6 Prominent Leadership Styles and When To Use Them
The success of every company depends on the way how workers lead it, in other words, it depends on skills of effective leaders. Leadership skills are the key to successful organizations. To maintain things on the right track we need the collaboration of each employee. To lead certain goals on appropriate direction, we need effective efforts of staff.
There are certain modes and theories of leadership skills. But every mode depends on a variety of situations and specific outcomes.
Daniel Goleman’s Leadership That Gets Results is a landmark 2000 Harvard Business Review study. Goleman and his team worked on a three-year study with over 3,000 middle-level managers. The team discovered particular leadership performances and establish their outcomes on the company climate and each leadership style’s effect on bottom-line profitability.
Here is the list of six leadership styles Goleman revealed among the managers he researched, and effect of each style on the fulfillment of organizational goals.
1. Pacesetting Leaders
The Pacesetting leaders can be best described with the phrase: "Do as I do, now." Such leaders are able to quickly achieve business results. The style is also effective when group members are highly competent in the task they are going to compete in given time. As well as extremely motivated and having a clear vision.
2. Authoritative Leaders
This style of leadership style follows decisions without consulting with team members. This mode of leadership is very common. It is necessary, to maintain error free results inside organizations. The autocratic leadership processes generally demand one person making all strategic decisions for subordinates. Although it has fallen out of favor in recent decades, the autocratic leadership style is still established. Hence, it is demoralizing in nature.
3. Affiliative Leaders
Effective leaders have brilliant relation making skills. This leadership style is most effective when there is a need to mend bad feelings that may have developed in a group, or to motivate others during times of complex situations. The effective leader is best described by the phrase "people come first." This style should not be used exclusively because a sole reliance on praise and nurturing can foster mediocre performance and a lack of direction.
4. Coaching Leaders
Coaching leaders are very efficient in settings where performance or results need improvement. Coaching leaders clearly define roles and tasks of supporters, but seek their input and suggestions too. Decisions are still made by the leader, but the communication style is truly two-way.
They help others to advance their skills; they build bench strength and provide a lot of guidance. The coaching leadership style is most effective when followers are more responsible, experienced, and agreeable.
5. Coercive Leaders
Goleman uses the following phrase to summarize the style of coercive leaders: "Do as I say." The style is most effective when an organization or group is faced with heavy workload and targets. It is quite direct and straightforward. These leaders can range from dealing with ineffective employees to a complete turnaround for a company or assembly.
6. Democratic Leaders
The style is a very open and friendly style of running a team. The Greek roots of the word democratic suggest people are participating in power or control. Thoughts travel liberally among-EST the group and are discussed openly.
Democratic style is needed in energetic and swiftly changing environments where very little can be taken as a constant. The democratic leader must also be able to correspond that conclusion back to the group to bring unity the plan is chosen.
