Let us examine the various Leadership Styles that are applied in an Organization

Leadership Definition

Today we often hear about “Leadership” … but what does it mean?
The term is composed of the word “Leader” (from the English “to lead” = “lead“) and the suffix “Ship” (“function“) and refers to the ability of a person to exercise the role of guiding other people , called “Followers“.

Leadership can be defined as an influence that determines a voluntary consent of the team members to achieve the objectives: not all managers have a “Natural Leadership” (as it is a real potential) but this can be developed by training some relational attitudes with Followers.

In order to exercise an “effective” Leadership, a Manager must know the different types of relational approach with his own company collaborators.

Leadership Styles that can be adopted in the Company

In the book “Primal Leadership“, Daniel Goleman analyzes 6 different Leadership Styles:

1. Visionary Leader: mobilizes the team towards his vision and must possess Emotional Intelligence skills (self-confidence and empathy). This style is used in situations of change and creates a very positive impact on the climate within the working group.
2. Coach Leader: develops the potential of his team for the future, has self-awareness and the ability to train the potential of group members. This style is normally used in performance seeking situations and creates a positive impact.
3. Affiliate Leader: creates harmony and establishes emotional bonds with the Team, has good communication and relational skills and knows how to develop empathy. This style is used in situations of stress and divisions and creates a positive impact on the climate within the work group.
4. Democratic Leader: creates consensus by actively participating in the Team and has the ability to grant freedom to encourage teamwork. This style is used in consensus seeking situations and creates a positive impact.
5. Leader who Regulates the Time: sets high standards for performance and acts as an “open track” for the Team to achieve a certain goal.
This style is used in situations where objectives are met but creates a negative impact on the climate within the working group.
6. Commander Leader: gives orders, checks and controls all activity and must possess great self-control. This style is used in situations of serious crisis and creates a negative impact within the working group.

What is the most effective Leadership Style?

In general, there is no better Leadership Style than others but this depends not only on the abilities of the subjects to lead but also on the business context.
In the presence of collaborators with a high degree of maturity, for example, the Leader could even have a “Laissez-Faire” behavior, delegating most of his activities to the members of the Team and limiting himself to supervising.