What do you do if your leadership style is not resonating with your advertising team?

If your leadership style isn't resonating with your advertising team, the first step is to actively listen to their feedback and concerns. Then, adapt your approach to better align with their needs and preferences, fostering open communication and collaboration to enhance team synergy and productivity.

Adapt, improvise, and meet your team where they are. I can be boisterous and extroverted. My team is a mix of fun and creative people. But, they are made up of introverts, quiet processors, and learn differently than myself. I have visual, auditory, verbal, and social learners who don't process what I'm giving in my own style. Frank conversations and asking for feedback is the best way to make sure you are adapting your communication and leadership to the right audience.

Self-Reflection: Take time to reflect on your leadership style and its impact on your team. Consider whether your approach is aligned with the team's needs and goals. Seek Feedback: Encourage open and honest feedback from your team members about their perceptions of your leadership style. Listen actively to their concerns and suggestions for improvement. Adaptability: Be willing to adapt your leadership style based on the feedback received and the specific needs of your team. Flexibility and openness to change are essential qualities of effective leadership. Communication: Improve communication with your team by being transparent, approachable, and accessible. Clearly communicate expectations, provide regular updates

Always reflect. If your usual leadership methods aren’t clicking with your advertising team, it might be time to shake things up a bit. Start by taking a step back and listening to what the team has to say. Engage with them, ask for their ideas, and be open to making changes based on their feedback. Sometimes, all it takes is showing that you’re willing to adapt and consider their perspectives to get everyone working better together.

Taking a moment for self-reflection can be transformative for leadership. Consider how your actions, communication style, and decision-making processes resonate with your team. Are you perhaps too autocratic, dictating decisions without their input, or too hands-off, providing insufficient guidance? By acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses as a leader, you can pinpoint areas for growth and gain insight into how your behavior influences your team dynamic. This introspective journey fosters empathy, accountability, and ultimately, stronger leadership.

Seeking feedback allows you to gain insight into how your leadership style is perceived by your advertising team. It provides an opportunity to identify specific areas where your approach may not be resonating with team members, such as communication, decision-making, or delegation.It provides insights about their experiences working with you as a leader. It helps you understand their perceptions and suggestions for improvement, giving you a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics within the team.It demonstrates your openness, humility, and willingness to listen to the perspectives of others. It fosters trust and rapport with your advertising team members.It validates the concerns and experiences of your advertising team members.

Engage in open dialogue with your team to gauge how your leadership style is perceived. Foster a safe environment where they feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and feelings without fear of reprisal. Utilize various feedback channels such as anonymous surveys, one-on-one meetings, or group discussions to gather insights. Listen attentively to their concerns and embrace constructive criticism with an open mind. By understanding their perspective, you'll gain valuable insights into how to adapt your leadership style to better align with the team's dynamics, fostering trust, collaboration, and mutual growth.

Actively seek feedback by establishing methods such as anonymous surveys or direct one-on-one meetings. Foster a safe environment where team members feel comfortable sharing honest feedback without fear. Listen attentively to the concerns and constructive criticism provided by your team to truly understand their perspective. Use the insights gained from feedback to assess how well your leadership style aligns with the team's needs. Adjust your leadership approach based on this feedback to better match the dynamics and improve team cohesion.

Open up channels for honest feedback from your team members. Listen to their perspectives and understand their concerns or suggestions regarding your leadership style.

Actively seek feedback from your team to understand how your leadership style is received. Provide a safe space for open communication, using anonymous surveys, one-on-one meetings, or group discussions. Listen to concerns and welcome constructive criticism. Gaining their perspective offers valuable insights for adjusting your style to better match team dynamics.

Based on the feedback received, be willing to make adjustments to your leadership style. This might involve adapting your communication style, decision-making process, or approach to team collaboration.

After gathering feedback, adjust your leadership style as needed. If your team desires more collaboration, try a democratic approach that values their input. If they need clearer direction, become more assertive with expectations. Flexibility and willingness to grow are key traits of successful leadership. Adapting doesn't mean compromising your core values; it means evolving them to lead more effectively.

Based on feedback, adapt your leadership to be more collaborative or directive as needed by your team. Embrace a democratic approach if your team desires more involvement in decision-making processes. If clarity and direction are lacking, enhance your assertiveness in communicating expectations. Flexibility and openness to growth are essential traits for effective leadership and team success. Adjusting your style doesn't compromise your values but evolves them to better suit your leadership role.

Dedicate time to self-education on diverse leadership styles and techniques. Explore a wealth of resources, from books and courses to workshops, that offer fresh perspectives and strategies for effective team leadership. By broadening your knowledge base, you'll uncover alternative approaches that may better resonate with your advertising team, enhancing morale and productivity. Embrace the journey of continuous learning, evolving as a leader to inspire and empower your team to reach new heights of success.

Dedicate time to learn about various leadership styles through books, online courses, and workshops. Explore different techniques and strategies that can enhance your effectiveness as a leader. By broadening your understanding, you may find new methods that align well with your team's needs. Adopting these new approaches can lead to improved morale and increased productivity within your team. Continual education in leadership ensures you stay adaptable and responsive to changing team dynamics.

In a digital agency, inspiration alone is not enough to be a good leader; you need a combination of the right inspirational skills and knowledge to guide your team to succeed in their daily tasks. If you continuously work on improving your capacities, you'll be able to provide your team with ideas and solutions that will elevate their careers, improve client results, and generate better outcomes in your performance.

Begin by introducing small, manageable changes to gradually improve your leadership style and team dynamics. Clearly communicate the reasons behind each change to ensure transparency and foster trust with your team. Show your commitment to the team's well-being and productivity by explaining how the adjustments benefit everyone. Regularly monitor the effects of these changes on team performance and morale to assess their effectiveness. Be prepared to refine or expand upon these changes based on ongoing feedback and the observed outcomes.

Embrace flexibility in your leadership journey, especially in the dynamic realm of advertising. Recognize that what works today may not tomorrow, and be ready to adapt your approach accordingly. Continuously assess the needs of your team as they grow and evolve, adjusting your leadership style to suit their changing dynamics. A flexible leader navigates the ever-shifting landscape of advertising with agility, keeping their team engaged and motivated amidst the flux. By remaining open to change and willing to evolve, you'll lead your team with resilience and success in the ever-changing advertising industry.

Let's explore the concept of servant leadership in the context of advertising teams. Instead of viewing leadership as a position of power, servant leadership emphasizes serving the needs of others, including team members, clients, and stakeholders. In the fast-paced world of advertising, where creativity, collaboration, and client satisfaction are paramount, adopting a servant leadership mindset can foster a culture of empathy, support, and shared success. By prioritizing the growth and well-being of team members, leaders can inspire trust, loyalty, and high-performance outcomes.

Dealing with subjectivity is really hard. I mean, ideas are rooted deep within each person’s mood, feelings, emotions and tastes. Becoming a great and inspiring leader in this industry has to do with the fact of knowing how to deal with emotions, with egos; understanding that all ideas are valid and that more heads "think better" but in the end, the most relevant aspect is knowing you're not dealing with a deadline for a TVC or making the next "viral" content, but rather you're dealing with people, and people want and need to express their feelings. Great leaders know how to tie the puzzle together, taking the best out of every thought and making it a more cohesive, multi-faceted idea.