6 Leadership Styles to Deploy In Your Business

Sports is perhaps the most obvious example of the need to change tactics and strategies based on the situation. The same is true for parenting and business ownership: one size does not fit all when it comes to the people you manage. The best leaders change their styles to fit a situation in their business or a given employee.

In his article Leadership that Gets Results, Daniel Goleman shares these six leadership styles:

• Coercive (aka “do what I say”)
• Authoritative (characterized by “come with me” actions)
• Affiliative (a people-first approach)
• Democratic (getting input)
• Pacesetting (sets high standards and personally meets them)
• Coaching (prioritizes personal development)

As you read through these styles you not only may realize that all these styles are necessary at some point in the life of a business, but that great leaders cycle through several of them in the course of a day. Now let’s briefly look at each style and the best times to deploy them.

Coercive Style

This style is best for a crisis or to get moving on a turnaround. Team members need to be told what fires to fight and when they need to be extinguished by. However, outside of a crisis this style will have an overall corrosive effect on company culture and will be ill-remembered in the long-term.

Authoritative Style

This style is related to casting a vision that your team can follow. This can be to pivot within products and services you already offer, or to create an entirely new line of business. This is a style that works both short- and long-term.

Affiliative Style

While many “team-building” activities are horrible, the goal behind such activities is laudable: making sure your team members know each other not just as technicians and colleagues, but potentially as friends or at least acquaintances. This leadership style seeks to create relationships and open alternative lines of communication not just for conflict resolution, but for business initiatives. This is a leadership style that should always be running in the background for a company that values culture.

Democratic Style

The downside of this style means being drowned in committees and endless meetings, but when deployed correctly, it ensures that employees feel included in decisions and future planning. For management, it also ensures buy-in and consensus for the most important decisions. This style should almost always be deployed with key staff at major turning points for the business but is not wise for ongoing daily operations.

Pacesetting Style

This style is best deployed for a demoralized team that has been led poorly. A pacesetting leader can come in, work side-by-side with the team and offer a “reset” from previous poor leadership. The danger of this can be in burnout, and in the pacesetter not being self-aware (not everyone can or should work 12 hour days). This style is best deployed for a sprint or a deadline but in the medium to long-term it will have a damaging effect, like the Coercive Style can.

Coaching Style

If you’re not deploying this style with your team members, you are, as the young people say these days, “doing it wrong.” While almost all employees value a paycheck, they also value interest in their personal and professional development. How much do you know about what motivates your team members or where they see themselves in the next 3-5 years. If you don’t know the answers to these questions (or even basics, like the name of a spouse or children) you’re not going to retain staff.

Willpower can build a business, but it’s management and culture that helps scale and become sustainable over the long term. Do you have the right culture in place for a future sale? Let’s talk.