The best and most effective leaders in business exhibit the same personalities and mannerisms whatever the situation that they are in. This does not mean that they do not make changes and reinvent themselves on the fly. You should develop your own leadership styles based on your values and personality, and what you learn from other leaders. Most leadership styles are categorized into a few basic orientations.
Democracy and Autocracy
Democratic leaders tend to teach and coach people into doing what the leader needs them to do. This type of leader is more likely to seek buy-in from his subordinates. Democratic leaders tend to focus on their team, because they feel that the welfare of the team is important. Autocratic leaders focus more on work-related issues or specific tasks. Autocrats see something that needs to be done, and they find a way to get it done. The autocrat decides on the solutions, and then directs other people to follow these solutions. Each style is effective in certain situations, but democratic leaders tend to have teams with more job satisfaction.
Participation or Direction
This element addresses how much input a leader seeks from her subordinates. Leaders leaning more towards participation are more likely to listen to input from their team. The leader may delegate entire parts of a task to her team, or she may allow the team members to participate in the problem-solving process of a project. Leaders may use a restrictive form of participation by discussing a project with team members, but ultimately make the decision themselves. A leader who is more directive will decide what needs to be done, and express this to the subordinates. A leader may be more directive when there is a time factor involved or a short-term productivity increase is needed.
Relationship or Task
Good leaders consider both human relationships and the tasks that they must complete. When you set relationships as a priority, it builds camaraderie amongst team members, which can increase productivity and the quality of the work produced. If you have tasks as your leadership focus, you will set goals for the project and allocate resources as necessary. The task-based leader focuses on production and delivering results, considering people but only because they are necessary to do the work. Task-based leadership is very direct and to the point.
Action or Inaction
An active leader is involved and takes charge of his responsibilities. Active leaders realize that their subordinates perform better when they are aware of work-related issues and monitor their performance. An active leader will ask a subordinate to perform a task, actively delegating the task to be certain that it is done. Inactive leaders tend to be less involved in operational issues of their organization, not even realizing that they should be more active. Where an active leader seeks out obstacles to defeat before they become a problem, and inactive leader is more likely to react to a challenge when someone tells him about it. Inactive leaders also risk their subordinates perceiving them as irrelevant.
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