What's Your Leadership Style?

If there is serious conflict within my team:

I remind everyone that we have goals to meet.

I bring my people together so that we can talk it through.

I let them work by themselves so that they don't have to bother one another.

I trust my team members:

Very much.

A fair amount.

Not at all.

Some of my people are highly skilled and motivated. They:

Can be set free to weave their magic.

Often hold creative planning sessions with me.

Are subject to the same workplace strategies and processes as everyone else.

The best way for me to ensure that my team meets its goals is to:

Lead from the front.

Encourage participation from everyone.

Delegate often and widely.

We have an eight-hour deadline for a project that I think requires 16 hours, so I:

Relay the deadline and let everyone get on with it. They know what they're doing.

Ask my team members what they feel is the fastest way to complete it.

Issue instructions and deadlines to each team member.

Poor performance should be:

Punished, so that it doesn't happen again.

Talked through with the individual, so that we can learn.

Left. It will work itself out.

I need to develop and apply a new social media strategy, so I:

Draw up the strategy myself and then sell it to the team.

Tell my team what the challenge is and ask for suggestions on how to meet it.

Hand over the project to my team members and ask them to come back with a plan.

I like to:

Let my team make the decisions.

Make a decision but not until my team has had input.

Make a decision but not until I have told the team my rationale.

I have a new starter in my team, so I:

Let them discover the best way of working.

Invite them into team collaborative meetings.

Sit with them until they understand the processes and the quality that I expect.

I think that great leaders:

Know best. That's why they're leaders.

Are humble and understand that a team works best collectively.

Give their team members plenty of space to let them get on.

When asked whether I like to serve my team, I:

Am not sure.

Say yes, wholeheartedly.

Frown.

I notice that a member of my team is demotivated, so I:

Closely manage each of their tasks to ensure that they are following procedures correctly.

Make an extra effort to ensure that they are involved in team discussions.

Back off, as they probably needs some space.

Authoritarian, Autocratic Leadership

This approach is helpful when your team needs to follow a process "to the letter," to manage a significant risk. It's also effective when you need to be hands-on with people who miss deadlines, in departments where conflict is an issue, or in teams that rely on quick decisions being made.

But you need to be aware that relying on control and punishment to maintain standards will likely drive people away. Similarly, if you always demand that your team works at top speed, you can end up exhausting everyone.

Instead, you can show respect for team members by providing the rationale for your decisions. And they will more likely comply with your expectations if you take the trouble to explain Why the Rules Are There .

You can improve your ability to "lead from the front" by Planning for a Crisis , Thinking on Your Feet , and making good decisions under pressure . But be sure to balance these skills with an awareness of their potential negative impact on creativity, ideas gathering, motivation, and trust within the team.

Being too autocratic can also mean that you'll find it hard to stand back from the detail and take a wider, more strategic view.

Tip:

Did you achieve your leadership role thanks to your technical expertise? If so, you'll likely be used to getting things right, adding value, and having people's respect. But your soft skills might be lacking, so don't be afraid to listen and collaborate more.

Democratic, Participative Leadership

With this approach, you set goals, guide team discussions, and make the final decision. But you also acknowledge that your people can have valuable insight into a problem or process, so you actively consult them . As a result, you'll likely gain creative input and fresh ideas that you wouldn't have come up with if you were working alone.

You might wonder how to manage differing opinions in the team, once you've invited participation in this way. Your goal is to build a culture in which people can have healthy debates with one another. So:

Set an example by being open and flexible yourself.
Make managing mutual acceptance a priority, to ensure everyone's participation.
Learn some Conflict Resolution skills.
Read our article on Managing Emotion in Your Team .

Be aware that processes could become dangerously slow if you involve your team members in every decision. You'll need to judge carefully whether you need to adopt a more autocratic approach, even if it's only briefly.

The Delegating, "Laissez Faire" Leader

"Laissez faire" is a French phrase adopted into English that means, "Let (people) do (as they choose)." It describes a policy of leaving situations to run their own course, without interfering.

By adopting this style of leadership, you empower your team to make decisions and to organize its own processes, with little or no guidance. The danger of this approach is that situations can collapse into chaos if your people have low motivation or poor skills. It can work, however, if they are experienced, knowledgeable, confident, creative, and driven, or if deadlines are flexible and processes are simple.

Be in no doubt, though, that as the leader you will still be held accountable for the outcome! So you might want to organize team decision making processes to support your people while you take a "hands off" approach. Just be sure to delegate the right task to the right person, as a mismatch could mean that the whole team fails.

Avoid becoming too remote, even with a high-performing, highly autonomous team. Change can occur at any time in business, so your organization's requirements for your team might shift after your initial brief. If this happens, stay in touch with your people, and communicate clearly and promptly. Remember, you can offer your support without becoming a micromanager !

Tip:

Consistently excellent and long-lasting teams tend to have transformational leaders . These leaders have high expectations for, and set a fine example to, their people. And they inspire them to reach for the seemingly impossible.