Insight Into Leadership Styles That Drive Business Success
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I learned early on in my career that there are two general styles of leadership; leadership through fear and leadership through respect.
When I was 20 years old I worked in a door factory during a gap year from UBC and I worked with a plant manager who led entirely through fear. It was an effective technique to drive action from a team of young men but had some serious flaws.
He would come stomping up to us on the production line and start berating anyone that was behind or was not working at their top efficiency and suddenly production would ramp right back up, until he left. Once the threat of his presence was gone, production levels would drop right back down.
Fear as a leadership technique only works when the pressure is at its highest. Once that pressure is removed, there is no reason for people to maintain the pace or level of quality.
On the other hand, I worked for a Regional Sales Manager at an investment firm that led through respect. He was fun, built relationships with the team, and brought us incredible value. When he walked away from our desks, we worked even harder than we had when he was there. We respected him and wanted to reciprocate the value that he was delivering to us. Our numbers under his leadership led the country.
Fear is fleeting while respect is enduring.
With this in mind, I've broken down some of the respect-based leadership styles that you can use to inspire, motivate, and grow your team.
Success can mean different things for different people but one thing in common is that respect-based leadership plays a huge role. There are various leadership styles that you can have and as a business owner, it’s our job to choose a leadership style that goes well with our company, our team, and us. Let’s look at some of the leadership styles and what they mean in business and success.
Leadership Styles That Drive Success
Leadership is an important part of your business and knowing what kind of leader you are and what kind of leader your team needs is important. There are various leadership styles and your business might benefit from multiple, but let’s look at some of the different leadership styles and how they operate.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is very motivating and inspiring to the team members or employees. They prioritize innovation and change, and focus on growth and development. The big picture is clear for a transformational leader and they are encouraging to their team to push toward their goals. This type of leadership is particularly useful in situations where a business is going through change or seeking rapid growth.
Benefits
Increased Employee Engagement: Connecting employees to higher achievement helps to increase satisfaction and engagement.
Improved Performance: Transformational leadership teams are often more productive and innovative with their business styles.
Strong Organizational Skills: Organization is a key part of the culture that’s fostered by transformational leaders.
Servant Leadership
The servant leadership style is focused on helping others and prioritizing the needs of their employees or team. These leaders tend to serve the team first which fosters an environment of trust, empowerment, and collaboration. These leaders are empathetic and great sisters while being positive and empowering others. They are also ethical, consistent, and transparent in their leadership and communication styles.
Benefits
Higher Employee Satisfaction: A leader who prioritizes their employees will foster an environment with more employee satisfaction and happiness.
Increased Collaboration: This type of leadership creates a teamwork environment that is collaborative and can be innovative due to the teamwork environment.
Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership is sometimes referred to as participative leadership and it’s a style that emphasizes collaboration, getting input from team members, and shared decision-making. This leadership style is team-oriented and pushes the limits for group decision-making, communication, and transparency within a team.
Benefits
Higher Employee Engagement: Team members will feel heard and like they are valuable to you and the company. This leadership style pushes employees to work towards the same goal the company is striving for.
Improved Decision Quality: Having this broad decision-making usually will lead to well-rounded and effective outcomes. Potential risks, outcomes, and opinions are all considered from multiple angles.
Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic or authoritarian leadership is essentially a leadership style where one person makes decisions themselves with little to no input from anyone else on the team. The leader will hold all or a significant amount of control over all aspects of decision-making within the business. They typically are strict, with direct communication styles, and little room for flexibility or creativity.
Benefits
Quick Decision Making: Since there is one sole decision-maker, this can allow for quick decisions to be made especially in high-pressure situations.
Clear Direction and Expectations: There is no room for any other assumptions around expectations or knowing what people should do in this leadership style.
Situational Leadership
Situational leadership is very flexible and is focused on adjusting your approach based on the needs of your business or the needs of your team. Paul Hershey and Ken Blanchard developed this leadership style and said there was no “best” way to lead and that a leader should be able to adapt and adjust their approach to meet the circumstances. It is a leadership style that consists of multiple different leadership styles.
Benefits
Increased Team Performance: Adjusting the approach based on the situation can give your team better performance and better productivity.
More Flexibility: This leadership style allows you and your team to adapt quickly to changes and challenges that come your way.
Visionary Leadership
Visionary leadership is focused on inspiring and guiding others toward a longer-term goal or vision. They can align their team and lead them to achieving a goal. They are forward-thinkers who create purpose and direction for their team. They have a clear and compelling vision that they are striving toward.
Benefits
Creates Unity: This type of leadership has a clear goal for the entire team to focus on which creates unity in common objectives. This also promotes inspiration and teamwork.
Motivates Team: Team members who believe in the end goal or the vision are more likely to work harder which leads to higher productivity. This will foster a team that has great morale and a low turnover.
Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez-Faire leadership style is a hands-off type of leadership where they typically will delegate. It allows team members to make decisions and to work independently. These leaders often have authority but give employees freedom to plan and execute decisions related to their work.
Benefits
Empowers Team: This works well with experienced team members and those who don’t need much supervision. It empowers the team to work independently and have confidence in what they are doing.
Boosts Motivation: Employees who like independence and value what that means, are often more motivated and satisfied by their work.
How to Choose the Best Leadership Style for Your Business
Pushing Leadership in Business
Finding your leadership type doesn’t have to be difficult and it might be best to get a few leadership styles and be flexible. Leading a business has its ups and downs, which means your leading style needs to be able to adjust to the flow of the business. It’s important to foster an environment that pushes individuals and is an empowering leadership style.
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