The MTL Professional Development Programme is a collection of 202 PowerPoint presentations that will provide you with step-by-step summaries of a key management or personal development skill. This presentation is on "Leadership Styles" and will show you what is meant by leadership style and how successful leaders are able to adapt their style to any situation.  

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Leadership Styles
LEADERSHIP STYLES
Adapt your leadership style for any situation
MTL: The Professional Development Programme

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Leadership Styles
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Learn.
Leadership
Styles
Introduction: Leadership style is the way a leader chooses to deal with the issues facing
him or her in the team. Whereas managers may respond to the team from a limited
range of options,, leaders make choices about what style to use. They may lead from the
front in barricade-storming style; they may hold back and hear what the team has to say;
they may even withdraw entirely from view and work unseen. To the versatile leader, all
options are possible if it builds the team, motivates individuals and gets the result.

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Leadership Styles
Leadership Styles
There are four main leadership styles. They are
determined by the amount of attention the leader
pays to the task that is set and how much to the
needs of the team. CONSULT
Listen to others
Find out what others
think through one-to-
one’s, group
meetings, and
conversations
DELEGATE
Hand over
responsibility to others
Step back from people
and the job
PROBLEM-
SOLVE
Find win-win solutions
Consider what you
want against what
others want
DIRECT
Tell others what to do
Use your power to
make others do what
you want because you
know best
CONCERN
FOR
THE
TEAM
CONCERN FORTASK
Within each category, there are innumerable shades
of style. So, a consultative style can be either a
discussion with the aim of finding a solution to a
problem or a discussion to help the team sort itself
out.
1 The Directive Style: low concern for the team and
high concern for the task
2 The Consultative Style: high concern for the team
and low concern for the task
4 The Problem-Solving Style: high concern for the
team and high concern for the task
3 The Delegating Style: low concern for the team and
low concern for the task

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Leadership Styles
1. THE
DIRECTIVE
STYLE
Directive managers are those who think that
leadership is like being a parent. They believe
that the best way to get things done is to tell
people what to do. While this may work in a few
cases, it is not a style that will work long-term. It
shuts people up and shuts them down. Directive
behaviour is driven by 3 faulty behaviours: first,
that there's never enough time to get things
done; second, that others are simply functioning
pairs of hands; and thirdly, that this style is
effective and, when it doesn't work, that it is
those on the receiving end who are at fault.
Barking Orders
Flickr attribution: /defenceimages/9250018546/

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Leadership Styles
Directing
Directive leadership is the style most people equate
with "strong" leadership. When people say they want
more leadership, they usually mean more direction.
Directive leaders appear strong and confident. They
know what they want and where they're going. They
are decisive. In military terms, this is leading from the
front.
Situations which may call for directive leaders are:
new and unfamiliar circumstances
crises and emergencies
deadlines
when morale is low
when teams are facing sudden change
when teams face outside threats
when teams want a clear challenge.
CONSULT
Listen to others
Find out what others
think through one-to-
one’s, group
meetings, and
conversations
DELEGATE
Hand over
responsibility to others
Step back from people
and the job
PROBLEM-
SOLVE
Find win-win solutions
Consider what you
want against what
others want
DIRECT
Tell others what to do
Use your power to
make others do what
you want because you
know best
CONCERN
FOR
PEOPLE
CONCERN FORTASK

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Leadership Styles
2. BEING IN
CHARGE
While directive management is valuable in a few
limited situations, it becomes a problem if it is
the chief way in which a manager manages.
Managers who are directive for most of the time
tend to think that it is their job to tell others
what to do. They believe they have more
knowledge, skill, and power than others and so
must issue commands rather than ask others
what they think. Mainly directive managers are
focused primarily on immediate tasks rather than
on building skills. In any exchange, they confuse
listening with "re-loading", ie waiting for their
chance to butt in and talk again. The only kind of
management that directive managers are good
at is micro-management, where they control
people's behaviours, methods, and priorities.
Get that done by the time I get back, or else!
Flickr attribution: /isengardt/11528272293/

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Leadership Styles
3. THE
CONSULTATIVE
STYLE
The consultative style is the style you’ll use when
you need to talk to your team, listen to them,
understand them, and take them with you. If the
directive style of leadership calls for a typically
masculine approach, the consultative style calls
for a typically feminine approach.
What do you think about this idea?
Flickr attribution: /centralasian/4714242276/

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Leadership Styles
Consulting
There comes a time in the life of all groups when
the action has to be put on hold and attention has
to be paid to what's happening in the team.
This may be because the team has important issues
to raise or because the team have ideas on how to
do the task better.
Leaders must be sensitive to "atmospheres" in
teams. Often views and feelings go underground if
the team doesn’t get the chance to talk or if they
don't trust their leaders.
A consultative approach to dealing with team issues
invariably means calling a meeting and a lot of
listening on the part of the leader.
CONSULT
Listen to others
Find out what others
think through one-to-
one’s, group
meetings, and
conversations
CONCERN
FOR
THE
TEAM
CONCERN FORTASK
DELEGATE
Hand over
responsibility to others
Step back from people
and the job
PROBLEM-
SOLVE
Find win-win solutions
Consider what you
want against what
others want
DIRECT
Tell others what to do
Use your power to
make others do what
you want because you
know best

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Leadership Styles
4. SEEK
CONSENSUS
To master the consultative style, you need to
master team meetings. You must listen to people
and gain their trust. Be prepared to hear things
you don't like. Be aware of those who are
seeking to curry favour. Seek contrary views to
the loudest. Make your decisions and let
everyone know.
So, what do we all think?
Flickr attribution: /dvids/5447684077/

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Leadership Styles
5. THE
PROBLEM-
SOLVING
STYLE
The problem-solving style of leadership is
sometimes called the “selling” style (in contrast
to “telling”). The problem-solving style is
sideways: us together as equals working things
out. In this style, the leader provides some
overall direction to the team but input is
expected from the team before any final
decisions are reached. This is so that there is
more likelihood that they will accept and
embrace the way forward. Those who work well
under the problem-solving style have the
necessary skills but lack the confidence or
motivation to achieve them on their own.
I don’t agree but I’m listening
Flickr attribution: /ter-burg/9704526676/

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Leadership Styles
Problem-Solving
The problem-solving leadership style is also known as the
win-win style, the participative style or the negotiated style
of leading.
It is the style used when the needs of the team are just as
important as the needs of the task (which are the leader's
needs, usually). Unlike the top-down communicating of the
directive and the bottom-up communicating of the
consultative, the problem-solving style requires side-by-side
communication.
This style is a way of resolving conflict. For example, the
team may disapprove of how things are moving forward and
want you to consider their views. Unlike the consultative
style, in which you listen with an open mind, the problem-
solving style acknowledges different points of view and aims
to find a solution that meets everyone's needs.
CONSULT
Listen to others
Find out what others
think through one-to-
one’s, group
meetings, and
conversations
DELEGATE
Hand over
responsibility to others
Step back from people
and the job
DIRECT
Tell others what to do
Use your power to
make others do what
you want because you
know best
CONCERN
FOR
THE
TEAM
CONCERN FORTASK
PROBLEM-
SOLVE
Find win-win solutions
Consider what you
want against what
others want

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Leadership Styles
6. AIM FOR
WIN-WIN
The problem-solving style of leadership can be
the most creative style. To succeed, you need to
both put your own case for a solution and listen
carefully to others. It requires a mix of
assertiveness and empathy. A good result moves
everyone on from where you were.
I win, you win, he wins
Flickr attribution: /pat_ossa/3912574243/

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Leadership Styles
7. THE
DELEGATED
STYLE
At first sight, the delegated style of leadership
looks like an abdication of leadership. It’s the
style where you let go of control so that the team
can find their own way. You trust them and first
time round that can be hard.
Employee empowerment
Flickr attribution: /86530412@N02/7975204842/

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Leadership Styles
Delegating
Delegated leadership, which is low concern for the task
and low concern for the team, looks at first sight like an
abdication of leadership: a running away; laissez-faire;
do-what-you-like-style of leading.
In reality, delegation is one of the hardest management
styles. The low concern for both task and team is a
deliberate letting go so that others can own the task and
make their own decisions. In reality, of course, you, the
leader, still have overall responsibility for how the team
performs. Delegating responsibility is an act of
empowerment, but it is still a deliberate act of
leadership.
Paradoxically, the effective use of delegation results in
stronger leadership because it builds people and skills.
CONSULT
Listen to others
Find out what others
think through one-to-
one’s, group
meetings, and
conversations
DIRECT
Tell others what to do
Use your power to
make others do what
you want because you
know best
CONCERN
FOR
THE
TEAM
CONCERN FORTASK
PROBLEM-
SOLVE
Find win-win solutions
Consider what you
want against what
others want
DELEGATE
Hand over
responsibility to others
Step back from people
and the job

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Leadership Styles
8. TRUST
THEM
The key skill in the delegated style of leadership
is to focus on others. "What would you do?"
"What do you think?“ Resist the temptation to
jump in when things go wrong; they can learn so
much more by sorting it out for themselves.
Show them you trust them and value what they
are doing.
I’ll be OK, if you keep an eye on me
Flickr attribution: /78365458@N00/94812484/

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Leadership Styles
How to ImproveYour Delegating Style of Leadership
Use the following ideas after delegating a task to your team:
"Delegating work works,
provided the one delegating
works too." (Robert Half)
1. Keep in close touch.
2. Focus on them: "what
would you do?" "What do
you think?" "What do you
feel we should do?“
3. Resist the
temptation to jump in
and rescue them when
things go wrong; they
can learn so much
more by sorting it out
themselves. Make it
safe for them to try
things out.
4. Move gradually. If
people aren't used to this
style, they may suspect
your intentions.
5. Praise every success.
6. Find the right
distance: not too
close that you are
seen to be checking
them, not too far
away that they feel
abandoned.
7. Check back regularly
that things are OK.

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Leadership Styles
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn
AFinal
Word
Your ability to move around these four styles, and the shades in-between, will tell others just how
good a leader you really are. You won’t always get it right. Sometimes, you’ll call the team for a
chat when they want decisiveness. Sometimes, you’ll try to sell your ideas when what they want is
for you to leave them alone. But as you develop your reading of situations, you’ll come to know
instinctively just what your best action should be.