transformational style does as well.
The transformational leader is motivated by a dedication to corporate goals, rather than putting most of his or her efforts into the individual ambitions of each employee.
It is great for teams that can handle multiple delegated tasks without continual monitoring since it spends so much time on overall goals. Moreso, transformational leaders value personal connections with their teams as it improves corporate morale.
Because this leadership style focuses on individuals, collaborative success may go unrecognized.
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#9. Collaborative Leadership Style
Collaborative leadership focuses on enabling people to collaborate across organizational and functional lines. The goal of this leadership style is to promote collaboration with other teams and departments in order to achieve common objectives.
This leadership style can turn you into an innovative thinker as it creates diverse opportunities to develop cross-team interactions. It also enhances an organization’s trustworthiness.
However, it can lead to inter-team strife and cause a power tussle among leaders. Job roles may also become ambiguous.
#10. Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
This leadership style is the direct opposite of autocratic leadership. It focuses on distributing many duties to team members while providing little or no supervision.
A laissez-faire leader has more time to devote to other tasks because they do not spend their time intensely supervising personnel.
When all team members are highly experienced, well trained, and require minor oversight, managers may use this leadership style.
It can, however, lead to a drop in productivity if employees are unsure of their boss’s expectations, or if some team members require regular motivation and boundaries in order to work well.
Conclusion
Knowing which leadership style works for you is one characteristic of being an outstanding leader. I hope this article with the best 10 leadership styles in the workplace was helpful.
References
Recommendations
