5 Sorts of Models of Leadership (And What is Best For You)

5 Sorts of Models of Leadership

Today's Main Point Is 5-Sorts-of-Leadership-Styles-And-Which-Is-Best-for-You

It takes excellent leadership skills to create great teams.
The best leaders have distinctive leadership styles and aren't afraid to make difficult decisions. If failures occur, they change course, handle team members' egos, and set performance expectations continually being met and built upon.

With a population of 327 million, there are many leadership styles within the world today. In this article, I will mention the foremost common sorts of leadership and how you'll determine which works best for you.

5 Types of Leadership Styles:
  1. The Democratic Style
  2. The Autocratic Style
  3. The Transformational Style
  4. The Transactional Style
  5. The Laissez-Faire Style
  6. Which Leadership Style Do You Practice?
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5 Types of Leadership Styles
I will specialize in 5 common styles I've encountered in my career: democratic, autocratic, transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership.

The Democratic Style
The democratic style seeks collaboration and consensus. Team members are a neighbourhood of decision-making processes, and communication flows up, down, and across the organizational chart.

The democratic style is collaborative. Author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek is an example of a pacesetter who appears to possess a democratic leadership style.

The Autocratic Style
The autocratic style, on the other hand, centres on the preferences, comfort, and direction of the organization's leader. In many instances, the leader makes decisions without soliciting agreement or input from the team.

The autocratic style isn't appropriate in all situations at the least times. Still, it is often instrumental in specific careers, like military service, and in certain instances, such as times of crisis. Steve Jobs was said to possess an autocratic leadership style.

While the democratic style seeks consensus, the autocratic style is a smaller amount curious about peace and more curious about adherence to orders. The latter advices what must be done and expects a close commitment to orders.

The Transformational Style
Transformational leaders drive change. They are brought into organizations to show things around, restore profitability, or improve the culture.

Transformational leaders may envision what customers, stakeholders, or constituents may have in the future and work to realize those goals. They are change agents who are focused on the longer term.

Examples of transformational leaders are Oprah and Robert C. Smith, the billionaire hedge fund manager who has offered to pay off the scholar loan debt of the whole 2019 class of Morehouse College.

The Transactional Style
Transactional leaders further the immediate agenda. They are concerned about accomplishing a task and doing what they've said they'd do. They are less curious about changing the established order and more focused on ensuring that folks do the precise task they need to be hired to try.

Short-term preparation is central to the transactional leadership style. This style will instil ingenuity and keep workers trapped in their current roles.

The Laissez-Faire Style
The fifth standard leadership style is laissez-faire, where team members are invited to assist in leading the organization.

The management structure is flat in organizations with a laissez-faire leadership style, meaning it lacks hierarchy. With laissez-faire leadership, team members might wonder who the ultimate administrator is or can complain about a few leadership needs, which may translate to a lack of direction.

Which Leadership Style Do You Practice?
You can learn tons about your leadership style by observing your family of origin and your formative working experiences.

Whether you know it, from the time you were born until the time you visited the school, you were receiving information on how to lead yourself et al. From how your parents and siblings interacted with each other to unspoken and speech norms, you were a sponge for learning what constitutes leadership.

The same is true of our formative work experiences. When I started my communications career, I worked for a faith-based organization rather than a union. The style of communication varied from one organization to the other. The leadership required to achieve success in each organization was also miles apart. At Lutheran Social Services, we used language like "supporting people in need." At the union, we used language like "supporting the workers' leadership" as they fought for their needs.

Many within the media were quite happy to accept my pitch calls once I worked for the faith-based organization, but an equivalent wasn't true once I worked for a labour union. The quest for media attention that was fair and balanced became more arduous, and my approach and elegance changed from being light-hearted to being more direct with the block.

I only realized the impact those experiences had on how I assumed leadership much later in my career.

In my early experience, it had been not uncommon for team members to possess direct, brash, and challenging conversations with each other, as a matter of fact. It was the norm, not the exception. I learned to challenge people, boldly state my desires and preferences, and provide harsh feedback, but I didn't account for the actions of others that fit me as a Black woman. I didn't account for gender biases and racial biases.

What worked well for my white male bosses didn't work well on my behalf as an African-American woman. People saw my directness as being arrogant and disrespectful. While I needed to be more forceful in advancing the organization's agenda once I worked for labour, that style didn't bode well for faith-based social justice organizations that wanted to use Christ's compassion to fight injustice.

I received feedback that I needed to develop more gravitas within the workplace once I worked for labour. However, I was often told to dial it back after working for other organizations after the union. That has taught me two essential leadership lessons:

1. Context Matters
Your leadership style must suit each workplace in which you're employed. The challenges and norms of a corporation will shape your leadership style significantly.

2. Not all types of leadership are ideal for the teams you lead
When I worked on political campaigns, I couldn't expect that level of round-the-clock work for people at the typical nonprofit. Not only couldn't I expect it, but it was also unhealthy. My habit of consistently awakening at 4 a.m. to figure out was profoundly unhealthy and harmful to the teams I used to lead.

As a life coach and spiritual healer, Iyanla Vanzant has said,

"We're learning a lot about what's heard and shared."

The message I used to send to my team was, 'I will value you if you're employed the way that I work and if you answer my 4 a.m., 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. emails.' I tell my employees that I expect them to follow my process and practice.

As I advanced in my career and commenced managing more people, I questioned everything I assumed I knew about leadership. It was tough. What worked on my behalf in one professional setting didn't add other locations. What worked at one phase of my life didn't serve me at later stages.

When I began managing millennials, I learned that while committed to the work, they had active interests and passions outside of the office. No matter how fulfilling, they weren't willing to abandon their lives and happiness for the job.

The Way Forward
To be an efficient leader, you want to know yourself incredibly well. You must be self-reflective and also receptive to feedback.

As fellow Lifehack contributor Mike Bundrant wrote in the article 10 Essential Leadership Qualities That Make an Excellent Leader:

"Those who lead must understand attribute, and that they start by fully understanding themselves…They know their strengths, are equally conscious of their weaknesses, and thus understand the necessity for teamwork and sharing responsibility."

The thanks to determine your leadership style is to understand yourself and be mindful of the feedback you receive from others. Consider the leadership lessons your family of origin has seen, felt, and shared. Then, think about what feels suitable for you. Where does one gravitate, and what does one tend to avoid within the context of leadership styles?

If you're stuck, employ a personality inventory to shed light on your work patterns and preferences.

Finally, the trail for determining your leadership style is to believe in what you would like, what your company values and what your team needs. They will offer cues on what works for them, and you would like to reply accordingly.

Conclusion: Leadership requires flexibility and attentiveness. Contrary to unrealistic notions of leadership, being a pacesetter is less about being served and more about being of service.
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