Strong leadership is crucial to any organization.\u00a0 Whether we\u2019re talking about a commercial enterprise, a civic group, a church congregation, or a military unit, strong leadership is key to its success.\u00a0 But leadership is not a one-size-fits-all proposition . . . there are lots of commonly recognized leadership styles, so it stands to reason that someone in a leadership role should understand what leadership style he or she is practicing.\u00a0 After all, if a leader shows up one day as General George S. Patton and the next day as Mother Theresa, there will be confusion among the followers who will wonder, \u201cWho\u2019s going to show up to lead us today?\u201d\u00a0 That sort of confusion is generally not conducive to an efficient, effective, and productive organization.\u00a0 So we did some research to identify and define commonly used leadership styles.\u00a0 To see the results of that research and to see which of the leadership styles most closely fits your personality and temperament, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n
Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ~ Mwai Kibaki<\/p>\n In the course of our research on leadership styles, we turned up fourteen discreet styles without even trying.\u00a0 Those fourteen include:<\/p>\n That leads us to believe that if we put a little effort into it, we would turn up more, maybe lots more.\u00a0 So for purposes of this post, let\u2019s deal with only four styles . . . four that seem to be on just about everybody\u2019s list of leadership styles.<\/p>\n Democratic Leadership.<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0 When trying to solve a problem or make a decision, this leader seeks input from each team member in hopes of building a consensus.\u00a0 Ultimately, the leader will make the call, but not until everyone gets a \u201cvote.\u201d<\/p>\n Autocratic Leadership.<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0 This is the exact opposite of Democratic Leadership.\u00a0 Here the leader keeps his or her own counsel and doesn\u2019t seek or want input from anyone else.\u00a0 Think \u201cIt\u2019s my way or the highway.\u201d<\/p>\n Visionary Leadership.<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0 Here the leader creates a vision of where he or she wants to take the organization . . . a vision that is so exciting and so compelling that people are inspired and want to be part of it.\u00a0 The typical response from followers will be, \u201cOh yeah!\u00a0 That\u2019s for me.\u00a0 Where do I sign up?\u201d<\/p>\n Servant Leadership.<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0 In this style of leadership, the leader \u201cserves\u201d followers, not the other way around.\u00a0 Here the leader\u2019s job is that of coach, mentor, and enabler, aimed at making everyone on his or her team successful.\u00a0 It\u2019s an elegant style of leadership because when the leader focuses on making everyone around him or her successful, inevitably the leader is also successful.\u00a0 That is, can you imagine a situation whereby everyone on a team is successful, but the leader of that team is not?\u00a0 That\u2019s not to say that the inmates should run the asylum.\u00a0 The leader still has\u00a0 \u00a0responsibility for the overall performance of the team and has access to a wide range of remedies, including telling a team member that he or she needs to achieve success somewhere else.<\/p>\n In case it\u2019s not clear at this point, we are a fan of Servant Leadership.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the right approach in every single situation.\u00a0 For instance, in an organization that has a culture steeped in autocratic, hierarchical leadership, a servant leader may not be taken seriously.\u00a0 But in most cases, especially considering that today\u2019s workforce is better informed and better educated than any of its predecessors, Servant Leadership will be very effective.<\/p>\n In the research we did, we saw some opinions that leadership style should not<\/u><\/em> be a reflection of the leader\u2019s personality and temperament . . . that leadership style is simply a management tool and that we should have a variety of such tools at our command that we can use depending on the situation.<\/p>\n We disagree.<\/p>\n Your leadership style is a reflection of who you are, and unless you happen to be a gifted actor, you can\u2019t fake it.\u00a0 If you most closely identify with General George S. Patton, trying to lead like Mother Theresa is not going to work out well for you.\u00a0 You are who you are and your leadership style should reflect that.\u00a0 When conditions change, you may have to use your leadership style a bit differently, but you don\u2019t abandon it and try to reinvent yourself into something else entirely.<\/p>\n Lead well.\u00a0 The performance of your organization depends upon it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Strong leadership is crucial to any organization.\u00a0 Whether we\u2019re talking about a commercial enterprise, a civic group, a church congregation, or a military unit, strong leadership is key to its success.\u00a0 But leadership is not a one-size-fits-all proposition . . . there are lots of commonly recognized leadership styles, so it stands to reason that<\/p>\n\n