PAPERmaking! g FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF PAPER TECHNOLOGY ® Volume 8, Number 1, 2022
What is a leadership style? A leadership style refers to a leader’s methods and behaviors when directing, motivating, and managing others. A person’s leadership style also determines how they strategize and implement plans while accounting for the expectations of stakeholders and the wellbeing of their team. Why It’s Important to Know Your Leadership Style Knowing your leadership style is critical because it can help you determine how you affect those whom are under your direct infl uence. How do your direct reports see you? Do they feel you’re an effective leader? It’s always important to ask for feedback to understand how you’re doing, but knowing your leadership style prior to asking for feedback can be a helpful starting point. T hat way, when you receive junior employees’ thoughts, you can automatically decide which new leadership style would be best and adopt the style’s characteristics in your day-to-day management duties. Knowing your leadership style may also remove the need for getting feedback. Each leadership style has its pitfalls, allowing you to proactively remediate areas of improvement. This is critical because some employees might hesitate to speak up, even in an anonymous survey. Ready to find out which leadership style you might currently have? Check out the eight most common ones below. Types of Leadership Styles 1. Democratic Leadership 2. Autocratic Leadership 3. Laissez-Faire Leadership 4. Strategic Leadership 5. Transformational Leadership 6. Transactional Leadership 7. Coach-Style Leadership 8. Bureaucratic Leadership 1. Democratic Leadership (Commonly Effective) Democratic leadership is exactly what it sounds like — the leader makes decisions based on the input of each team member. Although he or she makes the final call, each employee has an equal say on a project's direction. Democratic leadership is one of the most effective leadership styles because it allows lower-level employees to exercise authority they'll need to use wisely in future positions they might hold. It also resembles how decisions can be made in company board meetings. For example, in a company board meeting, a democratic leader might give the team a few decision-related options. They could then open a discussion about each option. After a discussion, this leader might take the board's thoughts and feedback into consideration, or they might open this decision up to a vote. 2. Autocratic Leadership (Rarely Effective) Autocratic leadership is the inverse of democratic leadership. In this leadership style, the leader makes decisions without taking input from anyone who reports to them. Employees are neither considered nor consulted prior to a change in direction, and are expected to adhere to the decision at a time and pace stipulated by the leader. An example of this could be when a manager changes the hours of work shifts for multiple employees without consulting anyone — especially the affected employees. Frankly, this leadership style stinks. Most organizations today can't sustain such a hegemonic culture without losing employees. It's best to keep leadership more open to the intellect and perspective of the rest of the team. 3. Laissez-Faire Leadership (Sometimes Effective) If you remember your high-school French, you'll accurately assume that laissez-faire leadership is the least intrusive form of leadership. The French term "laissez-faire" literally translates to "let them do," and leaders who embrace it afford nearly all authority to their employees.
Article 10 – Leadership
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