Agilely leading your team towards a common goal is the talent of a good leader 💪
There are many ways to do this, but a true leader adapts his leadership to the circumstances!
His behaviour will differ when faced with unmotivated employees and when faced with a committed and highly qualified team.
What are the different types of leadership and which is the most effective?
Let’s have a look 💡
- What is leadership? Definition
- The 6 style of leadership in management
- Applying situational leadership
What is leadership? Definition
Leadership is the ability of an individual to lead one or more people towards a common goal.
Each leader has his or her own way of managing his or her team, without always wanting to exercise authority!
In reality, leadership in business comes in many forms 🎭
The important thing is that leadership management is really effective in bringing positive results to employees.
Which of these leadership postures do you identify? We identify 6 types of leadership.
The 6 style of leadership in management
Authoritative leadership, or Autocratic leadership
Adopting a directive style par excellence, the authoritarian leader gives precise orders and controls their proper execution.
Intransigent, this leader likes discipline and makes sure that none of his or her collaborators show deviant behaviour.
According to the American psychologist Kurt Lewin, the authoritarian leader admits to a domineering profile 🧨
The relationship with his employees is reduced to the leader/subordinate relationship. The latter must obey without question and are mostly deprived of their autonomy.
Thus, this management leadership banishes any sharing of opinions and harms the creativity of employees.
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Participative leadership
Favouring collective intelligence, the participative leader favours dialogue and team decision-making.
He considers that every employee is talented and that his ideas should be valued 🏆
Contrary to the psychology of the authoritarian leader, the participative leader appreciates initiative and diversity of opinion.
In order to move in the same direction with his employees, he encourages them to speak up through team meetings.
In this scheme, everyone puts forward ideas, but the leader makes the final decision.
This way of working encourages the involvement of employees and their motivation is increased tenfold.
Delegative leadership
In their theory of situational leadership, Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard introduce the notion of ‘delegation’.
These two American economists defined four types of leadership, including the delegative style.
In reality, delegative leadership is the opposite of authoritarian leadership. It applies to a minority of individuals, including voluntary, committed and competent employees.
Delegative leadership encourages the taking of responsibility and promotes a high degree of autonomy among employees ✅
The latter make decisions in the missions entrusted to them without the need to consult their leader.
Although the leader has absolute confidence in them, he/she closely monitors their progress and may redirect them.
Democratic leadership
Close to participative management, the collaborative leader is one who practices the principle of democracy.
This translates into reinforced communication, the organisation of team-buildings, workshops, all meetings allowing everyone to express themselves 📎
In this case, he becomes a group facilitator, the one who brings the team members together and encourages their interactions.
Unlike a leader who values individual work, the collaborative leader makes sure to break down silos. He or she brings talent together around a project so that they can connect, cooperate and complement each other.
Rensis Likert agrees that this is the most effective type of leader to strengthen the adhesion and motivation of employees 👏
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Pacesetting leadership
On a completely different note, the visionary leader is a source of inspiration for team members.
Able to project himself into the future, he can gather his collaborators around a common vision 😎
Max Weber describes him as a charismatic leader, one who arouses interest and fascination.
A visionary whom others trust when it comes to making a highly strategic decision. He or she has great persuasive power and is very good at convincing people and making the most of it in all circumstances.
Optimistic by nature, visionary leaders know how to create a positive climate around them.
His colleagues rely on his ideas and advice and make him their true pillar 🗼
Coach-style leadership
In the 5 types of leadership listed above, the manager is more interested in leading his team.
In contrast, the educational coach leader supports employees in their personal development. His role is to encourage employees to reach their full potential and to surpass themselves 🏎
In a caring manner, the leader coach helps each member of his team to assess his strengths and weaknesses.
Thanks to his mentoring, employees find energy to transform and improve themselves day by day.
Not only do they develop their skills, but they also find fulfilment in their duties.
Applying situational leadership
Clearly, leadership is an integral part of the science of human relations.
A true leader must get to know his or her people in order to lead them skillfully. Each leadership model admits its share of legitimacy with certain types of people.
Obviously, the impact would be different from one individual to another 🍀
Therefore, it will be necessary to readapt and this is the essence of situational leadership.
In practical terms, this means gauging your management style according to the people involved and the circumstances.
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Authoritative leadership may be necessary where there is a need to achieve a quick and error-free result.
It can apply to new trainees who need exact instructions to become operational.
On the contrary, the directive style will not work with a team that has gained a certain degree of maturity. Motivated and experienced people can work independently.
In this case, it is better to take on the role of a delegative leader in order to keep their enthusiasm.
On the other hand, in a crisis situation, it is necessary to strengthen team cohesion by encouraging collaborative work.
In short, a leader needs to be flexible and insightful in order to boost the performance of his or her staff. The leadership test will give you more food for thought on how to perform and become a good leader.
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