The 7 Effective Leadership Styles in Business That Inspire Exceptional Performance- Jeff Bezos, Gary Vaynerchuk, Elon Muck, Steve Jobs...

The 7 Most Effective Leadership Styles in Business That Inspire Exceptional Performance- Jeff Bezos, Gary Vaynerchuk, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Howard Schultz, Reed Hastings and Jack Welch.

Here are 7 Effective Leadership Styles that will help you succeed as a Leader.

1. Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership is a standard style in which the leader creates a stable and clear hierarchy within a business. After setting specific parameters and guidelines, the leader will assess the performance of employees and choose to reward them wherever appropriate.

However, this style of leadership is slightly more controversial than modern methods as it also requires the leader to reprimand and even punish employees for poor performance.

At the same time, the leader is often so charismatic and passionate about the business that the workforce will go to the ends of the earth in order to fulfill the vision of their beloved leader.

Example of Transformational Leadership in Business – Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO

2. Charismatic Leadership in Business

Charismatic leaders are most often energetic individuals who use their presence and personality strengths to inspire exceptional performance. In this sense, the leader will create an unmistakable self-image and project their passion as a means of motivating others within the business.

As you might expect, this can also generate immense publicity for the business and make employees feel proud or connected to their fearless leader.

On the other hand, leaders are also at risk of appearing too self-focused, and other businesses or investors might look at this leader as being the only real driving force of the company. That is to say, if this leader were to disappear, the business would almost certainly lose some serious traction.

Example of Charismatic Leadership – Gary Vaynerchuk, Vayner Media CEO

3. Delegative Leadership in Business

Also known as Laissez-Faire Leadership, Delegative Leadership is a hands-off approach in which the leader allows other members of the organization to make decisions. With this in mind, the group has the necessary tools and information to perform their duty, but they also have control and freedom concerning how to go about the job. That being said, the leader will still retain responsibility for making group decisions and having the final say on the matter.

As it turns out, this is an increasingly effective way to motivate employees while still allowing them to retain a deep sense of freedom or privilege. This sense of liberty tends to drive a workforce to try harder and work toward even greater heights.

Elon Musk is an excellent example of declarative leadership. Although he is undoubtedly a hands-on leader in many areas, Musk will most often define a specific vision and allow his teams to figure out how to reach this primary objective. Many employees of both Tesla and Space X cite their respect and admiration for Elon Musk as being their primary motivation to work for the companies.

Example of Delegative Leadership – Elon Musk, Tesla and Space X CEO

4. Servant Leadership Style in Business

Servant Leadership is one style that tends to leave people scratching their heads, but the truth is, this style is a lot more common than you might imagine. As the name suggests, “servants” stay behind the scenes and this is almost always the case with a charity or community organization.

However, this is evidenced in business and Starbucks is a classic example. While you may not hear from this leader all too often, the commitment of its workforce is never in question, and the passion behind the brand is evident at every turn.

Now, you may not have much time for the coffee shop but the ex-CEO Howard Schultz did an impeccable job at the helm of Starbucks and very rarely took any credit for its success. What’s more, Schultz provided many benefits and perks for employees including free college tuition which is arguably one of the most charitable acts by a business in modern times.

Example of Servant Leadership – Howard Schultz, Ex CEO of Starbucks (Until 2018)

5. Pace-Setting Leadership

As the name suggests, pace-setting leaders tend to lead the way for their organization and often for the entire industry. One of the key attributes you will find is a leader's ability to think big and take action based on dreams or visions. While the servant leader above might focus on developing the people around them, pacesetters usually demand their followers to work faster and smarter.

It may sound a little autocratic, and for many, this is an old school way of getting things done that does not work in modern business. However, the truth is, this leadership style is highly effective at motivating employees and encouraging the workforce to take more responsibility for both individual and company goals.

Example of Pace-Setting Leadership in Business – Jack Welch, Ex-General Electric CEO

6. Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is increasingly common in the modern world of technology and often thought to be the most effective style of leadership. It is also one of the most complex and one in which the leader deploys empathy to inspire and motivate a workforce.

For most transformational leaders, risk is inevitable, and initiative is mandatory. That is to say, they empower others to take risks and encourage them to make an effort to produce the very best possible work on every occasion.

Steve Jobs was well known for proving instructions to his teams and giving them the freedom to take their route and decisions to create a product in line with a leader's vision.

Example of Transformational Leadership – Steve Jobs, Apple (Until 2009)

7. Flexible Leadership

Democratic leaders tend to ask employees for input and try to make everyone within the organization feel a sense of worth. Jeff Bezos is referred to as a democratic leader who inspires exceptional performance, but while this may be true, he also uses other leadership styles.

Jeff Bezos has a multi-faceted leadership style that changes and adapts according to circumstances. You can see this in his business decisions just as much as his television interviews and his calming presence makes him very endearing to both employees and investors.

On the other hand, Bezos is also known to make tough decisions and deploy an authoritarian style whenever a heavy hand is needed. With this in mind, he incorporates many different techniques of leadership which are often required to navigate an increasingly complicated path in the workplace.

Example of Flexible Leadership – Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO

As you can see, many leadership styles can inspire exceptional performance, and each one is different from the next. However, in such fast-moving times, it’s just as important for leaders to be flexible and willing to change or adapt to lead a business more effectively.

With this in mind, some of the skills or traits within each style can easily overlap into others, and when it comes to nurturing an exceptional performance, it’s up to the leader to decide which of these traits should be embraced and deployed throughout a business.

These 7 Effective Leadership styles work in business because the leaders established their leadership in thrее main catеgоriеs: actiоn, еmоtiоn, and thоught.

 Оftеn, wе еngagе оthеrs оn оnе оr twо lеvеl?, but seldom оn all thrее. If yоu arе unsure оf yоur lеadеrship abilitiеs, ask yоursеlf a simplе quеstiоn: Will pеоplе fоllоw mе оut оf thе оfficе and intо thе rain?

Book Excerpt from the Principles of Leadership Development: Be a Successful Leader Using Effective Leadership Behavior, Skills and Strategies in Business and Life.

Robert Moment is a personal branding strategist and executive leadership coach .

Robert is the author of Principles of Leadership Development, Executive Leadership Coaching and What Makes You Stand Out. Visit www.WhatMakesYouStandOut.com and Download FREE Chapters of Principles of Leadership Development.