No business can function well without leadership. However, being a leader is much more than just holding a management position in a company. Existing at almost any level, leadership is about guidance, instilling confidence in others, clarity and motivation to achieve goals.
The impact of you as a leader on your subordinates depends on your leadership style. Although there are so-called 'born leaders' who got their outstanding qualities from nature, leadership can also be developed. The best leaders are always learning and analyzing the behaviour of others to understand how to improve their skills and even change their leadership style to benefit the business.
Although many people believe that management and leadership are one and the same, they are mistaken. Requiring different skill sets, management and leadership have very different goals. In simple terms, managers set direction while leaders inspire.
So, leadership is the art of inspiring, guiding and coordinating people to achieve common goals, which is due to the leader's ability to create an atmosphere of clarity, motivation and trust. Thus, the role of a leader goes far beyond formal authority as it consists of the ability to unite people into teams and unleash their full potential.
Notably, there is no one-size-fits-all recipe or approach to leadership, as its styles can vary significantly depending on the leader's personality, the context and the goals set. While some rigidly control all processes, others inspire the team with personal examples or prefer to stay as a bystander ready to help only in critical moments.
The main leadership styles were derived by Kurt Lewin and his team through an experiment conducted in 1939. Having divided schoolchildren into three groups, the scientist assigned to each a leader of one of three styles: authoritative, democratic and liberal. The results of the experiment showed how much leadership style can affect team performance. For example, while the authoritative leadership style resulted in high performance - but was accompanied by high levels of stress among team members - the liberal leadership style resulted in low motivation and chaos.
Although Lewin identified three leadership styles, his work served as a basis for further research in this area. Further on, several more styles were identified, but today business emphasizes the four main ones, which are discussed below.
Although there are many different leadership styles, workers often encounter bosses who prefer authoritative methods of managing teams. This style can be described in one simple phrase: ‘Do what I tell you to do’. Authoritarian managers often set bold goals, articulate a compelling vision, and lead their teams with a firm but authoritative hand.
A good example of such leadership is how Steve Jobs led his company Apple through disruptive innovation. Thanks to his clear vision that Apple products should combine groundbreaking technology, elegance and simplicity, he was able to rally his teams to achieve unparalleled results.
Below you will find a table that illustrates all the important characteristics of authoritative leadership.
Apparently, this type of leadership has some problems. Because of a lack of flexibility - as well as a disregard for team opinion - an authoritative leader can alienate employees. To succeed, an authoritative leader must find that delicate balance between confidence and openness, ensuring that his or her vision aligns with the values and capabilities of the team.
Leaders of this type leverage their emotional intelligence to create an atmosphere of trust and harmony in the team. Focused on establishing well-being where team members feel valued, affiliative leaders are especially effective during periods of high stress and after reorganizing conflicts.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was able to build a culture of belonging precisely because of his vividly expressed qualities as an affiliative leader. By providing health benefits even to part-time employees, he emphasized the importance of each team member's well-being. Thanks to his outstanding management techniques, Schultz significantly increased employee loyalty and was able to achieve low employee turnover.
Gallup research shows that teams led by emotionally intelligent leaders achieve success more often because their members are more satisfied with their jobs. However, the inability to make difficult decisions and the desire to avoid conflict are things that often ruin affiliative leaders. It is necessary to find the right balance between solving immediate problems and developing relationships with subordinates to achieve sustainable success in the company.
Significantly empowering team members, this style is based on collaboration, inclusiveness and collective decision-making. Able to listen to different points of view, democratic leaders value the contribution of each employee and develop a sense of responsibility for the overall outcome.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who changed the company's culture by encouraging collaboration among teams, is a prime example of a democratic leader. Under his leadership, Microsoft has grown from an isolated organization to a kind of powerhouse where every member is focused on innovation.
Despite the obvious advantages, democratic leadership tends to be time-consuming and less effective in times of crisis. While fostering collaboration is important, democratic leaders must not stray from the overall direction of the business to achieve success.
Although modern companies set serious requirements for job candidates, not all team members have equally strong skills. Moreover, everyone develops differently due to their natural abilities and other factors. As for coaching leadership, it focuses on developing the potential of individual team members.
Claiming that mentoring is a cornerstone of team culture, Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, is a good example of a leader of this style. By emphasizing leadership rather than micromanagement to develop the capabilities of his employees, Schmidt helped birth a generation of innovative thinkers who essentially ensured the company's global dominance.
Various studies show how coaching strategies increase productivity in various fields. However, coaching leadership requires considerable effort and patience as not every employee can immediately respond to this style. So it's hard to call coaching leadership a quick solution to a problem.
So now you have learned about the four common leadership models and their strengths and weaknesses. However, the truth is that to effectively run a business in today's reality, you can't rely on just one leadership style.
Choosing Among Management Styles for Different Types of Teams
You must realize and accept the fact that each team is unique in its own way. Let's look at the three main types of teams:
· Creative teams. These groups require an inspirational and democratic approach to management so that every member can add value. For example, a key factor in Pixar's success has been trust in employees' ideas.
· Young and inexperienced collectives. For such employees to adapt more quickly to a changing work environment, they need a clear framework provided by a structured and authoritarian management approach.
· Experienced teams provide stability. Practice shows that the coaching approach works best here as it allows employees to develop independently while keeping productivity quite high.
Employee engagement is a critical factor in maintaining productivity in challenging times. The McKinsey example shows that leaders who can adapt their management style to ensure long-term sustainability have 25% higher employee engagement.
To achieve better results, leaders must be flexible and willing to experiment with management styles. However, any changes to the leadership model should be based on team knowledge and analysis of the situation. For example, when faced with a tight deadline, you may temporarily switch to an authoritative approach to ensure that the task is completed on time. It's also important to know what motivates each team member. While some employees need the recognition provided by an affiliative management style, others prefer the clear instructions typical of authoritative leadership.
By tracking the work of effective leaders of thriving companies, you can conclude that leadership is not an innate talent but a set of acquired skills that you can develop and improve.
Role of Emotional Intelligence and Communication Skills
Encompassing self-awareness, empathy, social skills and the ability to manage emotions, emotional intelligence is at the heart of successful leadership today. By understanding the emotions of team members, you as a leader will be able to choose the right tone of communication, which is especially important for affiliative leadership. It is also hard to overemphasize the importance of communication skills for clear and coherent expression of thoughts that ensure higher effectiveness of authoritarian and democratic leadership models.
Specializing in psychology and brain science, Daniel Goleman has identified 6 leadership models:
1. Aythritative (Visionary)
2. Commanding
3. Affiliative
4. Democratic
5. Coaching
6. Pacesetting
At the same time, the scientist emphasises that the best leader is not tied to one particular style. Instead, he or she can switch between them effectively depending on the circumstances. Requiring knowledge, awareness, experience, and the ability to predict the 'weather' of the team, this ability to switch between leadership styles is something of an art form.
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