essay on different leadership styles

Different Types of Leadership Styles Essay

Issues faced by martin quinn, leadership styles of evelyn gustafson and erik rasmussen, the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two leadership styles, actions to resolve the current situation.

Management concerns focus on how things get done by the subordinates. Martin admits that Erik Rasmussen brought about mixed results in the company. Martin Quinn is facing three issues concerning demands, constraints and choices. These issues are most likely to affect his choice of action regarding Erik. Firstly, demands are necessary duties, activities and responsibilities that come as a result of managerial position one occupies.

Demands involve standards, objectives, bureaucratic procedures, and conducting performance appraisals. Martin must evaluate the mixed performance of Erik. Martin knows Erik changed the company’s performance, managed to reduce cost, but issues concerning staff morale and customers’ complains were on the rise. He is wondering whether Erik should take some midcourse in order to know operational details of the company products and services (Yukl, 2010).

Secondly, Martin faces issues concerning constraints. Constraints include both organizational and external issues influencing what a leader can do. Constraints include rules and other forms of regulations. Organizational resources availability also forms part of constraints. Martin must decide how to handle both the internal and external constraints. Internally, he must handle Erik and untrained representatives (personnel) and deals with external factors such as complain arising from customer due to wrong information given by the staff who are inexperienced or sounded rushed (Adler, 1997).

Lastly, Martin has to deal with issues of choices. Choice presents an opportunity for Martin to decide what and how to act in the case of Erik. However, this choice may be limited by demands and constraints. Martin had objectives for choosing Erik to replace Evelyn. He wanted to cut cost in the labor intensive department of customer support. Martin finds evaluating Erik hard because of the mixed performance he had achieved as a manager. Martin has to decide on what strategies to use to pursue the departmental objectives, work aspects, delegation of responsibilities and how to influence decisions and staff. As a leader, Martin must follow the company’s policy in his evaluation of Erik’s performance.

Leadership is a role oriented necessity for managers. This is the main reason why managerial positions are in place, and as such their different types of leadership styles exhibited by various managers. Erik and Evelyn show different leadership styles based on experience and personality. Erik is a task-oriented leader. He does not spend his time doing what his subordinates are doing. Erik is mainly concentrating on work-related issues such as planning, giving work schedules, looking into subordinates’ activities and providing necessary equipment such as software to measure performance. He guided the staff in achieving high and realistic set targets.

On the other hand, Evelyn is a relations-oriented leader. She is more supportive and mindful with subordinates. She is showing trust, confidence, friendly, considerate and understands the staff problems. Evelyn is also helping the staff to develop and further their careers through the training she offers them. She likes keeping her staff informed of what is happening in the industry. Evelyn even allowed autonomy on how her staffs were doing their works. These came with show of appreciations and recognition to the staff. She even fought for higher pay in her department. This is the only way she could appreciate staff contributions and accomplishments. Evelyn is treating her staff in a supportive manner to build and maintain their senses of personal and job importance. Evelyn focus was on her staff. She had a low concern for job performance and achievements (Bryman, 1992).

Each style of leadership exhibits strength as well as weakness. Evelyn demonstrates the strength in managing people. She had a well satisfied staff, and the turnover was low. She encouraged training and career growth in staff. However, Evelyn was too friendly to her staff. This negatively impacted on the production and efficiency of the company while keeping them at a higher cost. Her staff enjoyed too much freedom. Evelyn leadership style tends to avoid facing issues of poor performance among staff. She rather not gives negative feedback to her staff so as to maintain personal relations (Cavaleri, 1996).

Erik leadership style is productivity based. He has no time to accommodate staff feelings. He managed to increase performance and cut down on cost. However, Erik dominated his subordinates. His style of leadership affected staff morale. Therefore, staff developed a sense of insecurity in their duties. Customers’ complains also increased because Erik reduced the number of training and involved more inexperienced staff. He did not encourage staff career growth and independent decision-making process.

The situation at the company presents mixed results. Since Erik is a first time manager, Quinn needs to help him develop his management skills on the relationship with his subordinates as drives performance. Therefore, taking a midcourse is a necessary activity for Erik. This company should also have a succession plan in place to ensure the smooth continuity. Quinn’s focus on customers’ complains must also be taken into account. This will ensure that they retain their customers. Erik only needs to be assertive in his duties.

Adler, J. (1997). International dimensions of organizational behavior. Cincinnati, OH: South Western College Publishing.

Bryman, A. (1992). Charisma and leadership in organizations. London: Sage.

Cavaleri, S. (1996). Managing in organizations that learn. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in Organizations, 7 edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

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6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

• Rebecca Knight

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Much has been written about common leadership styles and how to identify the right style for you, whether it’s transactional or transformational, bureaucratic or laissez-faire. But according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist best known for his work on emotional intelligence, “Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”

• RK Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

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Exploring Different Leadership Styles: A Comprehensive Guide

The way leaders guide and influence their teams can significantly impact productivity, engagement, staff turnover, staff wellbeing, and overall morale.

In fact, Gallup (2023) estimates that 70% of team engagement is attributable to the team leader. And a recent study by CMI found that 28% of job leavers cited a negative relationship with their manager as a key reason for quitting.

It is thus fair to say that how we lead really matters, even more so than who we lead. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of different leadership styles and suggestions for further reading and development.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or others adopt positive leadership practices and help organizations thrive.

This Article Contains

Goleman’s leadership styles, the 4 most effective positive leadership styles, leadership coaching: improving your skills, 3 leadership programs to enhance your leadership style, 4 recommended leadership books, 4 recommended youtube videos, positivepsychology.com resources, a take-home message.

In their influential book Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence , the psychologists Daniel Goleman, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee (2002) turned the term “emotional intelligence” into a household concept. They also demonstrated the importance of emotionally intelligent leadership.

The authors champion leadership that is self-aware, empathic, motivating, and collaborative. These qualities are ever-more important in our increasingly economically volatile, fast-changing, and technologically complex world.

In the book, they also discuss the core features of six distinctive leadership styles. According to Goleman et al. (2002), each style has its own strengths and limitations. Ideally, effective leaders learn to adapt their style to the situation at hand.

1. The visionary leadership style

Goleman et al. (2002) define the visionary leadership style as the ability to move people toward a shared dream or vision.

Visionary leaders have a clear and compelling dream of the future, and they know how to communicate it. They inspire their team members with a sense of purpose and direction.

Their ability to articulate a compelling vision motivates and energizes their followers and fosters a sense of unity and shared commitment.

2. The coaching leadership style

The coaching leadership style is characterized by the leader’s focus on helping employees reach their full potential. Above all, coaching leaders seek to support personal development and growth.

By providing guidance and mentoring, offering constructive feedback, and promoting skill building, coaching leaders create an environment conducive to continuous learning and improvement. This style promotes employee engagement and generates long-term organizational success.

3. The affiliative leadership style

An affiliative leader prioritizes harmony and bonding among their team members. They emphasize building strong relationships, cultivating a sense of belonging, and creating a supportive work environment.

Goleman et al. (2002) argue that affiliative leaders aim to resolve conflicts and enhance team cohesion by focusing their energies on open communication, empathy, and trust.

4. The democratic leadership style

The democratic leadership style entails involving team members in decision-making processes and truly valuing their input and perspectives.

Goleman et al. (2002) suggest that democratic leaders seek to empower their teams. They foster a collaborative culture where everyone’s opinions are respected. This inclusive approach tends not only to result in high levels of job satisfaction , but also promotes creativity and innovation within an organization.

5. The pacesetting leadership style

The pacesetting leadership style is characterized by leaders who consistently set high standards and expect their team members to meet them. This style can be both inspiring and demanding.

Pacesetting leaders strive for excellence and inspire their team members through role modeling. However, although effective in the short term, this style may leave little room for creativity, development, and autonomy in the long run. It is also important to remember that a great challenge should ideally be accompanied by significant support.

6. The commanding leadership style

The commanding leadership style is assertive, direct, top-down, and expects immediate compliance. While commanding leaders may excel in crisis situations, they may create a negative work environment if they overuse that style in non-urgent settings.

This style can be effective for short-term results but may impede employee engagement and creativity over time.

Adjectives to describe more problematic leadership styles include autocratic, top-down, transactional, bureaucratic, laissez-faire, or military. We will now explore four well-known effective leadership styles in more detail.

The four positive leadership styles that are currently attracting the most interest among researchers and positive psychology practitioners are coaching leadership, transformational leadership, authentic leadership, and servant leadership. All of them are viewed as positive and constructive leadership styles that bring out the best in the people who are being led.

Coaching leadership

Coaching leaders focus on developing those whom they lead and seek to support their growth and learning. Coaching leadership revolves around cultivating a supportive and encouraging environment that promotes growth and excellence in team members.

Unlike traditional leadership styles that emphasize top-down decision-making and unquestioning compliance, coaching leaders adopt a facilitative approach. They focus on building strong relationships, fostering collaboration, and nurturing individual talents.

A coaching leader is in effect a powerful catalyst who reminds people of their own resources and strengths and encourages them to use and develop them.

Key principles of coaching leadership include:

1. Active listening

Effective coaching leaders actively listen to their team members, encouraging them freely to express their thoughts, feelings, and aspirations. This practice helps leaders gain a deeper understanding of their team’s needs and enables them to provide tailored guidance. Because they listen carefully to what others say, coaching leaders can also truly benefit from the collective intelligence of their teams and their team members’ insights.

2. Empowerment

Coaching leaders strive to empower individuals by fostering a culture of autonomy and accountability. They encourage their team members to take ownership of their work, to make informed decisions, and to learn from both their successes and their failures.

3. Growth mindset

Coaching leaders promote a growth mindset culture, in which mistakes are seen as learning opportunities and continuous improvement is valued. This mindset encourages individuals to step out of their comfort zones , explore and develop their skills, and embrace new challenges.

Benefits of coaching leadership include enhanced employee engagement and a focus on skill development and improved communication. By valuing people’s needs and aspirations, coaching leaders create a more engaged and motivated team.

This commitment leads to increased productivity and better overall team performance (van Woerkom et al., 2016). Through mentoring, skill-building exercises, and feedback, coaching leaders help their people develop new competencies and refine existing ones (Webb, 2019).

By listening actively and providing constructive feedback, leaders can foster trust, improve team interactions, and boost collaboration among team members (van Woerkom et al., 2016).

Transformational leadership

Transformational leaders inspire and motivate their teams by articulating a compelling vision and encouraging personal growth. They seek to create a sense of community and commitment, challenge existing norms, and drive positive change within their organization (Bass & Riggio, 2006).

At its core, transformational leadership is about empowering and inspiring individuals to transcend their limits by promoting a collective sense of purpose and growth. This leadership approach moves beyond traditional managerial practices by focusing on developing strong relationships, cultivating vision, and promoting personal and professional growth.

The four pillars of transformational leadership are:

1. Idealized influence

Transformational leaders serve as role models. They lead by example and demonstrate high ethical standards. By being charismatic visionaries, they inspire team members to trust, respect, and emulate their behavior.

2. Inspirational motivation

These leaders are adept at articulating a compelling vision and conveying it in a passionate way that instills inspiration within their teams. By sharing a clear purpose and setting high standards, they inspire employees to achieve their full potential and support the bigger-picture aims of their teams and organizations.

3. Intellectual stimulation

Transformational leaders value creativity and encourage innovative thinking in their teams. They challenge employees to question the status quo and build environments that are conducive to learning, curiosity, and growth.

4. Individualized consideration

Recognizing the diverse needs and aspirations of each team member, transformational leaders provide individual support, coaching, and mentoring . They genuinely care about their employees’ personal and professional development, fostering a sense of belonging and creating a supportive work culture.

Numerous studies have shown the positive influence of transformational leadership on both individual wellbeing and organizational outcomes (see, for example, Avolio et al., 2004; Bass & Riggio, 2006; Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Wang et al., 2011).

Through its emphasis on inspiration and personal growth, this leadership style has been linked to higher employee engagement, job satisfaction, and overall workplace wellbeing . Transformational leaders also tend to foster stronger commitment, loyalty, and organizational citizenship behavior among employees.

Transformational leadership can have a ripple effect throughout organizations, enhancing team performance and increasing overall productivity. By encouraging open communication, generating a shared vision, and valuing innovation, transformational leaders cultivate an environment that nurtures creativity, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

Authentic leadership

Authentic leaders seek to lead with integrity and transparency, inspiring trust and creating an environment where individuals can be their true selves. They prioritize being genuine, self-aware, and acting consistently according to one’s values (Avolio & Gardner, 2005).

Authentic leadership emphasizes genuine self-awareness, transparency, and a commitment to one’s core values. At the core of authentic leadership lies self-awareness, a deep understanding of our values, beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses.

These leaders cultivate awareness through introspection, reflection, and a sincere desire to learn and grow. A study by George et al. (2007) suggests that self-awareness helps leaders align their actions with their core values, which enhances their credibility and authenticity.

Authentic leaders are transparent about their intentions and decisions. They also risk being vulnerable in front of their teams. This transparency promotes trust and psychological safety , enabling followers to reciprocate with their own authenticity. Research by Luthans and Avolio (2003) describes authentic leaders as being down to earth, approachable, and actively engaged with their teams.

Their words and actions are aligned. In other words, they say what they think and do what they say. Even when faced with challenging situations, they uphold their values and ethics. Research by Avolio et al. (2004) suggests that leaders who demonstrate this kind of consistency and integrity are more likely to inspire and motivate their followers, cultivating a sense of trust, purpose, and commitment within their teams.

Authentic leaders possess a high degree of emotional intelligence, which enables them to truly understand and empathize with others. They leverage this empathy to connect with their team members. Positive psychology research conducted by Clapp-Smith et al. (2008) suggests that authentic leaders who display empathy can provide effective support, understanding, and compassion to their followers.

Servant leadership

Servant leaders prioritize the needs of their team members and work to help them reach their full potential, always placing the team’s success above their own. They demonstrate humility, empathy, and a strong commitment to serving others (Greenleaf, 1977).

Servant leadership , as described by Robert K. Greenleaf (1977), centers on the idea that leaders should be driven by a deep-rooted desire to serve and support their team members and the organizations they work for. This counterintuitive approach presents an antidote to traditional leadership styles. It emphasizes the wellbeing, growth, and success of those within the leader’s sphere of influence.

Some key features of servant leadership include:

1. Empowerment rather than control

While many leaders exert their authority and micromanage their teams, servant leaders recognize the importance of empowering individuals to be creative and resourceful on their own terms (Laub, 1999).

By actively listening, providing guidance, and creating a culture of trust, they enable their team members to thrive, pursue innovative ideas, and take full ownership of their responsibilities and decisions (Laub, 1999).

2. Building trust and collaboration

One of the foundational pillars of servant leadership is the cultivation of trust and fostering collaboration among team members. Servant leaders seek to create an environment in which people feel safe, respected, and valued.

By promoting open communication, embracing diverse perspectives, and actively involving everyone in decision-making processes, servant leaders seek to create a cohesive and nurturing team culture.

3. Emotional intelligence

Servant leaders possess strong emotional intelligence, which enables them to empathize with their team members’ experiences, needs, and aspirations. This heightened understanding allows them to provide the necessary support, guidance, and motivation, which, in turn, leads to increased satisfaction and personal growth among team members (Van Dierendonck, 2011).

By practicing servant leadership, leaders not only enhance the wellbeing and productivity of their teams but also seed a legacy of ethical and compassionate leadership. Servant leadership creates a positive ripple effect, inspiring others to adopt a similar people-centric approach. In that way, servant leaders can create sustainable cultures of humility, empathy, and continuous learning in organizations (Greenleaf, 1977).

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Whichever leadership style appeals to you, the good news is that leadership can be learned. It is a teachable skill, and the best way to develop as a leader is by opting for leadership coaching.

Leadership coaching (which differs from the coaching leadership style discussed above) focuses on developing leadership skills through one-on-one coaching and feedback sessions. This personalized and experiential approach helps leaders identify their strengths and areas for improvement and unlock their full potential (Grant et al., 2019).

Leadership coaching is a collaborative and personalized process aimed at improving leadership effectiveness. It can maximize potential and foster growth in individuals or groups (Hattrick & Scholz, 2020). Rather than dictating solutions, coaches empower leaders to discover their unique leadership style, overcome challenges, and achieve their professional and personal goals. They educate their coaches to help themselves and strengthen their own problem-solving capacities and resilience.

Leadership coaching has the following positive effects:

1. Enhanced self-awareness

Leadership coaching aids in fostering self-awareness , enabling leaders to understand their strengths, weaknesses, values, and areas where personal growth is required (Kumari et al., 2020). By recognizing and harnessing their unique qualities, leaders can guide and inspire their teams more effectively.

2. Improved communication and emotional intelligence

Leadership coaching emphasizes developing strong interpersonal skills, effective communication, and emotional intelligence. By honing these qualities, leaders can build better relationships, resolve conflicts with more equanimity, and create a positive work environment (Oakley et al., 2019).

3. Clarifying goals and strategies

Coaches assist leaders in clarifying their goals and defining strategies to achieve them. This process helps leaders focus on their vision and align their actions with their objectives (Salas-Vallina et al., 2021).

4. Increased resilience

Leadership coaching plays a crucial role in fostering resilience in leaders . By developing adaptive and coping strategies, leaders who are receiving coaching can better handle challenges, setbacks, and pressures (Passarelli et al., 2019). This resilience leads to improved decision-making and enhanced overall leadership performance.

To further develop your leadership skills, consider participating in the following leadership programs. Each program focuses on specific aspects of leadership, equipping individuals with the tools and knowledge to become more effective leaders.

Organizations such as the Harvard Business School, the Center for Creative Leadership, and the Henley Business School in the United Kingdom offer some of the most renowned leadership development programs.

1. Harvard Business School

The Harvard Business School is perhaps one of the most prestigious business schools. It offers four comprehensive leadership programs that offer business management and leadership curriculum and personalized coaching.

Find out more about their offerings to choose an option that appeals: Comprehensive leadership programs .

2. The Center for Creative Leadership

The Center for Creative Leadership offers numerous different and inspiring leadership development programs too, including one that focuses specifically on transformational leadership.

You can have a look at their options here: Leadership programs .

3. The Henley Business School

The Henley Business School, which is affiliated with the University of Reading, offers a comprehensive six-day in-person leadership program.

Find out more about The Leadership Programme .

To deepen your understanding of leadership and to develop new insights, you may enjoy reading one of the following books.

1. Leadership: A Very Short Introduction – Keith Grint

This book is a great comprehensive overview of leadership and leadership styles. No longer than a long essay, it is a perfect choice for those pressed for time and needing a good overview, and thereafter you can dive into styles and topics most appealing.

Keith Grint invites us to rethink our understanding of leadership in Leadership . His guide includes valuable reflections on how leadership has evolved over time and also considers the different contexts from which different leadership theories emerge.

Grint goes back all the way to the early reflections on leadership by writers including Plato, Sun Tzu, and Machiavelli.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations – James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

This international bestseller, which is now in its seventh edition, offers valuable practical guidance for becoming an exemplary leader.

The two authors deliver an essential strategic playbook for effective leadership. They explore the five practices of exemplary leadership, providing real-life examples and actionable strategies.

Crucially, the authors also emphasize that leadership is a skill to be learned as well as a practice grounded in relationships. New sections include reflections on how to lead in hybrid environments and how to combat disengagement and cynicism.

3. Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts  – Brené Brown

In this famous book and number one New York Times bestseller, Brené Brown combines research, personal stories, and practical advice to explore the qualities that make courageous leaders.

Brown’s take on the topic is unique. Above all, she emphasizes vulnerability, as well as self-awareness, curiosity, and empathy, as the key qualities of a great leader. She invites us to see power not as something we should hoard but as something to share with others.

Brown writes:

From corporations, nonprofits, and public sector organizations to governments, activist groups, schools, and faith communities, we desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt and fear.

(Brown, 2018, p. 4)

4. Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t – Simon Sinek

In Leaders Eat Last , the international bestselling author Simon Sinek investigates great leaders who sacrifice not just their place at the table, but often their own comfort and even their lives for those in their care.

They range from Marine Corps officers to the heads of big business and government. They all share that they put aside their own interests to protect their teams. For them, leadership is not a rank, but a responsibility.

If you do not have time to read a book on leadership, you may enjoy watching one of our four recommended YouTube videos instead.

In this short video, Brian Tracy explains five different leadership styles that people can use to lead their teams to success: structural, participative, servant, freedom, and transformational leadership.

Kurt Lewin describes different leadership styles in this slightly longer video. Lewin focuses on autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire leadership. He discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each style as well as the situations in which each style is most useful.

In this much-watched TED talk, Peter Anderton argues that great leadership requires only two simple rules. Curious to find out what they are? Watch the video.

In this last video, Jenn, a career coach, shares insights into eight key leadership styles. Importantly, she also discusses how we can find out which style might be best suited for us. Many of us will have been wondering about this question. Jenn shares practical advice on how we can choose and develop our own natural leadership style.

PositivePsychology.com offers a range of resources to enhance your understanding of various leadership styles. On our website, you will find numerous in-depth articles on specific leadership theories and styles, many of which were only briefly discussed in this article.

In addition, there are a multitude of articles to assist in improving leadership as well as creating a positive working environment.

• How to Use the Johari Window to Improve Leadership
• Assertiveness in Leadership: 19 Techniques for Managers
• Strength-Based Leadership: 34 Traits of Successful Leaders
• 15 Ways to Give Negative Feedback, Positively (+ Examples)
• Job Satisfaction Theory: 6 Factors for Happier Employees
• Why Team Building Is Important + 12 Exercises

Free tools and numerous inspiring activities to identify and enhance your leadership style can be found in our article offering leadership activities , games, and exercises.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others develop positive leadership skills, check out this collection of 17 validated positive leadership exercises . Use them to equip leaders with the skills needed to cultivate a culture of positivity and resilience.

17 Exercises To Build Positive Leaders

Use these 17 Positive Leadership Exercises [PDF] to help others inspire, motivate, and guide employees in ways that enrich workplace performance and satisfaction. Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Perhaps the most important point about leadership is that leadership can be improved. Remember that great leadership is, after all, a combination of skills and qualities that we can work on, practice, and enhance.

As leadership expert Warren Bennis puts it:

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born — that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.”

(Bennis, as cited in Hunter 2004, p. 42)

Everyone can be a great leader — introverts as well as extroverts, feelers as well as thinkers, visionaries as well as people who care for detail and process.

What matters most is that we cultivate self-awareness, that we remain humble, that we truly care for those whom we lead, that we keep learning, and that we foster a growth mindset both in ourselves and others.

We hope you enjoy using these resources to advance your leadership journey and that they will help you unfold your true potential as a leader.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free .

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• Salas-Vallina, A., Salanova, M. Martínez, I. M., Bresó, E., Schaufeli, W. B., & García-Renedo, M. (2021). Truly understanding work engagement: Efficacy, discipline, and extraversion as burnout antidotes. Frontiers in Psychology , 12 .
• Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management , 37 (4), 1228–1261.
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• Wang, D., Liu, J., Zhu, W., & Mao, J. (2011). The influence mechanism of transformational leadership on employee innovative behavior: A moderated mediation model. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 43 (10), 1121–1132.
• Webb, K. M. (2019). Coaching at work: Leveraging the science of coaching. Frontiers in Psychology , 10 .

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Updated Dec 16, 2022

Learn the 7 Distinct Leadership Styles

• Style #1 - Servant Leadership
• Style #2 - Democratic Leadership
• Style #3 - Autocratic Leadership 
• Style #4 - Transformational Leadership 
• Style #5 - Transactional Leadership
• Style #6 - Laissez-Faire Leadership
• Style #7 - Charismatic Leadership

Using Different Leadership Styles

When it comes to common leadership styles in management, there’s no “one-size-fits-all.” Effective leadership begins with identifying your strengths and then using the unique advantages of your style of leadership to drive growth within your organization.

For example, Elon Musk uses the autocratic leadership style, labeling himself as a perfectionist and “ nano-manager .” However, this same leadership style makes him decisive, clear about what he wants to achieve, and motivational. On the flip side, a charismatic leader like Richard Branson has found success by leading in a much different manner. He tackles challenges with positivity, obsesses over building a strong team culture, and uses emotional intelligence to develop businesses people love working for. 

This goes to show different styles work for different people. Nevertheless, each leadership style does have both its advantages and drawbacks. Learn which leadership style you have below and how to implement the others so you become more effective at leading your team and growing your business.

Style #1 – Servant Leadership

What is servant leadership.

Servant leadership is leading with a servant’s heart. In essence, this type of leader focuses primarily on addressing the needs of their employees and customers. When serving teams, they operate with a heavy emphasis on learning and growth, practicing coaching leadership. For this reason, those under the guidance of servant leaders can expect to be nurtured but also challenged into achieving their full potential.

Being a servant leader goes far beyond oneself. So much so, that the goal is to multiply more autonomous leaders at every level. Furthermore, organizations operated by servant leaders ensure those joining in fulfilling the business’s endeavors align with the company’s core values. For example, the process of becoming a franchise owner at Chick-fil-A is rigorous and intensive. Approval can take up to a year, while only 5% of applicants are accepted. Owners must demonstrate, “humility, passion for service, compassion, and genuineness,” says CEO and servant leader Dan Cathy.

Examples of Servant Leaders:

• John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market
• Cheryl Bachelder , former CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
• John C. Maxwell, Co-founder of EQUIP® and author of 5 Levels of Leadership

Attributes:

• Leads to serve
• Naturally develops a following
• Calls others to join their cause or mission
• Practices altruism
• Is a strong positive influence on people’s lives
• Spends time teaching, empowering, and caring for team members
• Strengthens communities
• Fosters personal and professional growth through a coaching leadership style
• Develops a trusting team
• Exhibits a high level of emotional intelligence

Potential Weaknesses

Rather than lead with force, those who practice this style gain followers by being a positive influence. While people can work on servant leadership skills, they must have the heart for it. For instance, out of all the leadership styles, those who are money-driven or egocentric will find this particular one impossible to authentically implement.

Additionally, they must be careful to keep a balance between serving others and taking care of themselves. Without the latter, burnout can quickly ensue, thus affecting the company and its people in a variety of negative ways.

Style #2 – Democratic Leadership

What is democratic leadership.

One of the most popular types of leadership styles is the democratic leadership style. This approach encourages participation and collaboration among team members. The key to being a democratic leader is creating a team culture where individuals feel they are valued and important. Providing an open environment that prompts discourse through the exchange of ideas helps those practicing this style of leadership keep team members feeling engaged and motivated. Democratic managers and executives let people of all levels know their participation makes a difference in shaping the organization. In doing this, they develop a culture of voluntary contribution.

Examples of Democratic Leaders:

• Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos
• Larry Page, Co-founder of Google
• Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo
• Encourages idea-sharing and creativity
• Facilitates open communication  
• Lets employees problem solve
• Supports collaboration
• Develops an environment of mutual respect
• Provides team members with an equal chance to provide insight no matter their job
• Brings individuals’ talents to light through coaching leadership
• Listens when others speak
• Responds with emotional intelligence  
• Takes time to acknowledge and reward participation

While democratic leadership can be one of the most effective leadership styles, it isn’t always a great way to manage time-sensitive decisions. In addition, this approach can potentially create tension between those with differing perspectives and opinions. Regardless of these factors, the pros typically outweigh the cons, resulting in an environment full of dynamic individuals who feel engaged at work.  

Style #3 – Autocratic Leadership 

What is autocratic leadership.

The authoritarian (or autocratic) leadership model requires explicit power over an organization or group. For instance, during the decision-making process, they rarely involve others. Due to high levels of isolated control, authoritarian executives are commonly associated with dictators. While decisiveness is one of the strongest characteristics of authoritarian, bureaucratic leadership, most companies with these leaders need a system of checks and balances that allows for a sustainable workplace.

Although this management style gets a bad rap, “Autocratic or authoritarian leadership is sometimes necessary, especially in situations where rapid, decisive action is required under pressure,” says CEO of Tribe Builder Media, Danielle Sabrina, in an article for Entrepreneur.com . 

Examples of Autocratic Leaders:

• Martha Stewart, Founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
• Henry Ford, Founder of the Ford Motor Company
• John Chambers, former Executive Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems
• Shows an aptitude for efficiency and decisiveness
• Favors bureaucratic leadership where they dictate processes, systems, and operations
• Acts as the top commander
• Controls decision making
• Separates themselves from employees
• Struggles to respond positively during personnel challenges
• Less receptive to other’s thoughts, opinions, or ideas
• Expects compliance and respect from those doing their job
• Establishes structure, rules and forms of discipline 

While traits like quick thinking and decision-making benefit companies, working solely within this framework is not an effective long-term way of managing people. “Autocratic leadership only works until it doesn’t work . . . There needs to be a balance between strong leadership, autonomy, and empowerment of employees,” Vivek Wadhwa for Inc.com explains.

With this in mind, incorporating qualities from the other less bureaucratic leadership styles helps instill a sense of balance. Similarly, business owners and CEOs who recognize an inclination toward authoritarianism can keep themselves in check by including diverse leadership styles on their teams.

Style #4 – Transformational Leadership 

What is transformational leadership.

Leaders using the transformational leadership style inspire people through their clear vision. Additionally, they tend to excel in effective communication and focus on instilling purpose in employees and customers alike. Through the words they speak and the example they set, they motivate their team toward being changemakers. Most of all, they are purpose-driven individuals who believe in maximizing positive outcomes in others’ lives. Because they understand they cannot achieve their mission without their employees, they are also experts at developing excellent team cultures with high levels of job satisfaction.

Because of these factors, spiritual leaders such as pastors Steven Furtick, Craig Groeschel, and Andy Stanley serve as great examples. Additionally, co-founders of Ancient Nutrition, Josh Axe and Jordan Rubin serve as transformational leaders who help customers and employees make positive shifts in their lives. For instance, at Ancient Nutrition, there’s an established leadership growth model for all, plus health and lifestyle benefits.

Examples of Transformational Leaders:

• Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa
• Malala Yousafzai, founder of the Malala Fund
• Reed Hastings, Co-founder and CEO of Netflix
• Speaks with conviction and charisma
• Describe overarching vision when communicating
• Delivers purpose-driven objectives targeting the company’s mission
• Creates an atmosphere of creativity and innovation at work
• Implements a strong set of organizational values
• Develops work cultures that individuals love being part of
• Helps employees feel confident to experiment, make mistakes and even fail
• Values growth and development
• Encourages team spirit and working together
• Focuses on changing the world

While this type of person inspires organizational change by communicating big-picture ideas, they are typically less skilled with details and processes. Because of this, they often need logistical minds on the team who can carry out the planning and implementation of company objectives.

Additionally, some of the challenges of this style of leadership are personality-based. With generally high levels of extroversion, charisma, and influence, this type of person can potentially lead through unintentional manipulation. These types of leaders can benefit from having an accountability partner or mentor to offer insightful, balanced perspectives.

Style #5 – Transactional Leadership

What is transactional leadership.

Transactional leadership is a results-driven approach that follows a distinct organizational hierarchy. For example, this type of leader views their relationship with their employees as an exchange. Additionally, those practicing this leadership style create clear measures for success and failure. If individuals achieve the goals set by the organization, they are rewarded for a job well done. But if they fail, they will be held accountable for not meeting the determined mark. Out of all the common leadership styles, transactional leadership is most favorable within large-scale companies due to the desire to measure progress and performance.

Examples of Transactional Leaders:

• Bill Gates, Co-founder of Microsoft Corporation
• Vince Lombardi, NFL coach
• Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks
• Holds an upper-level ranking position in the organization
• Creates short-term and long-term performance measures such as KPIs
• Sets goals and delegates tasks
• Communicates with the team about what work needs completion
• Monitors the progress of goal achievement
• Conducts employee reviews
• Provides rewards for hard work such as raises, promotions, time off, and bonuses
• Holds employees accountable for not reaching anticipated results

Transactional executives and managers tend to create work environments that are too rigid. When results are the sole focus, those on the team suffer. For instance, people need a working environment that allows room for mistakes, creativity, and innovation. While business leaders should be concerned with the overall health of the organization, this also includes employees’ well-being. Also, putting too much weight on predetermined measures of success doesn’t leave much room for growth and development.

Those practicing this leadership style can improve by seeking to align employee motivating factors with rewards. Emily Lundberg, marketing manager for Prialto adds in a blog : “Research shows that goal commitment increases when managers ask for employee input. Before launching new performance objectives, have a meeting with your employees where you discuss what you want them to achieve and give them an opportunity to share their ideas.” Including employees in the goal setting and performance measuring process helps people feel empowered, rather than controlled.

Style #6 – Laissez-Faire Leadership

What is laissez-faire leadership.

Laissez-faire, or delegative leadership, is a “hands-off” style that gives individuals freedom and control over their job. In French, the term roughly translates as “let it be.” Because of laissez-faire leaders’ belief in minimal regulation, employees within the company make their own choices with minimal input from the person guiding them. For example, under laissez-faire leadership, workers might decide they don’t need to come in on Fridays as long as they complete their work on time. Due to their choice of limited interference, a laissez-faire leader likely wouldn’t intervene. In essence, this leadership is the opposite of autocratic.  

Examples of Laissez-Faire Leaders:

• Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
• Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
• Andrew Mellon, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
• Grants employees a high level of freedom when working
• Instills a sense of trust into the team
• Encourages problem solving and decision making
• Provides any resources or tools needed
• Limits input and guidance 
• Decreases pressure on work production
• Encourages team to take responsibility for unsuccessful choices and actions

Laissez-faire leadership can be good for those who have employees with a track record of great self-management, but it isn’t suitable for all business models. Furthermore, if the team isn’t full of highly-driven, qualified self-starters, the company will suffer. In fact, some people do not consider laissez-faire as a style of leadership at all.

Style #7 – Charismatic Leadership

What is charismatic leadership.

Those who exhibit this dominant style are driven, influential, and determined to see their life mission come to fruition. As skilled orators with a distinct vision, they inspire the mobilization of efforts toward a collective cause. While very similar to the transformational style, the charismatic style primarily motivates others through emotional connection. Dr. Ronald Riggio for Psychology Today explains, “Charismatic leaders are essentially very skilled communicators . . . They are able to articulate a compelling or captivating vision, and to arouse strong emotions in followers.”

Examples of Charismatic Leaders:

• Martin Luther King, Jr., minister and civil rights activist
• Oprah Winfrey, chairman and CEO of OWN
• Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• Communicates a powerful vision
• Connects to their audience’s emotions when speaking
• Uses storytelling and persuasion when sharing their message
• Creates positive beliefs
• Inspires action
• Focuses on outcomes
• Keeps employees engaged by asking questions
• Listens intently

One drawback of this leadership style is that it can quickly burn out employees. Charismatic executives’ dedication and resolve to their mission will likely never match those being managed. This is why it’s important to keep employee recognition and appreciation at the forefront of interaction with employees. For example, create a system of rewards for achieving short-term and long-term milestones that makes people feel acknowledged for their work. Additionally, launching initiatives in realistic, measured steps also prevents burnout , fatigue, and disengagement.

When emulating charismatic leadership , understand this might be a challenge for those who don’t naturally have this personality trait. Regardless, it is a learned behavior people can develop by having charismatic influences in their lives and educating themselves about it.

Even though Elon Musk’s leadership style is autocratic, he isn’t just a rigid, controlling, one-dimensional leader. He shows other types of leadership, carrying many of the traits of a transformational leader who inspires his team to reach huge goals and change the world. It goes to show, the best leaders are ones who use the top characteristics from all of the common leadership styles.

Understanding the seven leadership styles above helps business owners, executives, and managers recognize their strengths and weaknesses. This can be done through leadership coaching or personal studies—either way, make it a point to learn other ways of leading.

Start expanding your leadership skills today by:

• Writing down a list of areas requiring progress within the company.
• Looking through the bullet points of each of the dominant leadership models.
• Classifying each issue with a leadership style that could help.
• Analyzing any patterns. For example: Are there several problems tagged “transformational leadership” or “delegative leadership”?
• Once realizing where you could improve, make it a point to learn more about these individual types of leadership.
• Finally, practice emulating them with your team.

Want the CEO title like Elon Musk? Find out how to become a CEO .

Interested in learning more about effective leadership? Check out these articles next:

The Difference Between Leadership and Management

What is Leadership, and How is Influence the Answer?

Leadership Qualities: 25 Traits of Effective Leaders

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• Your leadership style: why understanding yourself matters
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• http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0110-2378 Clare Felicity Jane Price-Dowd
• People Directorate , NHS England and Improvement , Leeds , West Yorkshire , UK
• Correspondence to Dr Clare Felicity Jane Price-Dowd, People Directorate, NHS Improvement, Leeds LS1 4HG, West Yorkshire, UK; clare.price-dowd{at}improvement.nhs.uk

Understanding of personal leadership style has been shown to be a key part of effective leadership practice. It has been a topic of interest for many decades as we have tried to understand, and replicate, what makes those considered to be ‘great leaders’ so successful. This article gives a brief introduction to different leadership ‘theories’, leadership ‘styles’ and the effect they have on the ‘climate’ in organisations. Having an understanding of the different approaches can help leaders be more effective through comprehending how and why they do what they do, as well as helping them identify where and when they need to adapt their style. By considering how our understanding of leadership has evolved, it is possible to show how effective leadership is not linked to one approach. It is a combination of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours with a focus on both the task in hand and concern for those undertaking that task. Furthermore this understanding supports impactful personal development, which creates positive climates in organisations where compassionate and inclusive leadership behaviours can, and do result in better outcomes for staff and patients.

• effectiveness
• leadership assessment
• role modeling

https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2020-000218

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Introduction

Who, when flipping through a publication has not been tempted by the ‘personality quiz’, hoping to get the ‘mostly A, B or C’ that indicates we have the attributes for long and successful careers or lots of friends? While this level of ‘knowing how we are’ could be dismissed as flippant, when it comes to leadership, understanding our personal approach can be invaluable. If you asked people around you ‘what sort of leader do you think you are?’ they would most likely answer in the singular ‘I lead by example,’ ‘I build relationships with people,’ or ‘I don't tolerate underperformance’. They are unlikely to say ‘I do this here, and that on other occasions’ yet the most effective leaders are those who attune to their context, consciously adapt their practice and have an awareness of how their own style effects others. This article introduces the different theories and styles of leadership and how they can be used to create positive work climates. The key terms are given in table 1 .

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Evolution of leadership theory and understanding of style

A desire to understand what makes a successful leader is not new. For centuries there has been debate about what differentiated leaders from non-leaders, and leaders from followers. In a comprehensive review of leadership theories by Stogdill, 1 a number of categories were identified and in the 80+ years since Lewin et al 2 published their theory on patterns of behaviour in 1939, we have seen an evolution from trying to identify ‘common traits’ based on inherent characteristics of ‘great men and women’ through to the what we now understand to be the successful combination of person, place and approach. Looking further into this evolution, although this is not a comprehensive list, it is possible to group the stages of development as follows:

Trait theory—for example as seen in the work of Carlyle 3 and Stodgill 1 is concerned with the type of person that makes a good leader and the innate qualities and associated leadership traits they have. A meta-study by the Centre for Excellence in Management and Leadership 4 identified over 1000 leadership traits in the literature, which they distilled to 83 more or less distinct attributes. While no specific trait or combination was found to guarantee success, trait theory did help in identifying qualities that are helpful when leading others such as integrity and empathy.

Later, behavioural theory identified what good leaders do—effectively how they ‘lead well’. Examples include the Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum 5 —seven stages of reducing control namely Tells, Sells, Suggests, Consults, Joins, Delegates and Abdicates; the Action-Centred Leadership Model of Adair 6 which sets out the three responsibilities of the leader—‘achieving the task, managing the team and managing individuals’ and the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid 7 also referred to as ‘The Power to Change’ which outlines two behavioural dimensions: Concern for Results and Concern for People.

Situational and contingency theory: looks at the leader in the context of where they lead. By considering how the leader’s success is directly influenced by their environment, it became possible to identify the conditions that support or constrain leaders as seen in work including Feidler 8 Vroom and Yetton 9 Yukl 10 ; Hersey and Blanchard 11 ; Thompson and Vecchio. 12

Transactional theories—as seen in the work of Weber 13 and later by Bass, 14 focuses on the leader getting results by using process and structures while applying reward and penalty in response. Within this are power and influence theory, exchange and path-goal theory by House 15 16 which concentrate on the relationship between leader and led as a series of trades or ‘leader-member exchanges’.

In more recent years, while the transactional and positive view of hero leadership has never entirely gone away, the notion of ‘Hero to Host’ 17 which describes the move to transformational and ‘new wave’ styles outlined by Burns 18 Bass 14 and Kouzes and Posner 19 among others. Transformational leadership not only serves to enhance the motivation, morale, satisfaction and performance of followers, but also sees the leader role model compassionate and inclusive behaviours, which are valued. In ‘Good to Great’ by Collins, 20 the Level 5 leader is described as possessing both indomitable will, but also humility and is often self effacing and shy, the opposite of what we might have previously described as leadership traits!

Relevance for leaders

Every day, leaders in healthcare must constantly analyse complex situations, engage, motivate, empower and delegate. Many leaders now operate within complex adaptive systems—organisations that are an interconnected whole of many parts, which may and may not function effectively together depending on changing circumstances. This calls for leadership skills and behaviours that can move between each required activity with seemingly effortless ease and without loss of effectiveness.

Having an appreciation of different theories and styles also helps us identify our reaction to these changing situations. In considering the global COVID-19 pandemic, the leadership behaviours required, and experienced, may be different to anything encountered before. The effect of leadership in this situation is profound and will have a lasting impact. Displaying command behaviours may be necessary but uncomfortable, while teams may not be used to being directed with minimal consultation. Sustained pressure may have a negative effect, but it does not follow that leadership behaviours slide into being disrespectful or non-inclusive—it is about the leaders focusing on the task and ensuring individuals and teams are clearly instructed on the part they have to play; consulted where possible and informed of when and when they need to do as instructed.

However, knowing about ‘how we are’ is only part of the picture, equally important is understanding the effect we have on other. Goleman 21 found that the one of the biggest mistakes leaders make was to default to a style of personal choice rather than responding with the most appropriate in the situation, while Blanchard 22 suggests that 54% of leaders only ever apply one preferred leadership style regardless of the situation. The result is that almost half of the time, leaders are using the wrong style to meet their current objective or lead the people around them well.

The danger here is trying to be the most popular leader and everyone’s favourite, rather than developing an authentic repertoire of skills. If you have never considered your leadership style or the types of leadership behaviours you have there are a number of tools to help such as the National health Service Healthcare Leadership Model. Based on research of the behaviours of effective leaders, Storey and Holti 23 defined nine domains (Inspiring shared purpose: leading with care: evaluating information: connecting our service: sharing the vision: engaging the team: holding to account: developing capability and influencing for results) against which can leaders can self assess and gain pointers on how to strengthen their style.

Relevance for the work environment

Research by KornFerry Hay Group 24 shows an up to 70% of variance in climate and an up to 30% increase business performance can be directly attributable to the climate leaders create through their style of leadership. This includes feeling included, supported and having a role that is meaningful. To help leaders create a positive climate, Goleman 21 defined six leadership styles—see table 2 —which he then correlated with the type of climate each created for those around them. Those able to deploy the styles in the left column have been shown to create high performing teams in positive climates.

Leadership Styles and the climate they support (adapted from Goleman 21 )

These are not the only leadership styles: others include Autocratic leadership where leaders/managers make the decisions and employees follow orders as previously stated; laissez-faire leadership where the manager empowers employees but gives them few rules to follow with little oversight or direction: bureaucratic leadership where hierarchies and job titles to determine responsibilities and rules and servant leadership which focuses on the needs of employees, seeing them as the organisation’s most important resources and often treating them as clients, but only the six here were included by Goleman.

The effects of the leadership styles displayed and the effects they have on the climate within organisations has far reaching impact for team members. The ability to flex your leadership style and create a positive climate has been shown to create greater job satisfaction and pride in work, greater collaboration and creativity. Having an awareness of the effects of personal style, is therefore an essential part of a leaders toolkit and something every leader should have awareness of

In practice

Delivering health and care is highly complex and effective leadership calls for a match of style and approach to context and presenting challenge. Leadership styles is not a neat category of things, the increasingly interconnected world with ever-evolving technology has dictated a need for leaders who can adapt effortlessly as the situation dictates. Daniel Goleman 21 likens leading to being a golfer—one game but choosing the right club, at the right moment, for the next shot. Lets think about what this could look like: again, thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic the deteriorating clinical condition requires a leader who draws on all their experience, interprets the situation, takes control and ‘tells’ in order to get the best outcome for the patient—transactional and it’s wholly appropriate. At other times, that same leader will need to take time to build relationships and coach others in order to give the best care possible.

We all have a natural tendency towards our preferred style and when under pressure, there is evidence that we ‘revert to type’, relying on the most comfortable part of our personality to see us though. Unfortunately this means using fewer of the leadership skills that usually provide balance. Skilful, mature leadership is about leading ourselves as much as leading others. This level of understanding our style helps us recognise triggers that support adopting the right style for the given situation.

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Different situations require different leadership style and each style can be considered a tool in itself. How we lead needs to be a combination of concern for the task in hand and also the people undertaking it, as both individuals and collectively as teams. We have looked briefly at small number of the plethora theories and styles that can help us understand how we lead. Leaders who understand themselves and can move effortlessly between a range of styles in response to changing situations have been found to have more positive outcomes for their teams and patients.

• Stogdill RM
• Lippitt R ,
• Carlyle T ,
• Tannenbaum R ,
• Blanchard K
• Thompson G ,
• Wheatley M ,
• KornFerry Hay Group
• Newstrom JW ,
• Griffin MA ,

Twitter @clarepricedowd

Contributors CFJP-D completed all part of this paper:

Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests None declared.

Patient consent for publication Not required.

Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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How to Lead: 6 Leadership Styles and Frameworks

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

Aaron Johnson is a fact checker and expert on qualitative research design and methodology. 

Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic)

Participative leadership (democratic).

• Delegative Leadership (Laissez-Faire)

Transformational Leadership

Transactional leadership, situational leadership.

Leadership styles are classifications of how a person behaves while directing, motivating, guiding, and managing groups of people. There are many leadership styles. Some of the most widely discussed include: authoritarian (autocratic), participative (democratic), delegative (laissez-faire), transformational, transactional, and situational.

Great leaders can inspire political movements and social change. They can also motivate others to perform, create, and innovate. As you start to consider some of the people who you think of as great leaders , you can immediately see that there are often vast differences in how each person leads.

Fortunately, researchers have developed different theories and frameworks that allow us to better identify and understand these different leadership styles.

Lewin's Leadership Styles

In 1939, a group of researchers led by psychologist Kurt Lewin set out to identify different styles of leadership.   While further research has identified more distinct types of leadership, this early study was very influential and established three major leadership styles that have provided a springboard for more defined leadership theories.

In Lewin's study, schoolchildren were assigned to one of three groups with an authoritarian, democratic, or laissez-faire leader. The children were then led in an arts and crafts project while researchers observed the behavior of children in response to the different styles of leadership. The researchers found that democratic leadership tended to be the most effective at inspiring followers to perform well.

What Kind of Leader Are You? Take the Quiz

If you're curious about your leadership style, this fast and free leadership quiz can help you determine what kind of leader you are:

Authoritarian leaders, also known as autocratic leaders, provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. This style of leadership is strongly focused on both command by the leader and control of the followers. There is also a clear division between the leader and the members. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently, with little or no input from the rest of the group.

Researchers found that decision-making was less creative under authoritarian leadership.   Lewin also concluded that it is harder to move from an authoritarian style to a democratic style than vice versa. Abuse of this method is usually viewed as controlling, bossy, and dictatorial.

Mental Health in the Workplace Webinar

On May 19, 2022, Verywell Mind hosted a virtual Mental Health in the Workplace webinar, hosted by Amy Morin, LCSW. If you missed it, check out  this recap  to learn ways to foster supportive work environments and helpful strategies to improve your well-being on the job.

Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decision-making or where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group. The autocratic approach can be a good one when the situation calls for rapid decisions and decisive actions. However, it tends to create dysfunctional and even hostile environments, often pitting followers against the domineering leader.

Lewin’s study found that participative leadership, also known as democratic leadership, is typically the most effective leadership style. Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and allow input from other group members. In Lewin’s study, children in this group were less productive than the members of the authoritarian group, but their contributions were of a higher quality.

Participative leaders encourage group members to participate, but retain the final say in the decision-making process. Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative. Democratic leaders tend to make followers feel like they are an important part of the team, which helps foster commitment to the goals of the group.

Delegative Leadership (Laissez-Faire)

Lewin found that children under delegative leadership, also known as laissez-faire leadership, were the least productive of all three groups. The children in this group also made more demands on the leader, showed little cooperation, and were unable to work independently.

Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave the decision-making up to group members. While this style can be useful in situations involving highly qualified experts, it often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation.

Lewin noted that laissez-faire leadership tended to result in groups that lacked direction and members who blamed each other for mistakes, refused to accept personal responsibility, made less progress, and produced less work.

Observations About Lewin's Leadership Styles

In their book,  The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications , Bass and Bass note that authoritarian leadership is often presented solely in negative, often disapproving, terms. Authoritarian leaders are often described as controlling and close-minded, yet this overlooks the potential positives of stressing rules, expecting obedience, and taking responsibility.

While authoritarian leadership certainly is not the best choice for every situation, it can be effective and beneficial in cases where followers need a great deal of direction and where rules and standards must be followed to the letter. Another often overlooked benefit of the authoritarian style is the ability to maintain a sense of order.

Bass and Bass note that democratic leadership tends to be centered on the followers and is an effective approach when trying to maintain relationships with others. People who work under such leaders tend to get along well, support one another, and consult other members of the group when making decisions.

Additional Leadership Styles and Models

In addition to the three styles identified by Lewin and his colleagues, researchers have described numerous other characteristic patterns of leadership. A few of the best-known include:

Transformational leadership is often identified as the single most effective style. This style was first described during the late 1970s and later expanded upon by researcher Bernard M. Bass. Transformational leaders are able to motivate and inspire followers and to direct positive changes in groups.

These leaders tend to be emotionally intelligent , energetic, and passionate. They are not only committed to helping the organization achieve its goals, but also to helping group members fulfill their potential.

Research shows that this style of leadership results in higher performance and more improved group satisfaction than other leadership styles. One study also found that transformational leadership led to improved well-being among group members.

The transactional leadership style views the leader-follower relationship as a transaction. By accepting a position as a member of the group, the individual has agreed to obey the leader. In most situations, this involves the employer-employee relationship, and the transaction focuses on the follower completing required tasks in exchange for monetary compensation.

One of the main advantages of this leadership style is that it creates clearly defined roles. People know what they are required to do and what they will be receiving in exchange. This style allows leaders to offer a great deal of supervision and direction, if needed.

Group members may also be motivated to perform well to receive rewards. One of the biggest downsides is that the transactional style tends to stifle creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Situational theories of leadership stress the significant influence of the environment and the situation on leadership. Hersey and Blanchard's leadership styles is one of the best-known situational theories. First published in 1969, this model describes four primary styles of leadership, including:

• Telling : Telling people what to do
• Selling : Convincing followers to buy into their ideas and messages
• Participating : Allowing group members to take a more active role in the decision-making process
• Delegating : Taking a hands-off approach to leadership and allowing group members to make the majority of decisions

Later, Blanchard expanded upon the original Hersey and Blanchard model to emphasize how the developmental and skill level of learners influences the style that should be used by leaders. Blanchard's SLII leadership styles model also described four different leading styles:

• Directing : Giving orders and expecting obedience, but offering little guidance and assistance
• Coaching : Giving lots of orders, but also lots of support
• Supporting : Offering plenty of help, but very little direction
• Delegating : Offering little direction or support

Lewin K, Lippitt R, White K. Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created “social climates” . J Soc Psychol. 1939;10(2):271-301.

Bass BM.   The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications . 4th Ed. Simon & Schuster; 2009.

Choi SL, Goh CF, Adam MB, Tan OK. Transformational leadership, empowerment, and job satisfaction: The mediating role of employee empowerment . Hum Resour Health. 2016;14(1):73. doi:10.1186/s12960-016-0171-2

Nielsen K, Daniels K. Does shared and differentiated transformational leadership predict followers’ working conditions and well-being? The Leadership Quarterly . 2012;23(3):383-397. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.09.001

Hussain S, Abbas J, Lei S, Haider MJ, Akram T. Transactional leadership and organizational creativity: Examining the mediating role of knowledge sharing behavior . Cogent Bus Manag. 2017;4(1). doi:10.1080/23311975.2017.1361663

Kark R, Van Dijk D, Vashdi DR. Motivated or demotivated to be creative: The role of self-regulatory focus in transformational and transactional leadership processes . Applied Psychology . 2017;67(1):186-224. doi:10.1111/apps.12122

Hersey P, Blanchard KH. Life cycle theory of leadership . Training and Development Journal . 1969;23(5).

Blanchard KH, Zigarmi P, Drea Zigarmi.   Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership . William Morrow, An Imprint Of HarperCollins; 2013.

Hersey P, Blanchard KH. Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources . Prentice Hall, 1969.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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6 Common Leadership Styles - and How to Decide Which to Use When

By: Rebecca Knight

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

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Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Apr 9, 2024

Discipline:

General Management

Harvard Business Review Digital Article

H085MC-PDF-ENG

1559 word count

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• How to Structure a Leadership Essay (Samples to Consider)

Leadership is a complex concept, but it’s essential for boosting your career. That’s why a leadership essay focuses on applying the theoretical models and concepts of successful management to real-life situations. 

If you don’t know where to start writing such a paper, please read on for professional tips!

What Is Leadership Essay?

A leadership essay is a paper that analyzes leadership concepts and their application to real-life situations that may involve everyday business management, crisis situations, and other scenarios. 

Every essay on leadership is about defining a concept. Then, it’s either comparing it to similar management tools or proving that it’s useful (or not).

While some students enjoy writing such papers, other learners hate them. The below samples will come in handy, no matter which group is yours.

What Does Leadership Mean to You? (Essay Sample)

It is one of the most popular topics for a leadership essay. If you need to write a paper like that, ask yourself:

• Who is a good leader?  
• What style do they use?  
• What are the situations when they might switch styles?

You may take a more personal approach to such an essay if your professor allows you to. In the example below, you will see the academic approach to this topic. It analyzes three leadership styles to discover which one corresponds to the meaning of leadership if one thinks of it as guidance and support.

Why I Want to Participate in a Leadership Program (Essay Sample)

It’s another example of a popular topic. Such papers often have a meaning beyond the classroom since they may decide whether you plan to participate in a specific program. It’s critical to make them as effective and compelling as possible.

A personalized approach is the best when it comes to essays like this. In the example below, you will see the paper that relies on individual beliefs and a personal life story to explain why it’s so important for the specific student to participate in the chosen program.

How to Write a Leadership Essay

Like every other essay, this paper has an introduction, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion summarizing your thoughts. (1) The most important part of the introduction is the final sentence,  aka  a thesis statement. That’s where you state your claim to prove or develop in your leadership essay.

Each body paragraph should correspond to the purpose of your essay. To ensure you don’t stray from the aim you’ve established in the thesis statement, write the topic sentences for all your paragraphs in the outline . In simple words, write the first sentence of every paragraph to define its development in advance and see if you cover everything you need.

And now, to the conclusion:

Its most essential element is thesis restatement or the first sentence of that paragraph. It’s not just paraphrasing your thesis; it’s also considering the new information you’ve discovered while writing the essay.

Structure :

• Introduction (End it with a thesis statement.)
• Body paragraphs (Each one starts with a topic sentence.)
• Conclusion (Start it with a thesis restatement.)

Understand the purpose of a leadership essay

When starting to write, think about why you’re creating this paper. Before you sit down and type the words, think about the ideas you want to convey and their meaning in your life:

Can this essay teach you to take responsibility? Or maybe will it help you understand how to be a leader in crisis situations? When you’ve answered the “why” question, begin outlining.

Build a strong thesis

Always start with your thesis statement. It will help incorporate your answer to that notorious “why” question into your essay. Once done, you can plan out the rest of the paper and start working on the body paragraphs as soon as you finish the introduction.

There’s another important tip —don’t rush into writing the conclusion before you finish everything else!

It might seem like a good idea to create a thesis statement and thesis restatement right off the bat. However, you’ll find yourself with more refreshing ideas after completing all the research and thinking necessary for the introduction and each body paragraph.

Decide on a structure; format accordingly

Even if your essay about leadership seems not so formal, and you can use personal pronouns, you still need a clear structure.

The best way to write any academic paper is to keep your introduction and conclusion as short as possible. (But no shorter than three sentences and four lines of text). 

Another important tip is to try making all your body paragraphs equal in length. That way, you’ll give the same attention to all the vital points of your essay.

Ready to Write Your Essay on Leadership Now?

Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the most critical elements of a leadership essay. 

Remember the structure, grammar, and appropriate academic style to create a top-level paper. Please don’t forget to answer the “why” question and remember  why  you’re writing. Then you’ll impress everyone with your results!

References:

• https://lsa.umich.edu/onsf/news-events/all-news/directors-blog/writing-leadership-essays.html
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• Essay writing
• Writing tips

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Leadership Essay

27 August, 2020

12 minutes read

Author:  Richard Pircher

As a college student, you must write essays on a regular basis since the latter is one of the most common types of home assignments. All this means is that in order to get good grades and be successful with writing the papers, you need to have a sound understanding of the structure. Additionally, what you should never neglect is the variety of essay types. Indeed, your essay will significantly differ from one type to another: description essay will most likely have a structure that is slightly different from an argumentative one.

What you may have already encountered in your academic life is the work on a leadership essay. Although it sounds pretty complicated and vague, it is mostly possible to master an essay on leadership. Below is a guide for you to get an insight into this particular essay type.

What is a good leadership essay?

A good leadership essay is the one in which the essay writer has fully covered the topic of leadership and understood its core ideas. More specifically, to end up with a flawless leadership essay, you will need to indicate what makes a person a good leader. For achieving the latter, you will most likely need to conduct research and trace how a particular person reaches his or her goals. In other words, the task is to discover which actions the person undertakes, what their followers say about him or her, and how the person organizes the work. So, a leadership essay implies providing real-life success examples and further revealing them.

Above all, a good leadership essay is the one that follows a precise, clear, comprehensive structure. Structuring your essay about leadership in the most coherent way leads to a win-win situation: you have fewer troubles and barriers to writing a brilliant essay, and your teacher is able to comprehend the essay easily. This guide is what you will need to refer to to get an insight into how the flawless structure for a leadership essay looks like and how it will let you take a benefit.

How to write a Leadership essay?

To write a leadership essay that stands out, you first need to brainstorm all the ideas that you have and come up with a topic for your essay. If you are struggling with this step, you may think of some of the most influential people, read about them, and find out what makes them unique. Or, you can pick any topic which is mentioned at the end of this article. After you have chosen an issue, it is time to structure your essay appropriately.

As you already know, an essay constitutes three essential sections: introduction, main body, and conclusion. Below is the more detailed description of each of the parts.

Introduction

Of course, your leadership essay introduction will always vary depending on the topic of the essay. However, you can always begin by stating your vision of leadership regardless of the topic. Additionally, to motivate the reader and instantly catch his or her attention, you may use a quote of a famous leader, or simply a quote which you find relevant to the topic. Be aware that you should avoid outlining the essence and the role of the leadership in your introduction; leave it for the body paragraphs.

What you may also do in your leadership essay is ask a question, which will most likely intrigue the leader. Or it will at least give your reader an overview of what you will dwell on  in your essay.

Body Paragraphs

You will need to divide the main body into 3-5 paragraphs to make the structure more comprehensive. What you have to do at this point  is  give your reader a sound understanding of your ideas. Therefore, try to fit each idea in a single body paragraph so that you do not confuse your reader. Do not hesitate to indicate your examples to strengthen your arguments. For instance, you may explain a fact that makes a particular person you are writing about a real leader.

Also, always stick to your thesis statement and don’t forget that the body paragraphs should reveal the parts of your thesis statement.

As you may already know, you need to restate your opinion and briefly summarize all the points from the main body in conclusion. For instance, if you wrote your essay on qualities of an effective leader, state the most fundamental qualities and indicate why they matter the most. Besides, try not to copy what you have already written in the body – it is better to restate your opinion using different words. And, of course, beware adding any new and extra information; indicate only those points that you have already outlined in the text. Finally, keep in mind that it is always favorable to keep your concluding remarks short.

Leadership Essay Examples

Writing a leadership essay requires some research and time. In case you feel the necessity to go through an essay example, below is a leadership essay sample you can refer to.

Is leadership an inborn or an acquired feature?

Is everyone capable of becoming a leader, or is this ability innate? A lot of researchers have been struggling to answer this question. One assumption about leadership implies that the leader is the person who possesses particular characteristics. Another assumption claims that leaders are capable of acquiring specific features over their life span. As the evidence shows, leaders own many features that distinguish them among others and make more and more people become their followers. These might be cognitive abilities, psychological traits, professional qualities, and a lot more, and all of them will be either acquired or innate. Based on the importance of leadership qualities, such as commitment, stress resistance, and the ability to make quality decisions, it is reasonable to claim that leaders are made, not born. 

One can deem commitment as one of the top fundamental qualities of the leader. In essence, such a feature indicates that a person is passionate about the common goal, strives to be a team player, and makes every effort to reach a shared goal. As the history shows, none of the successful companies was uncoordinated by an influential, committed leader: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft – all of these companies are examples of dominant teams led by a dedicated leader. A committed leader also inspires his or her team to achieve common goals and put more effort into the shared activity. Besides, commitment is unlikely to be an innate feature; it instead comes with experience. This is so, since commitment implies dedicating oneself to the shared task, and one can reach it only via learning and continuous self-improvement.

Stress resistance is another incredibly important feature that every good leader should possess. This is because only a stress-resistant leader has sufficient capabilities to overcome any complexity and not let the anxiety and stress prevent him or her from making proper decisions. Besides, such a leader will most likely have a positive influence on the team, as long as leading by example will motivate the team members to attain the same emotional stability. What is so far familiar about stress resistance as an effective leader’s feature is that it can be either innate or attained. However, although some researchers admit that emotional stability is something one is born with, it is not entirely true; many people still put a great effort into self-improvement, changing the attitude to unfortunate situations, and so on. Therefore, being resistant to stress can be mostly attributed to a personality.

An ability to make high-quality decisions most likely determines the chances for an enterprise’s success. In particular, such quality is incredibly fundamental for a company of any size and professional orientation. Additionally, it is one of the top tasks of a good leader to make final decisions. What he or she should do implies brainstorming, discussing various opinions in the group, making forecasts, analyzing all the pros and cons. However, the leader is the one to make a final decision. Thereby, he is in charge of researching the market, discovering all the hidden truths, and analyzing the organization’s potential and capabilities to result in the most effective decision. As it flows logically from the latter, an ability to make sound quality decisions is purely a professional quality. This leads to the conclusion that one has to work hard to become a genuine leader and master the skill of making effective decisions. 

Overall, the leader may possess a multitude of different skills and master them perfectly. However, what has so far become transparent is that any leader, regardless of which team he leads, must possess three essential qualities. These qualities are commitment to the common goal, ability to handle and resist stress, and, finally, an ability to make effective decisions. All of the three qualities are most likely to be acquired over a lifetime. The statement below leads to the conclusion that even though some qualities can be innate, most are not the ones that leaders are born with. Hence, this answers an essential question: leadership feature is acquired, and not necessarily inborn.  

20 leadership essay topics

When coming up with your next leadership essay topic, it is imperative to brainstorm ideas and think of what leadership might be related to. If you are struggling with a topic of the importance of leadership essay or any relevant type of essay, you may quickly take a look at some of the possible topics we prepared for you:

• What are the main qualities of the leader?
• Successful Time Management as a feature of an effective leader
• The role that rhetoric plays in leadership
• The most exceptional leader in the history of the 20-th century
• The role of female leadership
• What are the challenges of the leader of the 21-st century?
• How college helps students develop leadership skills?
• Qualities of the leader that motivate people to follow them 
• Top things to avoid doing to become a team leader
• Examples of effective and ineffective leadership in the history
• Top techniques for developing leadership skills
• The interconnection of creativity and leadership 
• Is a university’s role fundamental in developing leadership skills?
• Dictatorship as an anti-example of leadership
• Liberal vs Authoritative leadership: which one works better?
• The influence of the leader’s role model on the followers’ mindset
• Main difficulties that the new leader may face in a new team
• Leadership of today vs leadership of the past: what has changed?
• Reasons why I want to become a member if the leadership program
• The role of cognitive abilities for the leader 

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• About the author

Learn about Resonant Leadership, Emotional Intelligence the six leadership styles and how to practically switch between the styles  to become a more effective , flexible and impactful leader!

12 Common Leadership Styles and How to Find Your Own

There are many leadership styles to choose from, and we will take you through twelve of the most common leadership styles and help you find which leadership styles to use and which leadership styles you should absolutely avoid. I have used all my experience as a CEO and a wealth of theoretical knowledge to select these leadership styles. Make sure you pick your leadership styles wisely and on purpose, and do not simply use the leadership styles that come naturally to you without consideration. I will show you how to do this in this article.

What is a leadership style?

A leadership style is a process by which a leader seeks the participation of followers to reach the goals of their organization. Different leadership styles fit different situations, purposes, and people, meaning that great leaders switch between multiple leadership styles.

• Try our Lewin leadership styles test (new tab) to see if you are an autocratic, democratic, or laissez-faire leader.

Which are the 12 Common Leadership styles?

These are the 12 common leadership styles:

• Democratic Leadership Style
• Laissez faire Leadership Style
• Autocratic Leadership Style
• Servant Leadership Style
• Visionary Leadership Style
• Transformational Leadership Style
• Transactional Leadership Style
• Coaching Leadership Style
• Pacesetting Leadership Style
• Bureaucratic Leadership Style
• Affiliative Leadership Style
• Charismatic Leadership Style

Each of these leadership styles will be explained further, together with their advantages and disadvantages, together with links for further reading in this article and a thorough guide to help you decide which leadership styles you should use.

1. Democratic Leadership Style

We have reached one of the most popular, engaging, and effective leadership styles. If you consider yourself a leader, you must learn and master the democratic leadership style to a level where you can enjoy its advantages while limiting and controlling its disadvantages. Sadly, a lot of autocratic leaders are unlikely to be open-minded enough to make it work.

What is the Democratic Leadership Style?

Democratic leadership builds on empowering team members to participate in decision-making, with a strive toward consensus. The engaging climate welcomes everyone’s opinions, leading to robust solutions. However, the democratic leader still has the final say in any decisions. This style is sometimes slow but generally very effective.

The Democratic Leadership style was introduced in the 1930s as one of the three leadership behaviors used in the Kurt Lewin experiments in 1938. The Lewin model assumes a leader has one of the three behaviors, and there is no push for leaders to switch styles depending on circumstances. (One of the primary reasons I dislike the Lewin models. Learn more here: Criticism of the Lewin Leadership Styles .) Democratic leadership is so good and useful that it is also included in several modern leadership frameworks, such as  the Goleman leadership styles . The Goleman version is defined as a situational style to be used with five other styles. The democratic leadership style is also called participative leadership, and it resembles the Team Leadership Style from the  Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid  and the participative leadership style of the  Situational Leadership Model  even more. Last but not least, the participative leadership style of House’s Path-Goal theory is very similar to the democratic leadership style as well.

Here is our video on the democratic leadership style:

Advantages of the Democratic Leadership Style:

• Creativity and innovation are encouraged
• Collaboration creates solid solutions for complex problems
• Employee engagement is high
• Common goals lead to high accountability

Disadvantages of the Democratic Leadership Style:

• Collaborative decision-making is time-consuming
• Productivity can temporarily decline when awaiting decisions
• It does not work well in low skilled, inexperienced teams

If you are serious about taking your leadership to the next level and boosting your career, check out the  democratic leadership course  I have created for you, it is loaded with tips and tricks that I use in my job as a CEO. You can also learn more about the mechanisms and success factors of this leadership style in our complete  Democratic Leadership style  article or some subtopics here: Examples of Democratic Leadership and How can Democratic Leadership be Effective . Try our Lewin leadership styles test (new tab) to see if you are an autocratic, democratic, or laissez-faire leader.

2. Laissez faire Leadership Style

Sometimes a leader needs to back off a bit and let employees handle things on their own. That is not laissez-faire; that is just empowering others. Just because you avoid micromanaging, it does not mean you are a laissez-faire leader. Do avoid the laissez-faire leadership style and bear in mind that it is sometimes referred to as “the absence of leadership”.

What is the Laissez-Faire Leadership Style?

Laissez-faire leadership is a hands-off leadership style where team members are free to make all decisions. Laissez-faire leadership leads to low productivity and a perception of a disengaged leader. Laissez-faire leadership can work with highly-skilled, capable, and self-motivated teams.

Laissez-Faire is the opposite of autocratic leadership and was also part of the Kurt Lewin leadership styles , just like the autocratic leadership style. Furthermore, it is part of the Full Range Leadership Model together with transformational and transactional leadership. Laissez-faire leadership is also known as hands-off leadership, free-rein leadership, the absence of leadership, or simply zero leadership.

Advantages of the Laissez-Faire Leadership Style:

• A highly skilled and experienced team can do great when making all the decisions themselves
• Team members get an abundance of creative freedom

Disadvantages of the Laissez-Faire Leadership Style:

• Teams lacking the right maturity level can quickly fall apart
• The leader is seen as uncaring or absent, leading to lower engagement and motivation
• It can lead to confusion and often to drops in productivity

Do not use the laissez-faire leadership style! What is the purpose of a leader who doesn’t lead? Even at times when the leader needs to back off, there are alternate ways of leading that can provide good impact, such as the coaching or visionary leadership style, to name two examples. I have experienced a laissez-faire boss, and he completely lacked inspiration and could neither coach me nor provide me with an overarching purpose. Purpose and inspiration could have propelled my performance and career further.

More information describing this style, how to recognize laissez-faire leaders and why you must avoid it is available in our article on  the Laissez-Faire Leadership style . Try our Lewin leadership styles test (new tab) to see if you are an autocratic, democratic, or laissez-faire leader.

3. Autocratic Leadership Style

The autocratic leader is sadly too common even these days. The Autocratic leader is the typical despotic “Boss” who has the “My way or the highway” approach. Unfortunately, the internet is flooded with articles making this style sound like a legitimate choice when nothing could be further from the truth. Good leaders are not autocratic leaders.

Autocratic leadership is when the leader holds all the decision power and rarely consults others. Autocratic leadership is unpopular, has many disadvantages, and leads to low engagement and sometimes to a toxic environment. Autocratic leadership is useful in a crisis when control and fast decisions are crucial.

Autocratic leaders have been around for a long time in the shape of tyrants, dictators, monarchs, etc. Still, the Autocratic Leadership Style, or rather leadership behavior, is first mentioned by Kurt Lewin et al. in their 1938 leadership experiment . The autocratic style is not defined as interchangeable, i.e., a leader is either an autocratic leader, a democratic leader, or a laissez-faire leader, with no switching, no situation dependency. It is simply the personality of the leader, a behavioural leadership style .

Advantages of the Autocratic Leadership Style:

• High clarity on structure, roles, and expectations
• Quick decision making and improved crisis handling, with the  right  autocratic leader, that is
• Can lead to increased productivity in low-skilled environments, at least temporarily

Disadvantages of the Autocratic Leadership Style:

• There is a lack of empowerment in the team, which leads to low engagement and accountability
• Too strong dependency on the leader; after all, if only the leader can make decisions, not much happens without the leader’s involvement
• Intimidation, punishment, or threats are common ways of ensuring obedience. This is, of course, not sustainable and can lead to a toxic work climate

Although the autocratic leadership style is generally disliked, it has a place, and that’s in times of crisis when difficult decisions need to be taken fast; but then it is actually referred to as the commanding leadership style , which is a modernized and better version. The autocratic leadership style can also be useful in organizations where motivation is lacking; the autocratic leader can push through for results anyway. Studies have found that specific types of personalities prefer being led by an autocratic leader, which I have experienced personally several times in my role as a CEO.

Do not become an autocratic leader! There are lots of reasons why you should absolutely avoid being an autocratic leader, so be very careful with this one, even if it is the typically strong and powerful leader we often see in movies.

For a full and more complete description of the autocratic leadership style, how to recognize it in others, and why you simply must avoid it, click here: Autocratic Leadership Style . (Try our Lewin leadership styles test (new tab) to see if you are an autocratic, democratic, or laissez-faire leader.) You can also learn of Produce-or-perish leadership, also called Authority Obedience Leadership which is the version of autocratic leadership in the Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid .

4. Servant Leadership Style

The well-known Servant leadership style sticks out from the rest of the styles in this list. Despite being relatively modern, it does not build on a situational approach involving the switching between leadership styles, but instead stays with a strict focus on servant leadership in a framework separate from all others.

What is the Servant Leadership Style?

Servant Leadership focuses on improving people, society, and organizations. In Servant Leadership, the leader serves others, which leads to strong ethics, and engaged, motivated employees. However, a Servant leader with too much focus on serving others can lose track of organizational goals and purpose.

The Servant leadership style was first defined in 1970 by Robert K. Greenleaf in an essay where he outlined that there were two types of leaders: Servant-First and Leader-First. The first type focuses on the success of others, and the second type cares more about themselves and their personal success. Servant leadership stands out and is difficult to compare with the other styles, but transformational leadership comes the closest in my mind.

Advantages of the Servant Leadership Style:

• Participation and a common cause lead to high engagement
• Strong ethical behavior

Disadvantages of the Servant Leadership Style:

• It does not work for all companies and organizations since an overarching cause is at the core of servant leadership
• True servant leaders are challenging to find since they need to have a complete lack of ego
• Business and organizational goals might be lost in the struggle for the long-term cause

In my experience, many people who see themselves as Servant Leaders, aren’t really servant leaders. I personally think you are better off with a situational leadership model such as the Goleman styles combined with some strong ethical leadership . Don’t become an additional example of a leader who misunderstands the servant leadership concept. Read more about this style and what it really entails in our article on  the Servant Leadership style .

Here is our video on the Servant Leadership Style:

5. Visionary Leadership Style

The Visionary leadership style is one of the best leadership styles available today, also proven by research. I incorporate Visionary leadership in my job as a CEO as often as I can, and the benefits are extraordinary when done right. (Get inspired by my article on The importance of Visionary Leadership .)

What is the Visionary Leadership Style?

Visionary Leadership is when a leader inspires others to pursue a long-term vision. The Visionary Leadership style builds on participation, communication, and goal setting. A visionary leader risks tunnel vision and losing short-term focus since all efforts are focused on the long-term results.

The Visionary Leadership style is also known as the authoritative leadership style and is one of  the six leadership styles introduced by Daniel Goleman  in 2000. (Join our newsletter and get some of my secret tips for each of the Goleman leadership styles.) It has substantial similarities with transformational leadership and some similarities with charismatic and servant leadership. Furthermore, visionary leadership was found to have the most substantial positive impact on organizational climate in Goleman’s research.

Here is our video on the visionary leadership style:

Advantages of the Visionary Leadership Style:

• A clear vision creates motivation, inspiration, and unity among team members
• Innovation and creativity thrive under visionary leadership
• Strong awareness of change drivers in the surrounding world increases the chance of successful adaption by the organization

Disadvantages of the Visionary Leadership Style:

• The strong emphasis on the long-term can lead to overlooking short-term and operational matters
• If the vision becomes too intertwined with the personality of the leader, it can turn into charismatic leadership, which has substantial adverse effects

Take the opportunity to learn more about this great style in our in-depth article, which teaches you how to create a compelling vision and how to communicate it properly to your organization and stakeholders:  the Visionary Leadership style .

6. Transformational Leadership Style

Transformational leadership is one of the most well-known and popular leadership styles available, for good reasons, I might add, and many articles have been written on the subject.

What is the Transformational Leadership Style?

Transformational leadership creates substantial change for team members as well as organizations. Expectations, aspirations, perceptions, and values are transformed into something better. Transformational leadership develops team members and motivates and inspires them to reach extraordinary success. (Many similarities with the aforementioned Visionary Leadership Style. Read a comparison here: Transformational vs. Visionary Leadership .)

Transformational leadership was first defined by James MacGregor Burns in the late 70s as part of Full Range Leadership . Bass and Avolio developed transformational leadership and the Full Range Leadership Model further in subsequent years. The transformational leadership style compares well to a combination of democratic, visionary, and coaching leadership among the  six leadership styles by Goleman . Transformational leadership also has some commonalities with Servant leadership.

Advantages of the Transformational Leadership Style:

• It is excellent for change management and growth
• High transparency and strong communication build participation and engagement
• The shared vision results in inspiration, motivation, and collaboration

Disadvantages of the Transformational Leadership Style:

• Transformational leadership can be very time consuming and long term
• It does not work well without a strong change element or vision
• It can result in too much risk-taking and overlooking short-term requirements

The transformational leadership style is great, and the structured approach enables you to add different elements at a time, depending on the situation and maturity of your team or organization. I have used this approach as a CEO successfully in a major company turnaround, and it really works.

Want to know more? Read our in-depth article, which shows you how to establish transformational leadership and how to become a truly transformational leader ( the complete transformational leadership style article ), or more specific focus articles such as Transformational Leadership Examples or Transformational vs. Servant leadership .

7. Transactional Leadership Style

Transactional leadership can be seen as the more autocratic and less visionary sibling of transformational leadership.

What is the Transactional Leadership Style?

Transactional leadership is built on a clear structure of reward and punishment for different levels of performance. It is focused on results, efficiency, and performance rather than people and relationships. Transactional leadership is often seen as the opposite of transformational leadership.

Transactional leadership is an expansion of the bureaucratic leadership style , and it was conceptualized by Burns together with the transformational leadership style. The two styles were seen as mutually exclusive until Bass and Avolio developed the model further, adding that a leader can use both styles as appropriate while also adding Laissez-Faire to the mix, forming Full Range leadership. Transactional leadership has three different maturity levels or approaches: Active management by exception, passive management by exception, and contingent reward.

Advantages of the Transactional Leadership Style:

• There is a clear connection between performance and rewards
• It can be very productive, especially when it comes to short-term results
• Clear order, structure, and rules, enabling repetition and swift onboarding of new team members

Disadvantages of the Transactional Leadership Style:

• The sole focus on performance can be demotivating and disengaging
• Rewards have a limited impact on peoples performance; at some point, other factors start to matter more
• The strict structure hampers creativity and innovation

If you aspire to become a transformational leader, you need to understand and know when to also apply some transactional leadership and when to avoid it. I have seen some bad implementations of this style during my career as a CEO, but also some good ones, so it does have a place. Read more in our detailed article on this style which shows you how to effectively use transactional leadership:  the transactional leadership style . Some topical reading is also available: Transformational vs. transactional leadership , and Transactional Leadership: Contingent Reward .

8. Coaching Leadership Style

Why would coaching be restricted to the world of sports? All leaders who desire performance should spend some time developing their team members, and the coaching leadership style is perfect for that, making it one of my favorites.

What is the Coaching Leadership Style?

Coaching leadership focuses on improving employees to become better individuals and professionals with the leader as a coach. A Coaching leader can sacrifice initial performance for learning opportunities. Coaching leadership is very effective in the long term but can be difficult and time-consuming.

Here is our video on the Coaching Leadership Style

Coaching Leadership was coined by Daniel Goleman in 2000 and is part of his  six leadership styles based on emotional intelligence . (Join our newsletter and get some of my secret tips for each of the Goleman leadership styles.) There are streaks of coaching leadership within the transformational leadership style, but besides that, it is rather unique among leadership styles.

Advantages of the Coaching Leadership Style:

• It leads to high engagement and low turnover within the team
• It develops people to perform more and better in the future
• Coaching builds empowerment and confidence in people

Disadvantages of the Coaching Leadership Style:

• Coaching is difficult and time-consuming
• Coaching requires commitment from both parties

As a CEO, I have used this style successfully several times over my career. It has helped me to mentor people further down in the organization, growing and developing our management team, as well as getting some of my direct reports enough development to become my peers. Read about some Coaching Leadership Examples and improve your leadership by learning more about how and when to coach in our article on  the coaching leadership style . There is also a coaching leadership style in the Situational Leadership model , although sometimes referred to as selling leadership.

9. Pacesetting Leadership Style

I think many business leaders, including myself, lean toward pacesetting. This is because Pacesetting leadership creates visible results quickly. Achieving results fast can lead to early promotion, resulting in pacesetting leaders moving up in the hierarchy. In all honesty, I think my pacesetting streak really helped me to reach my CEO position.       

What is the Pacesetting Leadership Style?

Pacesetting leadership is when the leader sets an example of high performance, pace, and quality. Team members are expected to follow suit, and the pacesetting leader values result the most. Pacesetting leadership is good for reaching short-term targets but is detrimental to long-term employee engagement.

The pacesetting leadership style is one of the  six leadership styles in the Daniel Goleman model  of 2000. It has a very strong task orientation, with a low focus on people since it is all about getting the job done. Pacesetting is very different from commanding or autocratic leadership since it is about setting a high-performing example for others to follow rather than ordering people around expecting immediate obedience. The Pacesetting leadership style is very similar to the Achievement-Oriented leadership style, which belongs to House’s Path-Goal theory and has similarities with visionary leadership as well. If you are serious about mastering this style, you should check out our offer here: Pacesetting Leadership – A CEO’s Blueprint .

Here is our video on the Pacesetting Leadership Style:

Advantages of the Pacesetting Leadership Style:

• It can substantially increase performance for a limited time
• Short bursts of increased performance build team confidence and commitment, as long as it is not too often

Disadvantages of the Pacesetting Leadership Style:

• Overuse leads to stressed team members with low engagement
• The focus on performance leads to a poor level of people focus, meaning a lack of coaching and development of individuals

Although some pacesetting leadership can do magic, you must not overdo it since it can destroy your team in the long run. As with all leadership styles, it is about applying the right dose and frequency of pacesetting leadership. You can learn more about how to do this properly in our in-depth article on  the Pacesetting Leadership style . (Join our newsletter and get some of my secret tips for each of the Goleman leadership styles.)

10. Bureaucratic Leadership Style

Bureaucratic leadership  was called rational-legal leadership at its inception in the 1920s. Rational principles built on laws, rules, and regulations are the foundation of bureaucracies. In turn, bureaucracies themselves have enabled central governing and larger national agencies, a cornerstone of building society.

What is the Bureaucratic Leadership Style?

Bureaucratic leadership is characterized by rigid rules, high standardization, and stiff division of labor. Bureaucratic leadership works best in organizations where regulations and standards are of great importance. Bureaucratic leadership hampers change, creativity, competition, and development.

Bureaucratic leadership, or as rational-legal leadership as it was called back then, was one of the three types of authority defined by Max Weber in the 1920s, together with traditional leadership and charismatic leadership. Traditional leadership describes monarchs, kings, emperors, and similar leaders with the right to lead through culture, birthright, etc., which tells you how outdated this original model really is.

Advantages of the Bureaucratic Leadership Style:

• Clear definition of roles, expectations, processes, and tasks
• Enables adherence to strict rules, allowing objective judgment
• Drives efficiency through specialization and transaction volume

Disadvantages of the Bureaucratic Leadership Style:

• The reliance on rules limits creativity and innovation
• Slow and poor adaptation to change due to structural rigidness
• Competition and collaboration suffer due to the high specialization and silo structure

Although some elements of bureaucracy are needed in most modern organizations, do not make it your leadership style since that would mean going over the top. A bureaucratic platform in an organization does not mean bureaucratic leadership. Read more in our detailed article:  the Bureaucratic Leadership style .

11. Affiliative Leadership Style

A good leader knows to care about the team members and is not afraid to show it. A confident and strong leader is also ok with sharing feelings and thoughts with others without considering it a display of weakness. A leader who desires an open and trusting dialogue needs to start by being honest and setting the stage for that dialogue.

What is the Affiliative Leadership Style?

Affiliative leadership is completely focused on the people and relationships in an organization. The leader’s primary task is to ensure harmony and friendship in the workplace. This leads to happy employees but can, at the same time, lead to poor performance.

The Affiliative Leadership Style is one of the  six leadership styles by Goleman , which are based on Emotional Intelligence. Overly focusing on Affiliative Leadership compares well to Country Club Leadership , which is worth avoiding since it can lead to becoming best friends with your employees, leading to reduced expectations in the long run. However, the most striking similarities are probably compared to the supportive leadership style of the Path-Goal theory , which focuses on employee well-being, reduction of stress, social satisfaction, etc.

Here is our video on the Affiliative Leadership style:

Advantages of the Affiliative Leadership Style:

• The team feels that the leader genuinely cares about them, which builds loyalty, commitment, and trust
• Positive communication and strong people focus
• Strong bonds between members help in collaboration and crisis handling

Disadvantages of the Affiliative Leadership Style:

• Underperformance might be accepted (Country Club Leadership)
• The focus on harmony can result in avoidance of conflict and critical feedback
• The overall goal might be lost, and the strive for harmony may take over

I have developed my affiliative leadership in my capacity as a CEO, and it became extremely valuable during the pandemic when leading remotely became the norm. (Here are some examples of the Affiliative leadership style in the workplace .) Learn the elements of affiliative leadership and how far you should go with this style in our in-depth article on this style here:  the Affiliative Leadership style .

12. Charismatic Leadership Style

The Charismatic Leadership Style  is not just about being charismatic as a person and a leader. It is  all about charisma  and not much else.

What is the Charismatic Leadership Style?

Charismatic leadership is based on the leader’s personal charisma to a very high degree. Charismatic leadership can be very inspirational and motivational, leading to unity and engagement. Charismatic leaders risk becoming autocratic one-man shows, which can lead to manipulation, bad deeds, and disasters.

Charismatic leadership forms the three types of authority, as defined by Max Weber in the 1930s, together with traditional and bureaucratic leadership.

Advantages of the Charismatic Leadership Style:

• Inspirational and unifying
• Builds strong commitment and purpose among the followers
• Can help deliver a long-term plan, or even a “cause”

Disadvantages of the Charismatic Leadership Style:

• The complete dependency on the personal characteristics of the leader makes succession planning difficult
• Risks becoming a cult where the leader stands above everyone else, perhaps even above society and laws
• The high expectance of obedience limits transparency, creativity, and innovation

Feel free to use your personal charisma. There are many reasons for a leader to do so, but don’t make it your leadership style. Provide vision and purpose through the visionary leadership style instead, and put your charisma to good use in communication, coaching leadership, and affiliative leadership as well.

Read more about the severe limitations and the dark side of charismatic leadership in our subject article:  the Charismatic Leadership style , and compare it with other styles here:

How to pick your leadership styles?

We have now reached the second chapter and will take you through how to pick your leadership styles. We start out with a set of questions to acquaint you with the selection process.

Which leadership style should I use?

You should never choose one single leadership style to rely on as a leader. You should select multiple leadership styles to form a toolbox with different leadership styles for different situations, people, and purposes.

All right, let us rephrase the question, then.

Which leadership styles should I use in my leadership?

You should use different leadership styles depending on the situations you encounter, so consider the typical situations you lead in, your environment, team members, and other circumstances and select different leadership styles capable of addressing those situations and factors.

Which leadership styles fit together?

Many leadership styles are combined frameworks or toolboxes, such as the Goleman leadership styles, the Full Range leadership model, the Lewin leadership styles, and Situational Leadership. These models combine different leadership styles to form toolboxes based on research, theory, and practice.

Why go through a personal selection process when you can use a prepared leadership styles toolbox and adapt and finetune it to meet your personal leadership situation? I will now take you through some of these leadership styles models briefly so you understand what is already readily available.

There are many different collections or subsets of leadership styles. Historically, it started with the nowadays rather irrelevant Great Man Theory , which led to the Trait Theory of leadership underlining which personal characteristics leaders need to have, but not expanding into tools and methodology such as leadership styles. As Behavioral Leadership theories emerged, the actions of the leader came into focus. This includes theories such as the Lewin styles ,  the Ohio State University Leadership Study , the Michigan State Leadership Research , and Blake and Mouton’s Management Grid . These leadership approaches focused on the outcome of a leaders personal behavior, but did not originally include the dimension of a leader actively selecting how to lead for certain reasons. Essentially, it was about how the leader behaved as a person, not about the attitudes and methods the leader chose to use . Some of the models even concretely concluded that a leader cannot change his or her behavior but that “we are who we are”. In the 1960s, this started to come, driven by the contingency theory of leadership that stipulates that a leader should adapt his or her methods and behaviors depending on the circumstances and the intended impact . These theories include  Fiedler’s contingency leadership theory , House’s Path-Goal Theory , and the Vroom and Jago leadership model.

Here is a video on the Fiedler model:

More modern approaches focus on identifying proper leadership styles, defining them, explaining when they should be used, and basically building a full toolbox for leaders to use., as well as the Full Range Leadership Model. These are the great toolboxes we shall focus on and explain to you a bit better. They are the Six Leaderships styles by Goleman, the Full Range Leadership Model (transformational leadership), and the Situational Leadership Model. In order to keep this article brief, you will get an overview introduction, and I do urge you to read the full in-depth articles that I link to for deeper knowledge.

1. Leadership Styles Toolbox 1: The Full Range Leadership Model

The Full Range Leadership Model provides any leader with a good range of leadership styles. In my experience as a CEO, the Full Range Leadership Model is one of the sharpest and most useful leadership styles toolboxes available today. The Full Range Leadership Model, or FRLM, is also backed by substantial research, unlike some other frameworks. Before we go into the explanation of the Full Range Leadership Model, let us present a few overview answers.

The Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) is a complete approach to leadership styles that covers low to high engagement , leading to different leadership efficiency. FRLM was defined by Bass and Avolio, building on works by Burns, and includes laissez-faire, transactional, and transformational leadership.

The three leadership styles lead to different levels of Efficiency and Engagement. Laissez-Faire leadership is the worst, Transactional Leadership leads to medium levels, and Transformational Leadership leads to strong efficiency and high engagement, so there is a concrete layout of this leadership styles toolbox for you to use and grow your leadership following a path.

Remember the three styles, as described earlier in this article:

• The Transactional leadership style is built on a clear structure of reward and punishment for different levels of performance. It is focused on results, efficiency, and performance rather than people and relationships.
• The Transformational leadership style creates substantial change for team members as well as organizations. Transformational leadership is people-focused and develops the team members and motivates and inspires them to reach extraordinary success.

The Full Range Leadership Model is an excellent approach to leadership that I encourage you to learn and use. I personally use the six leadership styles by Daniel Goleman, which I feel lead to a similar impact and has an equally wide approach but builds more on six tools to combine in different proportions, rather than the more sequential approach of the Full Range Leadership Model.

To master Full Range Leadership , you need to learn the three leadership styles and the components they contain. You need to consider your situation and job at hand and decide which component fits the best for the circumstances, the people, and your own capabilities. Constantly revisit this and move up and down the scale in the chart above, making entire leaps when needed. Do keep in mind that you might need to adapt several times a day and consider different parts of your organization. In some transactional environments, such as a warehouse, the full transformational aspects might not always be needed or possible, where more transactional components can apply. At the same time, and in the same company, the research and development department and the marketing department might need advanced transformational leadership to function. Just like a carpenter does not only use a hammer the entire day, you as a leader must learn to use different tools for different areas, jobs, people, and impact.

Please continue to read about the other leadership styles toolboxes before you make up your mind by scrolling further down in this article. If FRLM is the toolbox you select in the end, read more in the following articles here at leadershipahoy.com to learn more about it, with examples, advantages, disadvantages, and my experience of these leadership styles in my CEO career:

• Contingency theory of leadership
• The Full Range Leadership Model, a theoretical explanation
• The Laissez-Faire Leadership Style: Descriptions, pros/cons, examples from a CEO career
• Transformational Leadership Examples
• Contingent Reward, an approach to transactional leadership
• Comparison articles: Transformational leadership vs transactional, Transformational vs visionary leadership , Autocratic vs transformational leadership , Servant vs transformational leadership , Democratic compared to Transformational leadership , charismatic vs transformational leadership .

2. Leadership Styles Toolbox 2: The Six Leadership Styles by Goleman

Now fast forward from the Full Range Leadership Model to the year 2000 and Daniel Goleman’s article in the Harvard Business review describing a set of  six leadership styles . The Goleman leadership styles based on Resonant Leadership and emotional intelligence are my absolute favorites, and I use them every day in my job as a CEO of a multinational company. I actually created a step-by-step democratic leadership course containing all my tips and tricks for those of you who want to implement democratic leadership and improve your career chances through better leadership and improved business results.

Here is a video on Resonant Leadership:

Goleman underlines that leadership style is a strategic choice and instead of finding one style that fits you, you should try to use the optimum leadership style for the situation at hand. The strategic choice would mean  purposely   selecting which style to use  and not being reactive to situations in a spontaneous and emotional way.  Goleman identifies six different leadership styles  using emotional intelligence in different ways and to different degrees. (Join our newsletter and get some of my secret tips for each of the Goleman leadership styles.) As Daniel Goleman puts it himself: “The best leaders don’t know just one style of leadership – they’re skilled at several, and have the flexibility to switch between styles as the circumstances dictate.” 

According to this entire framework, emotional intelligence is one of the first and single most important parts of leadership. To lead, you as a leader must understand the emotional sides of different aspects as well as the emotions of the people you lead. For the team to believe you, understand you, and be willing to follow you, there needs to be some basic rapport and emotional understanding. Emotional Intelligence builds on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Regardless of which leadership styles toolbox you select, you will most definitely improve as a leader by sharpening your emotional intelligence and applying it in a better way.

Once the leader knows how to apply emotional intelligence, resonant leadership should be the target state. Resonant leadership is the ability of a leader to create a positive emotional impact using Emotional Intelligence. Resonant leadership imprints positive and energetic emotions and puts people in emotional synch. Successful implementation of resonant leadership in a team results in emotional comfort, cooperation, idea sharing, and strong emotional bonds that help the team through difficult times.

In short, using your emotional intelligence and the six leadership styles by Goleman results in resonant leadership when done right. The importance and impact of all this have been thoroughly proven by research, and I can attest that it actually works. I have built and nurtured some really strong teams delivering great results and impact while enjoying the work, much thanks to implementing the six leadership styles by Goleman.

The six leadership styles by Daniel Goleman are:

• Commanding leadership style (a.k.a Coercive or Directive)
• Visionary leadership style
• Affiliative leadership style
• Democratic leadership style (a.k.a participative leadership style)
• Pacesetting leadership style
• Coaching leadership style

Remember that the whole concept builds on using as many of these leadership styles as possible depending on the circumstances, such as the situation, people involved, the topic at hand, and other factors. Remember the leadership styles described further above in this article:

• Commanding Leadership Style means that the leader makes all the decisions and gives orders to his or her team. Tight control and follow-up combined with high clarity in rules, roles, and expectations are core parts of this leadership style which can result in micromanagement, stress, and toxic climates.
• The Visionary Leadership Style builds on the big picture and sets a long-term path for the organization. Communicating and marketing the purpose and vision is central.
• The Affiliative Leadership Style focuses on relationships and people. This style leads to trust and harmony in the team but can also reduce performance and accountability.
• The Democratic leadership style is when an empowered team takes full part in the decision-making process, although the leader approves or makes the decision in the end. (Become an expert by taking our democratic leadership course .)
• The Pacesetting leadership style has a complete focus on performance and results. Leading by example is more of a “follow me – let’s overachieve” rather than bullying others to work harder.
• The Coaching leadership style is when the leader coaches team members to develop themselves in the long term to become better individuals and professionals.

I switch between these styles constantly in my leadership. (Join our newsletter and get some of my secret tips for each of the Goleman leadership styles.) I can be commanding in a meeting about a compliance incident in the morning, provide a vision for a strategy workshop by lunch, be affiliative with an employee under pressure during a short phone call, use democratic leadership in the afternoon management team huddle, and pace set our logistics organization before the evening. I did, of course, coach one of the sales managers on a development topic during the day as well.

Here is a video on the entire Goleman leadership styles framework:

Please continue reading about the next Toolbox, but feel free to access our articles related to the Goleman leadership styles here at leadershipahoy.com:

• Commanding Leadership Examples in Business
• The Importance of Visionary Leadership and why we need it
• Visionary vs. transformational leadership
• Affiliative Leadership in Business
• Affiliative Leadership in the Workplace
• Democratic Leadership Examples
• Democratic Leadership Course created by a CEO
• How can Democratic Leadership be Effective?
• Democratic vs. Transformational Leadership
• Coaching Leadership Examples

3. Leadership Styles Toolbox 3: The Situational Leadership Model

The Situational Leadership Model is the third leadership styles toolbox worthy of this list. This model is thought to be the leadership model that is perfect for every situation. A Situational leader works assiduously to create meaningful connections with team members. Ultimately, the team receives leadership with the necessary leadership style to fit the organization’s current situation.

In 1982, Dr. Paul Hersey and Dr. Ken Blanchard published their book “Management of Organizational Behaviour: Utilizing Human Resources”. They probably didn’t realize that this book would help them become world-renowned leadership experts. The central theme of their message was a new approach to leadership, one based on relationship-building and leadership adjustment. This new approach was dubbed the Situational Leadership Model (www.situational.com).

The simplest way to describe situational leadership in general vs. behavioral approaches ( Ohio State Leadership Studies, for example ) to leadership is to think about the daily complexities of a corporate work environment. Managers are dealing with teams filled with people who have diverse needs, skills, and interests. Using a one-size-fits-all approach to leading such a team means that there will be performance issues, dissatisfaction, and tension. In contrast, a manager who adjusts his or her leadership style to suit each team member’s needs and the unique needs of the organization can get teams functioning optimally.  This type of manager is a situational leader, and the Situational Leadership Model is one of several situational approaches to leadership. ( Fiedler’s Contingency Theory  and  the Six Leadership styles based on Emotional Intelligence  are two other situational theories. The links lead to our in-depth articles on those theories.)

The Situational Leadership Model has the following elements or aspects:

• Two Leadership Behaviors: Relationship Behavior and Task Behavior
• Four Leadership Styles: Telling, Selling, Participating, and Delegating Leadership Styles, which consist of different doses of the two leadership behaviors
• Follower readiness or maturity, describing their competency, confidence, and commitment
• Four different situations, S1 to S4, with different characteristics and needs that the leader needs to handle appropriately

Depending on the maturity and readiness of the team, a leadership style is selected.

The four leadership styles of the Situational Leadership Model are:

• The Telling Leadership Style involves high amounts of task behavior and low amounts of relationship behavior, making it similar to the commanding leadership style by Goleman.
• The Selling Leadership Style, with high amounts of task behavior and relationship behavior, has a lot of commonalities with the coaching leadership style.
• The Participating Leadership Style, with low task and high relationship behavior, is very similar to the democratic leadership style by Goleman.
• The Delegating Leadership Style resembles the Visionary leadership style with a low amount of task focus and low amount of relationship behavior

All in all, the leadership styles of the situational leadership model can be seen as a subset of the Goleman six, which also contains pacesetting and affiliative leadership. The situational leadership model does a really good job at defining team maturity and readiness, thereby making leaders’ situational assessments somewhat easier.

Do keep on reading for the next chapter on finding out which leadership styles toolbox fits you the best. Here are also some examples on articles connected to the situational leadership model here at leadershipahoy.com

• The Situational Leadership Model

Which leadership styles toolbox fits you the best?

In order to weigh some differences and pros and cons between these three toolboxes, I created this overview table. I explain the scoring further below.

1. Number of Leadership Styles

The Six Leadership Styles by Goleman obviously has six styles, and the situational leadership model has four styles. The Full Range Leadership Model , however, can be seen as having either three styles, or, if adding the components, eight styles. (Three versions of transactional leadership styles, and four versions of transformational leadership styles, and then adding laissez-faire.)

2. The complexity of the Leadership Styles Toolbox

The more leadership styles you add, the more versatile the model, but the complexity also risks increasing at the same time. Using all eight styles in FRLM means you need to figure out when each of the components is most applicable. However, you can also see it as always striving to reach a new height in components, moving from Laissez-Faire leadership style all the way up to the Idealized Influence component of the transformational leadership style. In my experience, I would not stick to that approach since not all parts of the organization need Idealized Influence, and establishing it would not necessarily be a good return on investment for all the time and resources spent reaching that state. If you are then back to using the different leadership styles of the Full Range Leadership Model at different times in different areas, cherry-picking and using several of them, you need to fully understand which component to use. Realizing if Intellectual Stimulation or Active Management by Exception is the right one is not always as straightforward as you might think.

In this aspect, the Goleman Six are simpler since the names of the leadership styles give you a fast understanding of which one to use when. Although the same applies to the situational leadership model’s four leadership styles, they have a more definite situation of usage, making situational assessment a bit more complex. As your team grows larger and with people of different readiness levels, experience, and maturity, it becomes a bit more difficult to overview the complete situation and which leadership style to use. The simplicity of the Goleman toolbox means that you pick what is needed in your current situation depending on the people involved in it, which makes it more tactical than the situational leadership model, in my experience.

3. Definition of situations for leadership styles selection

The situational leadership model is by far the toolbox putting the most effort into defining actual situations of the three toolboxes. If your team is homogenous enough when it comes to experience and readiness, then the defined situations make it rather easy for the leader to match the appropriate leadership style. The Full Range Leadership Model and it’s very detailed definition of the eight leadership styles also enables close situational matching, but the complexity makes it difficult to use on the fly, tactically, depending on how your week is developing. FRLM and the situational leadership model seem to be more strategic in my mind rather than tactical.

When it comes to the Goleman leadership styles toolbox, the situations are not defined in detail, but if the leader knows what the desired impact is, what the problem is, and what people are involved, picking one leadership style or a mix of a few can be done fast and on the fly. When truly strategic situations emerge, commanding and pacesetting leadership styles are undesirable, and coaching might be too individual, leaving democratic, affiliative, and visionary leadership styles to work with.

4. The scientific approach to the leadership styles

All the models can show plenty of research and wide practical usage of the leadership styles they include, so there are no major differences there.

5. The flexibility of the leadership styles toolbox

If you shoot for the full development of FRLM, meaning you desire an end state of Idealized Influence transformational leadership, you need to work long-term. Quickly switching between states or levels of transactional or transformational leadership can cause confusion and disorganization, meaning that the flexibility becomes a bit lower.

The Situational Leadership model has, in my mind, even lower flexibility since it does not really intend for leaders to switch between styles on a regular basis but rather to develop the maturity of the team in the medium or long term, which of course, is a good thing. Alternating between styles depending on the team member you work with can be tricky, and managing a team with six mature and ready members and two who are new requires a mixed approach.

By learning, practicing, and experiencing success and failure, I have learned that the Goleman six leadership styles are the most flexible approach to leadership, at least for me. The intention of using as many styles as possible means that the leader is not pushed into a corner with few options at hand and different mixes of styles can be used in different situations with powerful results. I use many of the leadership styles every day in my job as a CEO, and I use all of them except the commanding leadership style on a weekly basis. Discussions can be more pacesetting for people who need that in their current situation, less so for ones who need an affiliative approach, and the democratic, visionary, and affiliative leadership styles combined can be used for most meetings and group discussions. Reminding yourself to use all the styles means you look for opportunities to insert coaching leadership as often as you can, remaining at the right level of affiliative, and including others in decisions as required through the use of the democratic leadership style.

All be it that this comparison is subjective to a degree, I prefer using the six leadership styles by Goleman , based on the strong element of Emotional Intelligence (also in FRLM, by the way) and the fact that they have helped me succeed in leading others over the last fifteen years.

Further developing your leadership styles

Regardless of which leadership styles you pick and use, make sure you consider these simple guidelines.

How to become great at leadership styles:

• Use specific leadership styles on purpose, not because of your personality
• Always assess the situation, circumstances, and people involved before
• Never stop developing yourself: Learn the theories inside out, try things, obtain feedback, reflect, and conclude what works and what does not

If you are motivated to become the best leader you can possibly be, regardless of whether you formally are a manager, not a manager, or desire to become one, keep learning. Start out by taking my democratic leadership course , which helps you to facilitate, instill creativity, empower others, create accountability, define joint visions and targets, and build great teams. All this is based on theory as well as years of practical experience in leadership that I have accumulated in various management capacities, including my time as a CEO of a multinational company. Besides taking the democratic leadership course, I suggest the following reading here at leadershipahoy.com.

• Take our democratic leadership course to empower your team with accountability, innovation and strong performance as a result.
• Behavioral leadership theory
• Contingency leadership theory
• Full Range Leadership Model
• The Goleman leadership styles
• Books, books, and books as you can get your hands on them as well, of course

Selected references for this article and the deep-dive articles it builds on: Primal Leadership , (Ad, Amazon) by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee http://www.mchnutritionpartners.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/images/HBRLeadershipGetsResults1.pdf https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/democratic-participative-leadership.aspx#definition https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/104649640003100603 “A Handbook of Leadership Styles”, Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lewin, Kurt, Patterns of Aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 10:2 (1939:May) ( https://tu-dresden.de/mn/psychologie/ipep/lehrlern/ressourcen/dateien/lehre/lehramt/lehrveranstaltungen/Lehrer_Schueler_Interaktion_SS_2011/Lewin_1939_original.pdf?lang=en ) https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-transformational-leadership.aspx#benefitshttps://www.langston.edu/sites/default/files/basic-content-files/TransformationalLeadership.pdf https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-transactional-leadership.aspx “Full Range Leadership Development”, Bruce J. Avolio Full Range Leadership, Jeanne M. Holm Center https://www3.nd.edu/~jthomp19/AS300/1_Fall%20Semester/27%20Sep/Full_Range_Leadership_V1.pdf Millenial workers prefer transformational leaders, Becket Frith, Hr Magazine (hrmagazine.co.uk) Situational Leadership is a registered trademark, refer to www.situational.com for more information. https://www.kenblanchard.com/Products-Services/Situational-Leadership-II https://medicine.hofstra.edu/pdf/faculty/facdev/facdev-clinical-blanchard.pdf https://com-peds-pulmonary.sites.medinfo.ufl.edu/files/2014/01/Hanke-Situational-Leadership.pdf https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-situational-leadership.aspx https://www.strategy-business.com/article/li00042?pg=all https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323394174_Situational_Leadership_and_Its_Effectiveness_in_Rising_Employee_Productivity_A_Study_on_North_Lebanon_Organization#references

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Essays About Effective Leadership: Top 6 Examples and Prompts

Effective leadership is an essential trait that all people should strive to develop; here are 6 examples and topic ideas essays about effective leadership .

Many qualities make an inspiring and effective leader, such as vision, focus, and motivation. Like other skills, effective leadership can be innate or learned and practiced. When writing about leadership, include the strengths of an effective leader and how these qualities positively impact their team. You can also discuss weaknesses that can make a poor leader and how to combat these issues.

Here are 6 examples and 10 essay prompts to get you started on your next essay.

1. What Makes an Effective Leader? by Tony Gill

2. a guide to becoming an effective leader by yashi srivastava , 3. leadership: 5 practices of effective leaders by yvette gyles, 4. 6 characteristics of an effective leader by lauren landry, 5. six leadership lessons by order of the peaky blinders by andrew denton mbe, 6. leadership and the quest for certainty by keith grint,  1. what is effective leadership, 2. what does effective leadership look like in the corporate industry, 3. what to avoid to become an effective leader, 4. habits of an effective leader, 5. studying the mindsets of effective leaders, 6. effective leadership and its benefits to an organization, 7. indicators of strong and effective leadership, 8. poor leadership vs. effective leadership, 9. real-life examples of effective leadership, 10. how perception creates effective leadership.

“Work at using leadership styles that do not come naturally, styles that you find difficult. By becoming a well-rounded leader, it is easier to adapt your leadership technique for different situations.”

Gill uses a research-based approach to answer the central question of his essay. He looks at various sources that tackle the topic of effective leadership and stitch them together to make a comprehensive guide to effective leadership.

“Leadership is not a mystical quality, and anyone can become a more effective leader by developing some important skills.”

The author, Yashi Srivastava, defines what differentiates leaders from managers first. Then, she provides some dos and don’ts of an effective leader and how people could apply them in different situations. 

“Whereas as leaders, we need to be concerned about creativity and innovation, making positive changes, and seeking to challenge and push boundaries.”

Gyles specializes in leadership training for companies, so her approach to the essay is geared more toward company leaders. Nevertheless, it’s highly educational for all those interested in learning effective leadership meant for dealing with various people and guiding people to a direction or goal.

“Effective leaders don’t avoid the hard truths. Instead, they take responsibility for their decisions, maintain optimism, and focus on charting a new course of action.”

Landry’s essay focuses on her six top characteristics of an effective leader. Some of these characteristics are what you’d expect to see in an essay like this. Entries like transparency are less common but equally important in practicing effective leadership.

“Rolling your sleeves up with everyone else not only sets an example, it makes people want to follow you.”

Fiction mirrors life, and it’s one of the best sources to learn lessons that are otherwise too complex or vague to see in real life. Despite his penchant for crime and violence, Thomas Shelby is undeniably one of the most influential leaders on TV. This essay details the leadership skills used by a 1920s gangster character and how you can use them in modern life to become an effective and inspiring leader.

“Leadership is often associated with certainty; indeed, it is sometimes reduced to the decision-making process such that anything which smacks of uncertainty is categorized as weakness or a failure of leadership.”  

Grint’s essay on leadership explores the factors around leaders’ certainty or confidence. Of course, not all leaders have a clear answer to a problem, which is fine. The important thing is that they have a mindset to look for solutions and a modicum of honesty about their lack of uncertainty.

10 Essay Prompts on Effective Leadership

It’s your turn to express and explore your view of effective leadership. Use these prompts to work out your approach or steps to effective leadership. Here are ten prompts about effective leadership to help you get started on your essay.

Defining effective leadership is one way to explore your understanding of the idea. Remember that your definition of effective leadership could vastly differ from the other essays you’ve read. It’s also a great starting point for new people who want to warm up to the habit of writing essays about leadership.

Essay writing tip: If you’re new to writing essays, consider simplifying your essay. Try shortening it down to a five-paragraph essay .

You can find many leaders in the corporate industry, but some are more effective than others. Use this prompt to work out how you envision effective leadership in the corporate world. You can also apply the same idea to other fields, like at school, among friends or peer groups, or in the family. Consider carefully the field or organization you’d like to use for the essay.

You may have personal experience with a person who could have been an effective leader if not for their bad habits. You might have been that person and realized how your bad habits had held you back from practicing effective leadership. This is your chance to write about your experience, whether via observing someone else or through personal growth.

Practicing effective leadership goes beyond having direction and a vision for the organization. Becoming an effective leader also takes time and patience. Use this prompt to discuss the habits of great leaders and how these habits make them effective in their leadership.

Get into the mind of a leader and explore how such a person might become more effective in their leadership. This topic may involve discussing various people, whether real-life persons or fictional characters. Research how they think, handle their role and manage the people they lead.

Understanding the benefits of effective leadership is one of the best ways to drive someone to practice and adopt it. Use this prompt to detail how an effective leader boosts morale, productivity, motivation, communication quality, and confidence in the people they lead. It applies to all organizations, like businesses, teams, and networks.

How do you know whether a person’s leadership style and approach are effective or not? Use this essay topic to discover the different methods of measuring effective leadership. Read about the different measurements and indicators of leadership used in corporations and organizations.

Leaders can be good, mediocre, or bad in their leadership approaches and styles. This essay prompt will push you to compare bad leadership and effective leadership. You can also add methods of improving one’s leadership style to become more effective.

You can find a lot of excellent leaders throughout history. This idea focuses on discussing different leaders, their leadership styles, and levels of effectiveness.

Interpersonal skills are vital to great leadership. Perception of others’ feelings and thoughts can help you become an even better and more effective leader. Discuss how intuitiveness positively affects one’s leadership style. 

Check out our list of great essay writing topics for students for more topics to improve your writing.

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Home — Essay Samples — Business — Leadership — My Experience Of Different Styles Of Leadership

My Experience of Different Styles of Leadership

• Categories: Effective Leadership Leadership Leadership Styles

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Published: Feb 8, 2022

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• Eisenhower, D (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from BrainyQuote.com Web https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dwight_d_eisenhower_101562
• Lincoln, A (n.d.) The Lincoln treasury (ed. 1950) Powell. C (1995) My American Journey

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My Experience in Leadership Styles Reflective Essay

How it works

Reflecting on my journey through various leadership roles, I have encountered and adapted to a multitude of leadership styles. This reflection explores how these experiences have shaped my understanding of effective leadership and the impact of different leadership approaches in diverse settings.

In my early experiences as a team leader, I predominantly adopted an authoritative leadership style. I believed that strong, decisive direction was crucial to achieving team goals. While this approach yielded results in terms of meeting targets, I gradually realized that it sometimes led to a lack of creative input from team members.

Learning from this, I began to appreciate the value of fostering a more participative environment where team members felt empowered to contribute ideas and solutions.

Transitioning into a larger organizational role, I encountered the transformational leadership style. This style resonated with me as it focused on inspiring and motivating team members towards a collective vision. Embracing this approach, I worked on developing a clear vision and communicating it effectively to my team, which significantly improved our collective enthusiasm and commitment to our objectives. This experience underscored the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership, particularly in terms of inspiring and motivating a diverse group.

Another pivotal moment in my leadership journey was adapting to a servant leadership style in a community-based project. This role required a shift from leading from the front to supporting and uplifting the team. By focusing on the growth and well-being of team members and the community, I learned the power of leading by example and the impact of empathy and compassion in leadership. This experience was instrumental in shaping my understanding of the value of putting the needs of others at the forefront of leadership decisions.

More recently, in a fast-paced and innovative environment, I have explored the agile leadership style. This approach emphasizes adaptability, collaborative problem-solving, and a willingness to embrace change and innovation. It has taught me the importance of being flexible and responsive to changing circumstances and the benefits of fostering a culture of continuous learning and development within the team.

In conclusion, my experiences with different leadership styles have been integral to my growth as a leader. Each style has its strengths and is effective in different contexts. These experiences have taught me that effective leadership is not about adhering rigidly to one style but about being adaptable, responsive to the needs of the team and the situation, and continuously learning and evolving.

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