What Are The Different Leadership Styles

Leadership styles are defined by the methods used to influence others. Although there are many different leadership styles, this article will focus on five common types: charismatic/visionary, pacesetting, autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire.

There are many different types of leadership styles. This can be defined by their focus and how they interact with their team. Leadership style is a function of the leader's personality, as well as the context of the situation.

Leadership styles can be divided into two categories: directive and supportive.

Directive leaders, also known as "bossy bosses," tend to have a very clear idea about what they want done and how it should be done, whereas supportive leaders are more focused on their employees' individual needs and desires, acting in an advisory capacity to help them achieve those goals rather than prescribing specific methods for achieving them.

Charismatic/visionary leadership

• Charismatic leaders are great motivators. They have the ability to inspire people and make them believe that what they are doing is important.
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• Charismatic leaders are inspirational. They can energize a team with their vision and ideas, but also by their enthusiasm, energy and passion for the project they’re working on.
• Charismatic leaders are good at building relationships with everyone around them – both internally within their organization as well as externally (customers, suppliers etc.). This helps them spread their message more effectively, get more done faster and build stronger relationships with all those involved in their business or project area.
• Charismatic leaders are good at making decisions quickly when needed, without letting anything hold them back from achieving goals or objectives set by themselves or others higher up in management chain than themselves – which makes them very efficient when it comes time for making key strategic moves within an organization or company setting overall!

Pacesetting leadership. You may be familiar with this leadership style. It's a common approach in the military, where it's sometimes referred to as "command-and-control." Pacesetting leaders believe that they know best and need to set high standards for their team members. They set the pace for the group and expect everyone else to follow it. These leaders are often authoritarian in nature, meaning they may create rules that can't be questioned or broken without consequences.

The pacesetting leadership styles can work well if your company or organization is facing serious challenges and needs someone who will get things done regardless of obstacles. But if you're leading a team that works well together and thrives on creativity, this style might not be right for you—or your team might rebel against it!

Autocratic leadership is a one-way street. The leader is in charge, and everyone else obeys. Autocratic leaders make decisions quickly, but they don’t always consult with others before doing so. They are directive and directive, making all decisions by themselves; they rarely ask their employees for input on any matter whatsoever.

Autocratic leaders can be good at delegating tasks among their team members if the task at hand is simple enough to be done without guidance or supervision from above, but not much more than that because autocrats don’t really like working with other people who are smarter than them (which may lead them to assume those people have ulterior motives). They also tend not to understand how people learn best when they’re given room for experimentation and mistakes; as such, these leaders often expect immediate results out of their employees even if those employees aren't ready yet due purely lack experience (or knowledge) needed for said task being asked of them!

Democratic leadership is a style of leadership in which the leader consults with others, including subordinates and peers. The leader is open to the views of others and willing to listen to them, even if they are not in agreement with their own. This type of leadership style can be effective when there are many people working on a project or goal that may have different ways of reaching those goals.

Democratic leaders often value their subordinates’ input because they recognize how important it is for them to work together as a team in order achieve success. Democratic leaders also value advice from peers who have experience or knowledge that could help them reach better decisions than what they would make alone (or with just one other person's input).

Laissez-faire leadership is characterized by a leader who makes few demands on the followers, leaving them to decide how to perform their jobs. The leader is not involved in day-to-day operations and delegates decision making to his or her subordinates.

This style of leadership works best when:

• The organization has a hierarchical structure and people are comfortable working within this type of environment. The followers feel that they have enough autonomy, but still need guidance from their superiors.
• The leader must be able to trust the judgment of his or her subordinates and assume that they will do what’s best for the organization as a whole rather than just themselves.

A manipulative leader may be able to drive short-term performance, but they do so at the expense of long-term success. In some situations, this approach can be effective. For example, in a crisis situation where time is of the essence and you need urgent results before things fall apart completely, the ability to make quick decisions and inspire people through fear might actually save the day.

However, over time a manipulative leader will undermine trust among employees and damage their ability to cooperate with one another. When this happens, organizations become less efficient as workers spend more time focusing on avoiding negative consequences rather than doing their jobs well or innovating new ideas for how things could be done better next time around.

Leadership styles can be categorized in many ways, but the most important thing to remember is that different leaders have different approaches to managing their employees and getting things done. It's important for each organization to find the right style for its needs at any given time.

References

• How to Lead: 6 Leadership Styles and Frameworks
• Leadership Styles
• MindTools | Home