Here's how you can tailor your leadership style to various situations and individuals.

1. Understand Different Leadership Styles 2. Assess the Situation 3. Know Your Team Members 4. Be Flexible and Adaptive 5. Use Situational Leadership 6. Communicate Clearly and Effectively 7. Empower and Delegate 8. Provide Support and Resources 9. Recognize and Reward 10. Seek Feedback and Reflect 11. Develop Emotional Intelligence 12. Lead by Example

A key to establishing trust is welcoming feedback and critique. Seeking it out from your team and creating a safe space for them to offer it will go a long way to building a two way trusting relationship.

Building trust starts with building relationships with team members and colleagues. The relationship should be built beyond just the casual working relationship, but rather should also focus on getting to know one another on a more personal level.

In the past in the of my roles as a finance team member, I understood that trust was crucial for effective leadership. During a challenging project, I focused on being transparent about our goals and challenges, consistently communicating updates to my team. I took the time to understand each team member's professional aspirations and offered support for their growth. By demonstrating integrity and showing genuine interest in their well-being, I built a strong foundation of trust. As a result, my team was more receptive to my guidance and adapted quickly to my leadership style. This experience taught me that building trust through transparency, integrity, and support is essential for successful leadership.

I first recognize that I am not here to solve problems by myself— it’s a group effort! I honestly have had many leader roles but only one position as supervisor but what has helped me is be willing to hear everyone out and figure out what they need most. If they see you are capable of growing and adapting, your team will adapt!

I absolutely agree— I think everyone has a different learning style, from different cultures and different skills so I usually ask the person that i am talking to which way they prefer to receive communication and if they prefer email or face to face meetings.

Even if you are a good leader and exhibit all the skills needed to be one, right communication is the window to it. If your message doesn’t LAND correctly in the eyes and minds of your team, everything collapses. Work on it, by first listening attentively and then communicating your POv effectively

In my role as a senior finance team member, I noticed that the team members had different communication preferences. One colleague excelled with direct, concise instructions, while another needed detailed explanations and context to fully understand tasks. To address this, I adapted my communication style to fit each individual's needs. For the first colleague, I provided clear, brief directives. For the second, I took extra time to give comprehensive background and step-by-step guidance. This tailored approach improved clarity, reduced misunderstandings, and fostered an inclusive environment where everyone felt heard and valued. This experience demonstrated the importance of flexible communication in effective leadership.

I realize my team hears me, but have different interpretations of what I said. I don't feel I need to perfect each flex communication style. I often check in after speaking and ask the team what they got from what I said and if they have any questions. The restatements from others, often using another communication style, assist me in helping others get a clearer concept. The questions also help me to answer using another explanation style.

In my role as a senior finance team member, I recognized the potential of empowering our team to improve performance and innovation. I started delegating decision-making authority on projects, encouraging autonomy. One junior accountant took the initiative to streamline our expense reporting process, which significantly improved efficiency. By trusting the team and providing opportunities for professional growth, I saw increased engagement and better performance. This experience taught me that empowering team members leads to a more motivated, innovative, and effective team.

One of the questions I like to ask my teams and clients is how do you lead and make decisions under stress? Depending on the response, it will give me more insight into how to adapt to each person. Where I will need to be more intentional in asking questions, check-in, or create space for follow-through.

This may sound obvious but I actually believe that the most important skill any leader needs to master to adapt and match the needs of the situation or individual is self-awareness. The ability to know (or at least assume) what our impact is when we lead others plays a huge role in our ability to relate to others. There are various personality types tests you can do to give you some insights into how you show up in the world and how others experience you when you show up. There lives a huge opportunity for growth. Because remember, your impact is the response that you get. Being response-able is a pivotal skill every leader needs to learn.

I believe it's not the leadership style that needs to be adaptable, but rather the delivery and approach of the message. Be your authentic self in all scenarios; authenticity, empathy and active listening are key traits of a leader that should apply regardless of the audience. Trying to be something you are not can actually have a negative impact, as people may perceive you as disingenuous and lose trust in you as a leader. Treat each situation individually, read the room, be open and honest, and lead your people. Most importantly, stay positive.