Styles of Leadership should include jeans as well as a suit

Is this not the most annoying question in an interview, "What type of leadership style do you have?"

Why is it annoying? Because I don't have one. I beleive that as a leader, you need to be able to use as many styles as possible. We all don't wear the same style of clothes year round and for every occation, well not most of us. You are free to choose whatever type of leadership style fits the situation. And if you want to be a great leader, expand your wardrobe of talents.

There is a lot said about leadership styles, but very rarely do you hear what they mean. It’s one of those questions you are most likely going to be asked during an interview. You can always respond to it with the patient “I lead by example.” Which is always good, but first of all what does it mean? Second, do you really? If you’re a manager who spends all your time in meetings and very little time with your staff, what kind of example is that? Finally, if your that manager or leader who shows up to work later and later in the day, always on the phone, rarely in your office, but no time your staff, but always can be found shooting the breeze with other managers, is that the example you really meant to be setting?

There are basically five main leadership types. Which one is best? If that is your question, obviously patience is not your strongest trait and is something you might want to work on. To answer your question, there is no “best” one. There are styles that are better than others in specific situations, but what you need to understand is, you cannot force yourself to be type B when you’re a type C. It would be easier to transition from being a right handed person to left handed.

Being aware of the different styles of leadership can also help you as an employee. If you understand your boss’s style, than you can interact with them in a more proficient manner. If you’re a sheep, you need a Sheppard. If you’re a lion, you need a tamer.

If you’re the big boss, who is at the strategic level of planning in your company, understanding the different leadership styles of your operational managers, will help you better select those best suited to supervise and administer a project or task.

Let’s say you have a project that needs immediate action, when productivity is of the highest concern: Someone with an Authoritarian or Directive style of leadership is best suited for that. This is the person who is not afraid to give orders, to motivate, but not waste time. Their weak points are a lack of mentoring and patience. This person is not someone who will work best in a situation where new or inexperienced people are working. Where boundaries and instructions are not already defined. They will get you from point A to point B quick and efficient, but not a lot of wiggle room or ability to deviate from the plan. You can’t order someone to climb a mountain if they don’t know what rope is.

If you’re in an environment where highly skilled employees are working, let’s use our wonderful Northwest Computer Industry as an example. You’re going to want someone with very a Democratic leadership style. Again, you don’t need a mentor in this position, because your staff is highly proficient and are very capable of accomplishing tasks on their own. Why you need a democratic leadership style in this role, is because when you deal with highly skilled individuals working together, the human EGO is involved and personal conflicts between co-workers will rear its ugly head. Petty and professional arguments will come up; the passive competition will cause conflict instead of cooperation. This is where the Democratic leadership style will need to be present so that sides are not taken. This leader can quickly implement mediation so professional EGOs will not injured and productivity will not be slowed.

On the other end of the spectrum, you’re in a start up mode. You’re a new company or beginning a new project, you need a manager who is a Coach or Transformation Leader. These are the team developers, the managers who can put their egos aside and are not afraid to roll up their sleeves to teach and inspire those employees who might be new or inexperienced in the task at hand. They are also not ignorant to how to redirect that employee who “knows it all.” They encourage new hires and even veteran employees to strive to do better and produce more. Managers with this ability create employees who are not afraid to take initiative and work more proficient because they are part of a team.

Next we have to talk about the briber or as they are called the Transactional leader. This is the manager who cannot maintain motivation by other means, so they use monetary or tangible rewards. This manager is not capable of instilling personal or professional pride as an incentive; they must resort to offering a prize for doing a job. Do not confuse this with employee of the month or other company wide incentives or production bonuses. This is the manager who is always in the meetings talking about giving away more money or prizes to increase productivity in their department or takes the money out of their own pocket to designate a productivity incentive. I know what you’re thinking, that shows initiative and if it’s coming out of their own pocket who cares? But what happens in a year or two when this person is promoted to a senior management position because they made the “stats” from bribing their employees. Now when this manager sets a new budget, they must include this bribery style to maintain their level of efficiency but on a larger scale. The CEO or Board may write it off as the price of doing business, but why pay that price when there are better options out there. Plus, why do you need to pay employees to do the job they were already hired to perform?

The other problem with the briber is when times are tough (as they have been) and you need to be putting out the product with the highest of efficiency, but can no longer provide the carrot, the donkey stops pulling the cart.

Now we’re going to address the style that unfortunately everyone has experienced and you probably don’t have to look too hard to find, the Laissez-Faire leader. This is the manager who allows the group members to operate on their own. Now, some employees will say, this is the perfect manager, not a micro-manager. But this is also the leader who provides no direction or guidance. They deeply believe that their “hands off” management style works best because they never hear any complaints from their staff. Their employees know that nothing is going to be done, so why bother.

This style of manager believes they are the best boss, because that’s what that one employee (the suck up) is always telling them. But of course that is the employee who is always in the boss’s office shooting the breeze. What is the problem with this leadership style? When productivity is analyzed and the stats come out, guess what leader is always at the bottom of that list.

I do not leave this article on a downer, so I saved the best for last. This is the leadership style that works best in all situations. It’s rare and can only be found in a select number of individuals out there. What is it called you ask? It’s called experience. Meaning, you can ask people in an interview what kind of leader they are, but they are just going to tell you what they believe you want to hear or what your job posting is looking for. When you conduct reference checks, you might want to ask for subordinates as a great verification as to their leadership skills versus just focusing on their “co-workers” or “supervisors.” Who is going to know more about someone’s leadership style than the person who was formerly lead by them?

For more information or to contact me: rickroller63@gmail.com