How do you create success through your leadership style? There are almost as many ways to be a leader as there are leaders around the world. However, there are some leadership styles that prove to be more appropriate than others. Let's take a look at that in this article.
Here you can learn more about what a leadership style is, gain insight into some of the most well-known leadership styles and how you as a leader can choose the right leadership style for your team or organization. We also look at the benefits of choosing the right leadership style and what can go wrong when you as a leader are not aware of a potentially inappropriate leadership style.
The difference between leadership, management and leadership styles
When we talk about leadership or appreciative leadership in everyday life, there are many words and concepts that are used interchangeably: leadership, leadership, leadership style, etc. Even though we often understand what is meant, it still makes sense to make the difference very clear.
Management refers to a process that is primarily about managing and organizing tasks and resources to achieve specific goals - that is, planning, coordinating and managing people on an operational level.
Leadership on the other hand, refers more to the leader's ability to create a vision, motivate and inspire their employees in a specific direction or to achieve a common goal on a more strategic level.
Leadership style on the other hand, is a collection of specific approaches, communication methods and behaviors that a leader uses to manage, motivate and guide their team - in other words, how they approach the task of leadership.
To succeed as a leader, it's important to be able to navigate between management, leadership and leadership styles, and it's these leadership styles in particular that this article explores in depth.
A leader's management style can often be a decisive factor in whether a team or organization achieves its goals and is well-functioning - an effective and appropriate management style can even have a significant impact on employee well-being and performance, so it's worth taking a closer look :-)
Different types of leadership styles
In this section, we will describe the traditional leadership styles introduced by organizational theorist Kurt Lewin. This includes the authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles. In addition, we also look at other leadership styles, including transactional and transformational leadership, authentic leadership and situational leadership.
The authoritarian management style
The first of Lewin's leadership styles is authoritarian leadership. It is characterized by a top-down approach - meaning that the leader makes decisions without the involvement of their employees. These decisions are communicated to employees through clear and concise communication, with an expectation from the manager that these instructions will be carried out without further discussion or questioning.
This leadership style can be highly effective in emergency situations where immediate action and clear guidelines are needed, and it also often creates a high level of efficiency when the authoritarian leader is present. However, it is rarely a leadership style that works in the long term, as the authoritarian leadership style can result in poor teamwork, low motivation and fear of speaking up or making mistakes, which can severely limit learning.
The authoritarian leadership style is also often perceived as limiting employees' creativity and engagement, and employees under an authoritarian leader may also feel less involved and may experience limited opportunities to contribute their own ideas and initiatives. This leadership style may make sense in the short term, but in many ways it's an old-fashioned leadership style that doesn't promote learning, engagement or well-being in the long term.
The democratic leadership style
The second of Lewin's leadership styles is called the democratic leadership style. Much unlike the authoritarian leader, the democratic leader is characterized by involving their employees in decision-making processes and encouraging them to share their input and ideas.
When the democratic leader values open communication and facilitates discussions where decisions are made collaboratively within the team, it creates an environment that fosters learning, creativity and accountability. Employees often feel more valued and have greater ownership of decisions and tasks, which positively impacts their engagement and motivation.
However, the democratic leadership style can be extremely time-consuming and less appropriate in situations where a quick decision is required - or where there is no consensus among the team.
The laissez-faire management style
Lewin's third and final leadership style is called Laissez-faire leadership. Laissez-faire loosely translates to letting things develop freely without interference - and that's actually what the laissez-faire management style aims to do.
The laissez-faire manager gives employees the freedom to take responsibility for their own tasks and make decisions without constant supervision from their manager. Here, the manager's role often becomes more of a resource and sounding board, which can be particularly effective and rewarding for experienced and independent employees who are very self-directed in their work. However, having a laissez-faire manager can be quite challenging for those employees who need closer guidance and structure, where less experienced or less self-driven employees may feel left to their own devices.
While it may sound appropriate to choose the laissez-faire management style if you have a lot of trust in your employees - as it gives a lot of freedom to employees and doesn't micromanage work processes - managers need to be very careful that it doesn't become an expression of being an absentee leader, which the laissez-faire management style can also be notorious for.
Transactional leadership style
Another organizational theorist Bernard Bass is particularly known for introducing the leadership styles of transactional leadership and transformational leadership - with a clear preference for the latter.
The transactional leadership style is an exchange-based approach to leadership, meaning that the leader provides rewards and sanctions based on employee performance and compliance with rules and guidelines. A transactional leader explains what they expect from their employees and the compensation for completion. In this way, it's very much a 'carrot or stick' mindset, meaning that the leader gets things done by giving rewards, recognition, raises, etc. to employees who perform satisfactorily and punishes employees who don't perform.
The basic idea is to make sure tasks get done - simple as that. However, a major danger is often that the leader only interferes with their team if things aren't done properly, and this doesn't create long-term engagement, intrinsic motivation or loyalty. Bernard Bass calls this type of leadership a 'recipe for mediocrity', which is probably very telling of his preference for a different style of leadership. However, this style of management can be quite useful in job positions or tasks that are characterized by being 'boring', monotonous or without much opportunity for excitement, motivation or engagement by the very nature of the job - where a 'carrot' in the form of high salary or benefits is essential to attract and retain workers.
Transformational leadership style
Bernard Bass, on the other hand, had a clear favorite in the transformational leader. The transformational leadership style is an approach where leaders inspire and motivate their employees by creating a shared vision, challenging existing assumptions and creating a sense of purpose and meaning. It is a leadership style where the leader primarily sees their leadership task as helping to push employees in the right direction, with a main focus on guiding them to solve tasks themselves and also reflecting on them afterwards, as well as developing and supporting employee growth and development.
An important part of transformational leadership is the ability of leaders to role model and inspire employees through their own actions, values and integrity. This is essential for building trust and respect among employees. To do this, it can be crucial for leaders to make a point of 'walking the talk' so that their values are not just words, but are made visible in actions.
The transformational leader is often characterized by having the ability to influence and inspire others through their personal magnetism and visionary approach, encouraging employees to think creatively and challenge existing assumptions. This type of leadership prioritizes creating a climate where employees are encouraged to develop innovative solutions and actively contribute their ideas and perspectives. An important leadership role for the transformational leader is to strike a balance between giving autonomy on the one hand and providing adequate support on the other. The transformational leader therefore acts as mentors and coaches, offering feedback and resources to employees while allowing them to explore and develop their own potential.
Transformational leadership can have a significant impact on employee motivation as it creates a sense of purpose, engagement and pride among employees, often driving them to strive for higher performance and develop both personally and professionally. Transformational leadership therefore also often results in increased job satisfaction as it creates a more meaningful work context and a positive work environment.
Transformational leadership often appears more effective and produces better results compared to transactional leadership, which is likely due to the fact that employees are more willing to go the extra mile for transformational leaders.
Coaching leadership style
There are plenty of theories on leadership styles, and after taking you through some of the classic leadership styles, it's important to mention that this is not an exhaustive list and that new modern leadership styles are emerging all the time. These include, for example, the coaching leadership style, where the coaching leader focuses on developing employees' skills and potential, primarily by acting as a mentor who supports and guides employees in their professional development.
The coaching manager will often have regular conversations with their employees to identify their strengths, weaknesses and areas for development, so this style of management can be particularly effective for employees seeking personal growth and professional improvement. It also means employees feel supported in their personal and professional growth, which can lead to increased engagement and performance.
Get better at being a coaching and curious leader here.
Authentic leadership style
A modern leadership style that has also recently taken hold in the workplace is the authentic leadership style. Authentic leadership is about being authentic, transparent and honest as a leader, and it involves showing genuine interest in the wellbeing and development of employees. Several theorists even argue that authentic leadership is essential for successful leadership during change.
They describe authentic leadership as a style that is based on one's personal values, strengths and beliefs, and that authentic leaders are able to be themselves, which builds trust, respect and engagement with employees. The authentic leadership style can be especially useful as a tool to inspire and influence others, and is particularly suited to organizations with a relatively flat and informal structure, or organizational cultures that value bringing the 'whole person' into the workplace, where both employees and leaders can bring 100% of themselves to work without facades or filters.
Read about prima donna management
Which leadership style is right for your organization?
Now that you have a little more knowledge of the different directions within leadership styles and leadership foundations, it is about time to look at the question for a million kroner :-)
"So, how do you choose the right leadership style for your team or organization?"
We wish we could just point to one of the leadership styles and say "you're guaranteed success with leadership in your team", but that's not how the world works - unfortunately.
Unfortunately, there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach. The choice of leadership style depends on several factors, including the organization's culture, goals and employee skills. However, we'd like to put our heads on the block and say this:
- A good management style must be able to adapt to different situations and the individual needs of employees. It is important to be flexible and be able to adapt your leadership style as needed.
- A good management style is one that balances authority with employee involvement. It involves paying attention to employees' needs, motivating them and making informed decisions.
- A good leader is also able to communicate clearly and establish trust with the team.
Situational leadership
And yes, it sounds a bit flighty, we know! But it's the truth. But we'd like to make it a little more concrete! Being able to navigate and adapt your leadership to different situations and needs is what we also call situational leadership. If you want to learn more about this type of leadership, we have actually elaborated on it in its own article - we thought it deserved a little more space and explanation. Read more about situational leadership here.
In short, however, situational leadership is a more modern and dynamic approach to leadership that combines different elements from different styles. It focuses on adapting to the changing needs of a constantly evolving work environment. Situational leadership involves adapting the leadership style to the specific situation or employee, which means that the leader must be able to switch between different styles based on the needs of the team, the specific situation or an employee. This requires a fairly flexible leader who can assess when it's appropriate to be more authoritarian, democratic or give more freedom.
Situational leadership involves being able to navigate between - on the one hand - a supportive and more employee-oriented behavior, focusing on two-way communication, spending time with the employee, psychological support, praise and attention, and guidance. And on the other hand, a more controlling task-oriented behavior, with a focus on setting and defining goals, deciding by whom and how the task should be done, allocating resources and controlling the person's work performance. It's a constant balancing act between the need for strong or weak support and strong or weak instruction.
A key component of situational leadership is the ability to diagnose what maturity level employees are at in relation to the task or responsibility at hand. You can learn more about these maturity levels - or development levels - in our article on situational leadership. However, situational leadership highly requires the leader to be responsive to the needs and skills of their employees and be able to adapt their leadership style accordingly. This creates a dynamic leadership environment that can maximize employee efficiency and performance.
However, it's important to point out that a major criticism of situational leadership is that managers can misinterpret and misunderstand the employee and their needs, leading to misunderstandings and inappropriate behavior - so this is an important point to keep in mind.
The benefits of a well-chosen leadership style
It doesn't matter what leadership style you have as a manager. A well-chosen leadership style can have a significant positive impact on employee satisfaction and productivity, so it's important to understand the differences between these styles and choose the one that best suits your unique situation.
Being aware of your leadership style is crucial for a number of reasons.
- Employee wellbeing:
First and foremost, it affects employee wellbeing and performance, which is greatly increased by an appropriate management style. In particular, when employees feel understood and supported by their manager, they are more likely to be engaged, efficient in their work and willing to go the extra mile.
- Adaptation:
In addition, awareness of your own leadership style is important as it allows you to adapt to changing circumstances, ensuring you choose the most appropriate approach to the situation.
- Employee development:
A conscious management style can also have positive implications for employee development, as you can better support employee development and growth where needed, as well as allow for autonomy in others. Awareness of this can also reduce conflict and problems in the workplace by avoiding lumping all employees together and potentially only getting a fraction of them right, or avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings that hinder development.
- Maximizing potential:
Maximizing the potential of your employees is essentially about maximizing the potential of your employees when you as a manager become adept at adapting your leadership style to the skills and maturity levels of your employees. This benefits both employees and the organization as a whole.
Overall, an awareness of your leadership style is crucial to creating a healthy, productive and harmonious work environment that builds trust and strengthens your relationships with employees.
You can read about personal leadership here
Negative consequences of an inappropriate leadership style
Conversely, failing to choose the right leadership style for your organization can also have a number of negative consequences.
- This can mean both reduced productivity and frustrating, demotivating employees.
- If employees don't thrive under the leadership style used, and don't feel valued, supported or understood, it often results in employee turnover.
- An inappropriate leadership style can also contribute to a negative organizational culture, affecting the organization's reputation and ability to attract and retain talented employees, and the leader misses the opportunity to maximize employee potential and realize growth opportunities.
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