Dianne Pajo
Leadership styles describe the way you communicate with employees. Everyone has a different approach to motivate and resolve conflict.
Comprehending how you lead your team will make you aware of things you’re doing well and areas for improvement. Making adjustments along the way can enhance your leadership skills and make your business a better place for employees.
The first step is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your leadership style. Read through the most common leadership styles to find the one that resonates with you. Relate the descriptions to personal experiences and determine how you can grow as a leader.
Transformational Leadership
As a transformational leader, you’re always looking to the future. You prioritize reaching small goals that will lead to achieving larger goals.
Transformational leaders are best at building a coaching culture for employees. Your staff feels inspired to work because you demonstrate an interest in each of their successes. The organization can thrive as a tight unit, passionate about work and trusting in one another.
However, if you’re constantly searching for methods to make changes, don’t lose sight of the procedures that work well. Frequent changes can cause employees to feel confused and perform less efficiently. When you’re a transformational leader, create a balance between implementing change and retaining current methods.
Democratic Leadership
Similar to transformational leaders, democratic leaders also communicate closely with employees to receive their input. It’s a collaborative environment where everyone cooperates.
One of the strengths of this leadership style is that employees feel heard. You take feedback and use factual information paired with opinions to make a final decision.
Nevertheless, compiling all the necessary information can take a while. It’s a weakness for democratic leaders because making decisions promptly is difficult. You must find a method to collect as much information as possible but be capable of dissecting the responses quickly.
Bureaucratic Leadership
Instead of taking the input of others and finding space for new ideas, bureaucratic leaders stick to the book. You closely follow prior procedures while ignoring many modern suggestions. Although this can be an effective leadership style that prioritizes tradition, there are some downsides.
You might look past opportunities for change. You’ll stick to what you know and the approaches that worked in the past. This can establish a work environment that isn’t progressive, and employees can feel silenced.
Servant Leadership
One of the best qualities a leader can have is to put their employees’ needs first and recognize their positive impact on the business. Servant leaders prioritize getting to know the employees to create deep connections across the team. In this trustworthy environment, everyone feels confident and heard to share new ideas without fear of ridicule.
Servant leaders face many challenges due to their incredibly humble and kind demeanor. Since you care deeply about relationships in the workplace, you focus less on the results. You might also encounter decision-making challenges because of your passive nature.
Did you find your leadership style? Perhaps one of the styles listed here is the type you strive to be in the future! There’s always room for growth and to be a great leader. All you need is to understand your characteristics to find the areas where you can make the most significant change.
