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Do you remember watching a character from a movie giving a speech right before battle and feeling inspired? My personal favorite is Russell Crowe’s Maximus shouting “Unleash Hell!” in front of Commodus. Many great leaders have passed throughout human history. These leaders led their troops into battle, who made the impossible possible. Translate that into the modern era, and swords and arrows have been left behind for corner desks and office politics. But even so, a good leader is always in high demand because even though nations rarely go to war these days, they routinely conduct realpolitik and bureaucratic relations. As they say, if you want to judge how good a leader is, see if he shows restraint where he could have shown strength. With that in mind, let’s discuss some modern coaching leadership styles and develop them for peak performance!
What is a Leadership Style?
A leadership style acts as a catalyst in an individual to inspire a team – be that in competitive sports for a game or in a high-pressure sales environment. The goal is to build confidence among team members to perform at high standards of consistency. Furthermore, a good leader guides their teammates by teaching them the skills required to work functionally as a team, thereby increasing proficiency.
It becomes clear then that a good leader is a good communicator and has good social skills. He is also a good listener, highly organized, detail-oriented, and precise. These skills, among others, combined are what is known as a “Leadership Style.” Now to address the more important question, how to develop these skills?
Developing your Leadership Style
To become a good leader, you need a structured approach. The first step is to get academic knowledge by enrolling in the Instruction and Coach Leadership program. Then, list all of your qualities, strengths, and weaknesses to determine where you fall on the spectrum. Try different styles, be flexible, routinely consult an expert, constantly ask for constructive feedback, and, more importantly, be authentic. Over time, you will see a marked improvement in your leadership skills and experience.
That said, let’s take a look at the eight recognized leadership styles:
1. Visionary Style
Visionary leaders are bold, persistent, strategic, innovative, and optimistic. They also tend to take more risks in pursuit of success. In terms of driving progress, they have an amazing ability to bring about change. As a result, their team members are empowered and confident. Start-ups and large corporations undergoing organizational changes can benefit from this type of leadership style.
2. Autocratic Style
Authoritarian, or autocratic leadership style is highly driven by KPIs and results. The autocratic leader will make decisions independently or with a small group of trusted individuals. Most often, such leaders are found in the military and compliance-required industries that follow strict guidelines and procedures.
3. Laissez-Faire
A generally more laid-back leadership style, laissez-faire, is effectively the opposite of an autocratic leader. It is mainly used in situations that require little-to-no supervision as tasks are delineated to experienced managers or team members. Leaders of this type will take control only when necessary and focus on cultivating these qualities in their followers.
4. Democratic Style
With a combination of autocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles, a democratic leader works with his team, consults them, and takes their advice/feedback when making decisions. Employee participation, discussion, and productivity tend to increase under this leadership style.
5. Transformational/Coaching Style
A transformational leader usually acts as a coach or a guide to help improve his team’s morale and increase productivity by motivating them with speeches, debates, and one-on-one sessions. Transformational leadership style is driven by motivating each individual and providing mild supervision to help them become self-organized.
6. Pacesetter
As the name suggests, this leadership style sets the pace for a company based on achievable goals and standards. It is motivational and is usually used in fast-paced work environments such as the fast-food industry.
7. Transactional Style
A transactional leader has a quid-pro-quo relationship with his employees in which monetary rewards are given for good performance, while disciplinary actions are taken for bad performance. It is often used in quota-hitting work environments such as sales and marketing. There is, however, a disadvantage to this style in that employees do not seem to be able to express themselves creatively.
8. Bureaucratic Style
A bureaucratic leader is very similar in his work ethic to an autocratic leader. The expectation is for team members to follow established rules and regulations to the letter. It also creates a hierarchy where each employee has their duty-set to complete. And so creativity is not needed for a team member to achieve success. Hence, it is often used by the government, finance, healthcare, and other highly regulated sectors.
Final Thoughts
Leadership styles are skills that can be acquired, nurtured, and improved. However, it does not happen overnight. Learn different leadership styles and incorporate them into your daily routine based on your strengths. Be mindful that most successful leaders utilize multiple styles and constantly change their parameters. As their situational awareness increases, they gain experience, and understanding each leadership type helps increase their skill set. Over time, they become leaders that inspire their teams and guide them towards greater heights of success. They make the ordinary extraordinary!
