Which types of leaders tend to downplay their position and power allowing the group to function more of less on its own?

‘Leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example’ — Unknown

No matter what your job responsibilities entail, you would be expected to showcase your leadership skills at some point or the other at the workplace. Exhibiting leadership is an extension of your personality that speaks volume about your credibility as a working professional.

With the changing times, the definition of leadership is also changing. A leader is no more seen as a powerful or an influential personality telling people what to do and what not to. He/She is someone who has the ability to take the team members in the right direction by leading them from the front not the otherwise.

With so much being talked about leadership, it makes sense to first define what exactly is the thing called leadership and how it is useful to elevate your career growth.

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What is leadership?

In reality, leadership is somewhat polymorphic in nature. The definition would take a different meaning in different instances. Contrary to the popular belief, it has nothing to do with your stature or hierarchy in the company, it’s more about developing a positive attitude and transmitting it to others to encourage them to reach a common goal.

The great Nelson Mandela said something very apt about leadership. He said that,

“A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along that they are being directed from behind.”

Types of leadership styles

Interestingly, each one of us is a leader and we have a leadership style that comes into function during hards times in life as well as at the workplace. However, many people seem to confuse management with leadership or vice-versa. But there is a lot of difference between leadership and management. For now, we must focus on knowing about different styles of leadership and how to get the most out of them.

Autocratic leadership style

Autocratic leadership style is a strong one-dimensional leadership style that gives full power or authority to the leader/boss/manager. In this style, the leader makes all the decisions without any consultation with subordinates or team members. He makes all the crucial calls which are then communicated to team members and they are expected to work on the instructions immediately.

In a nutshell, the leader is the ultimate decision-maker in an autocratic leadership style. Famous names such as Donald Trump and Albert J Dunlap favors the autocratic style of leadership.

2. Democratic leadership style

Unlike the above leadership style, the democratic leadership style is more participative in nature where the leader involves team members while making critical decisions. It works well for an organization where team members are highly skilled and experienced. The best part of this kind of leadership style is that the communication is active upward to downward. Also called participative leadership, it requires the leader to be intelligent, creative, considerate, and competent.

In any workplace scenario, democratic leadership style is most preferred over other leadership styles.

3. Coaching leadership style

It was debatable for quite some time to consider coaching as a style of leadership or not. However, it is one of the most effective leadership styles that doesn’t lead directly but indirectly. In this leadership style, leaders are more like coaches or teachers which involves coaching or supervising team members. It is a relatively modern leadership style that is being employed more often by many organizations.

It comes with a bouquet of additional benefits such as boosting employee motivation, increasing their performance skills, grooming, and motivating team members.

4. Strategic leadership style

According to Wikipedia, “Strategic leadership is the ability to influence others to voluntarily make decisions that enhance the prospects for the organization’s long-term success.” In simple words, it refers to the leader’s potential or capability to express a strategic vision for the organization and to persuade them to pursue that vision with the help of right strategies and tools.

This leadership style enables you to create a team of team members which are well-trained and well-equipped to deal with unforeseen risks and threats. Strategic leadership style also creates more leaders and that’s what leadership is all about!

5. Transformational leadership style

Often considered as one of the most desirable leadership styles, it is all about creating a thriving work culture through effective communication in team. However, it demands a certain level of strategic vision and intellectual stimulation to initiate change in oneself and others in an organization.

Transformational leadership focuses on setting high goals with strict deadlines and working in unison to accomplish them on time. This way transformational leaders set challenging expectations for themselves and the team to achieve exceptional results

6. Laissez-faire leadership style

The literal meaning of the French word laissez-faire is ‘let them do’ which can be translated as ‘let it be’ in English. In such a leadership style, leaders delegate the responsibility to team members and let them work on their own with minimum or no interference.

Laissez-faire leadership style gives the maximum scope for innovation and flexibility. It works best for the creative teams having self-motivated and experienced individuals who don’t require that level of supervision and invigilance. Mahatma Gandhi was a laissez-faire leader who believed that people work best when they are not told what to do but encouraged to work on their own.

7. Charismatic leadership style

Leaders applying charismatic leadership style are the ones who automatically or rather smartly attracts a plethora of people with their charm and charisma. They are self-motivated, passionate, and confident. Leadership style like this can be used to build a powerful standing in the marketplace and gain a huge fan-following using their strong self-image.

However, charismatic leadership style is considered less-favorable as the success or failure heavily relies on the leader and its impact. It is perceived more of a one-man show than a collective team effort. The present Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is considered as one of the most charismatic leaders in the world.

Conclusion

Leadership is an important facet whether you are running a kitchen, an organization, or a country. It comes with its own set of responsibilities and challenges as each one of us has a distinct style of leadership and managing things. It is confusing to gauge what leadership style should be implemented when, where, and how. If you know your personality type and have a clarity the kind of leadership that resonates with you the most, it won’t be that difficult.

There are dozens of leadership styles but we’ve chosen the ones most relatable and relevant to the present day scenarios. If you have observed different leadership styles other than mentioned in the above list, drop a comment below and share your take on their leadership style.