Different Leadership Styles  

As a leader, there are different styles you can employ based on your personality traits and the needs of the group or organization you lead. Below, we’ll talk more about various leadership styles and how they can manifest.  

Authoritarian leadership style 

Also called the “Autocratic style of leadership,” this type of leader is someone who is focused primarily on results and efficiency. Authoritarian leaders like to concentrate all control and keep autonomy for other group members at a bare minimum. They like to call all the shots, whether the decisions are big or small, and exert absolute power over all subordinates.  

Coaching leadership style 

In coaching leadership, leaders focus on honing their team member’s strengths and combating their weaknesses. Coaching leaders have a firm focus on motivating employees to perform to the best of their capabilities and aim to address their concerns. They help team members in setting smart goals and provide them with regular feedback to achieve success. Moreover, they’re skilled in setting clear expectations and creating a positive, motivating environment. 

Delegative leadership style 

Delegative leadership involves giving the onus to team members and giving them the autonomy to make decisions. In this type of leadership, leaders prefer to give resources and tools to their teams to get a job done, while providing their own expertise when asked for it. In a true delegative leadership role, the leader still takes responsibility for the actions and decisions taken by the team. Delegative leaders can give rise to a team that has high autonomy and can assume leadership of important tasks. They thus help hone independence and innovation in the workforce.  

Democratic leadership style 

Democratic leadership style (also called the “participative style”) is where the leader allows team members to have a say in deciding the outcomes through equal participation. Democratic leaders allow all team members to express their ideas and beliefs and can thus get a range of solutions for many problems. They also strengthen relationships within the team and can boost job satisfaction and employee engagement.

Because this type of leadership drives discussion and participation of all team members before making a decision, it’s an excellent style for organizations focused on creativity and innovation. 

Strategic leadership style

 Strategic leadership is where the leader has the ability to visualize, plan, lead, and doing whatever needs to be done to achieve goals with the resources on hand. They are known to have strategic thinking and planning besides strong communication skills. They are able to turn the organization’s long-term vision into daily objectives, in other words, they have the ability to see how the big picture relates to the here and now. Moreover, they pursue their goals with passion and determination, and they don’t quit until their vision and dream turns into reality. 

Transactional leadership style 

A transactional leader is someone who is laser-focused on performance and values goal-hitting. They are also pay attention to mentorship, instruction and training to achieve goals. Setting short-term goals and having a clearly defined structure are the keys for this type of leader to attain success. Moreover, in transactional leadership, the person in power relies on a system of reward for success and disciplinary action for failure to encourage the employees to follow them. Positive and negative reinforcement is usually their main course of action. 

This leadership style can work best for organizations or teams tasked with hitting specific goals, such as sales and revenue, but it’s not excellent for organizations driving creativity. 

Transformational leadership style 

Transformational leadership is a leadership style in which leaders inspire and motivate their workforce to innovate and create a positive change.  In this management style, leaders believe that their employees can do their best and trust them to take authority over decisions in their assigned jobs. They offer the team members an opportunity to be creative and find new solutions to the problems.  

A transformational leader is usually brought in to break plateaus and help the employees and company in general, create a shift in the status quo. 

Visionary  leadership style 

Visionary leadership is a business leadership style in which leaders have a clear idea of the future and do whatever it takes to realise long term plans. This involves a high degree of foresight to ensure the company is heading in the right direction. They are able to keep the big picture in mind but remain flexible in how to get there. Besides, visionary leaders recognize the value in failure in that it can test a team’s resilience and ability to move on and grow. They can help companies grow, unite teams and the overall company and improve outdated technologies or practices. 

Final thoughts 

We hope now you have an idea about many different types of leadership. It is time to assess your own current leadership style and think about ways in which your strengths can benefit the teams you are leading.  

Good luck!