What is the Best Leadership Style?
There are as many leadership styles as there are leaders. That’s because each leader takes his/her own spin on a form that best serves them and/or their team(s). Of course, there are some definite bad ones that come to mind right away. Such as micromanaging, authoritarian, and transactional to name a few. In this post, I will cover several different leadership styles, including an understanding of each. At the end, I will discuss the leadership style that I believe is the best overall.
Because there is really no ranking structure to leadership styles, I will list several alphabetically. Please understand that when I use the word “leader” I am not referring to a “manager.” A leader might be a manager, but a manager is not automatically or necessarily a leader. This is far from an all-inclusive list, but here is a list of the 10 most common leadership styles.
The 10 Most Common Leadership Styles
Autocratic (aka Authoritarian) – though outdated, it is still widely used in the political realm and multiple governments around the world. This style of leadership is the same as a dictatorship government. Decisions are made by the top and then passed down without allowing feedback or suggestions to return through the same path. The end result is more important than the personnel used to achieve it.
Bureaucratic – a style of leadership that relies primarily on the rules and procedures of the company to lead.
Coach/Mentor – a developmental relationship between the coach/mentor and the coached/mentee. It is merely the helping the mentee to increase their potential by sharing knowledge and/or experiences to prepare them for a future role in leadership or management.
Laissez-fair (aka hands-off) – this style of leadership allows the personnel to have free reign to make decisions and complete work on their own accord. As long as the work is completed, most of the time, this leadership style will stay out of the mix. This also allows individuals to make mistakes without the fear of repercussions. Unfortunately, this can become a double-edged sword when it comes to motivation.
Democratic leadership is also known as participative leadership.
Democratic – also known as participative leadership. It is a style in which everyone has a “vote” in the decision-making process. The idea is to cultivate participation. Under the right circumstances, this makes sense. Alternatively, this can be a very dangerous style of leadership if group think gets involved. If you’re not sure what group think is, it’s the concept when people “go along to get along” with the rest of the group (or loudest voice).
Pacesetter – in simple terms, it’s leading by example. The lead runner in a race is known as the “pacesetter.” They are setting the pace at which the race is run. This is also true in business. A pacesetter would often be a high performer in pace and quality.
Servant – a leadership style that places the needs of others above your own.
Transformational – empowers others to draw from their creativity for innovation and motivates through inspiration. Though it would seem to concentrate on the individual, it actually focuses on the group efforts.
Transactional – focuses on tasks/goals and motivates through a rewards system.
Visionary – individuals inspired and driven not by what is but what could be. They inspire others to come along with their vision. This type of leader is motivational.
Additional Leadership Styles
Affiliative – focuses on conflict resolution and creating personal connections through harmony and team building within the workplace.
Charismatic – this is someone who is very confident in themselves. They are self-promoting with a high level of energy and holds strong convictions.
Commanding – similar to the authoritarian style of leadership, commanding is telling others what needs to be done. There is no time for questioning. Because of this, this style of leadership is quite common in the military.
Crisis – with the current climate, this has become quite popular. This style of leadership is very response oriented rather than proactive. It is leading through uncertainty. During a crisis, it is important for a leader to remain level-headed and poised to handle whatever life throws at them. Focus on the task at hand and getting through it. Determining the “why” or “cause” will have to come later.
Facilitator – promotes innovation, learning, and a team building environment which empowers others. This might also be referred to as an Influencer.
Interactional – motivation through behavior. This is a combination of charismatic, transactional, and transformational.
Situational– rather than being a specific type of leadership, but more of a responsibility style that is adaptable. This style of leadership must be highly adaptable to adjust to the various strategies and situations, as necessary. In order to be successfully, the situational leader must be Nimble, Adaptable, and Versatile.
Servant Leadership is the Best Leadership Style!
The best leadership style, and it’s not just my opinion, is Servant Leadership. The term was first coined in an essay by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970’s. Though the principles have been around for thousands of years. Since at least the time of Jesus Christ of Nazareth two-thousand years ago.
10 Common Characteristics or Traits of Servant Leadership
But why is it the best? Because Servant Leadership isn’t comprised of just one or two characteristics. There are ten common characteristics or traits with Servant Leadership. These characteristics include listening, empathy, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, foresight, stewardship, committed to the growth of others, persuasiveness, humility, and community building.
I won’t go through all ten, but I would like to discuss a few of them. First off, is listening. It’s one of the most important skills of a servant leader. In order for others to know that you care, you must first listen to them. For certain leadership styles, this is not an easy task for them. They would prefer to speak and tell others what to do. That is where a servant leader differs. It’s not all about them, it’s all about others.
Empathy is another important skill for a servant leader to possess. Having empathy for others allows the servant leader to understand the feelings of others. That is why empathy goes hand-in-hand with listening.
10 Key Principles of Servant Leadership (And Why It’s Our Favorite Style)
Being self-aware is extremely important for a servant leader. If we are unaware of our own shortcomings, how are others supposed to trust us? Our ignorance would be transparent to anyone around us causing others to not trust or believe in us. If we are unaware of our own strengths and weaknesses, how on earth would we be able to help others with theirs?
For a leader to be a good steward, they must have integrity and be trustworthy. They seek to build trust by acting in an ethical manner. This is done by being honest and being willing to trust others. Remember, integrity is doing what’s right, even if no one else would ever find out.
And a servant leader must have humility. They must be willing to humble themselves. To put others first and their own ego to the side. A servant leader knows it’s not about themselves. It is about those around them.
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