Are you a good leader?

I get to interact with many business owners and industry leaders. And on many occasions, I get to witness how they function on an everyday basis at their respective workplaces. Most of the managers I've met seem nice people to work with. But who knows how are they with their teams? Recently I met the Head of Operations of a leading media production house. I had a chance to see him deal with his business teams. Damn! He was one of the most ruthless and demanding people I've ever seen. He used fear to push his people to their physical and emotional limits, intimidate them with cruel ultimatums, and didn’t really seem to care about them as people. I discreetly asked his team members, how has been their experience of working with him. I could easily conclude, nobody liked him and the senior management should have been informed about his harsh behaviour. But, there were these two people who told me that though they don't like him for how he is, he still manages to motivate them and push them to perform better. One of them said, "if he wasn't here doing what he does, we won't be constantly performing better than the previous quarter. He's not a people person but that's his management style. He pushes hard and everyone meets their targets. People fear him which helps him ensure an effective implementation of all that the top leadership plans for."

So, what exactly is a management style?

In simple words, managers' approach to achieving their business objectives is referred to as management style. It is how they implement plans, provide direction, delegate jobs, motivate people, and manage their teams.

Management styles can vary greatly depending on the type of business, degree of management, industry segment, country of business, local culture, corporate culture, employment laws, etc. An effective manager is one who can modify their management approach in response to various conditions while focusing on achieving goals.

There are three broad categories of management styles: Autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire.

1) Autocratic: This is a top-down methodology and only allows for one-way contact between managers and staff. The management controls everything at work and has complete power in this management style, which is the most oppressive of the others. Employees are viewed as drones that must be closely watched as they work inside boundaries that have been established. This approach fosters role and expectation clarity and enables swift decision-making. This is typically employed when the manager has greater subject-matter expertise than the team.

2) Laissez-faire: In this management style, leadership is not directly supervised. Staff members are trusted to complete their tasks without monitoring, and they are given control over how they make decisions and solve problems. In this approach, the manager is just present to assign work, but they are still in charge of ensuring that tasks are effectively performed. The personnel is given the freedom to complete their work any way they see fit once the task has been allocated. This works best in firms with more decentralized leadership and where the team has considerably greater task-specific expertise than the manager.

3) Democratic: In this approach, managers welcome employee suggestions during the decision-making process but ultimately retain control over the outcome. Team cohesion improves as a result of top-down and bottom-up communication. This approach fosters a closer relationship between employees and management and increases team trust. This is helpful for businesses that aim to promote innovation, such as tech firms.

The effectiveness of your team is significantly influenced by your management style. A successful manager will motivate the group, foster a strong sense of loyalty, and make sure the work is completed. You become an effective manager by adopting these management styles. But does that also make you a good manager?

Good managers have a clear understanding of the organization's vision and share it with the people in their team in a way that motivates them. They keep their team up-to-date on what's happening in the organization. Management is one of the hardest jobs in the corporate world. There’s a reason why we’ve all had at least one terrible boss. And when a team is led by a terrible manager, it's likely that you'll notice disengaged workers, high turnover, and low production.

With a better understanding of management styles, a company can develop and put into practice policies for the kinds of managers that will work best for the organization. This will increase employee engagement, decrease attrition, and improve business results. Do you agree?

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