leadership style

1. Types of Leadership Styles
As a leader, you want to find the best way to manage your team members to
achieve the best results. Throughout the years, leaders have utilized different
leadership styles to encourage their teams and meet their goals. These styles
evolve as we always look for new and improved ways to help our companies
or businesses grow.
What Is a Leadership Style and Why Is It Important?
A leadership style describes how a leader behaves and what methods they use
to encourage, direct and manage their team. A leadership style will also define
strategies to achieve specific goals and implement these strategies. A
successful leadership style will account for the expectations of shareholders
and the welfare of the team.
Knowing how you lead will help you see how people are affected by your
leadership style. You can also determine how your team members see you as a
leader. With feedback, you can choose which leadership style is best for the
situation and adapt, but knowing your leadership style beforehand can
potentially remove the need for feedback. Knowing your leadership style will
allow you to use and adjust characteristics from other styles when encountering
a challenging situation.
Traditional Leadership Styles
Over the years, multiple leader ships styles have developed to provide direction
and achieve goals. Each of these traditional leadership styles has its advantages
and disadvantages. Below are some of the most common leadership styles:
1. Authoritarian Leadership
With an authoritarian leadership style, the leader can set specific expectations
and define strict outcomes. Generally, one person is in charge of the whole
group rather than delegating leadership roles to others. This type of leadership

2. can be helpful when the leader has the most knowledge to achieve set goals. If
the group is under a time constraint, having one leader can be efficient, but the
team's creativity might be sacrificed since team input is restricted.
Other advantages of this style of leadership include:
 - An established hierarchy.
 - Dependable results.
 - Fewer mistakes.
 - Less time spent making decisions.
While the authoritarian leadership style can be beneficial in certain
circumstances, it also has some disadvantages:
 - Reduces collaboration
 - Increases turnover rate with employees
 - Limits creativity
 - Can cause rebellion
2. Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership works a lot like a democratic government. The whole
team communicates their ideas and has a say on the direction of a project, but
the leader will make the final decision. A democratic leadership style can be
incredibly effective in many situations, especially since lower-level team
members learn valuable skills they can utilize in future advanced positions.
This style also closely resembles how decisions are often made in leadership
settings, such as a company board meeting.
Some of the additional advantages of democratic leadership include:
 - Increased participation among team members.
 - The room for additional insights.
 - The ability to solve complex problems.
 - Strengthening the bond between team members and leadership.
 - Creating a clear vision for the future.
 - Increased commitment and job satisfaction.
There are many benefits to the democratic leadership style. However, before
implementing it in the workplace, there are some disadvantages to be aware
of before implementing it. Some of the disadvantages of democratic
leadership include:

3.  - Possibility of resentment between team members as well as leaders.
 - Chance for procrastination.
 - Delays in projects and tasks because of large discussions.
 - Not guaranteeing the best possible solution.
 - Encouraging the idea that no one is responsible for a failure.
 - Creating uncertainty between team members and leadership.
3. Transformational Leadership
As the name implies, a transformational leadership approach transforms or
improves upon its goals. While each team member may have tasks to complete,
a transformational leader will attempt to push each member beyond their
comfort zone to achieve innovative results. As a transformation leader, you
would serve as a role model to encourage team members to help achieve your
visions. Some of the advantages of this leadership style include:
 - Reduced employee turnover rate.
 - Increased morale among team members.
 - Placing a high value on goals.
 - Not coercing team members to accomplish tasks.
 - A focus on creating positive relationships.
With the many advantages of the transformational leadership style, there are
also some disadvantages, such as:
 - Possible deception towards team members.
 - Motivation having to be consistent.
 - Team members having to agree on tasks before they can begin.
 - Deviation from company regulations and standards.
4. Transactional Leadership
A transactional leadership approach occurs when a leader uses positive or
negative reinforcement, such as rewards or punishments, to encourage team
members to complete tasks. The leader will set a defined goal or task and
establish incentives for team members who meet their goals. Rather than
changing or transforming a company or organization, this leadership style
focuses on following predetermined procedures or routines. The goal is to
complete tasks efficiently by motivating employees through incentives. Some
of the advantages of transactional leadership include:

4.  - An ability to create specific and achievable goals that team members
can complete within an established time frame.
 - Increased productivity and motivation among team members.
 - Reducing confusion in the hierarchy.
 - Being simple to follow and implement.
 - The ability for employees to choose their incentives.
These benefits can create a work environment where goals are constantly
accomplished, but there are a few disadvantages to consider before taking on
this leadership style:
 - The opportunity for creativity or innovation is heavily limited.
 - Empathy is not a valued quality.
 - It creates more followers among team members than future leaders.
 - There is little focus on building positive relationships.
 - It is challenging to find incentives to fit all employee's needs.
 - There is a focus primarily on short-term goals rather than long-term
goals.
5. Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez-faire is a French term that allows your team members to do what they
want during work and trusts them to complete tasks that serve your vision.
Essentially, this leadership style doesn't define any specific policies or
deadlines for team members. Laissez-faire leadership trusts the employees to
complete work, and leadership focuses more on running the business. The
laissez-faire leadership style:
 - Encourages personal growth of team members.
 - Fosters an environment for learning and career development.
 - Allows for quick decision-making.
 - Promotes freedom to innovate and increase productivity.
While a lack of defined structure can work well for some team members, it's
not a suitable approach for everyone. Some of the reasons you might not choose
this leadership style for every team member include:
 - Lack of clarity about the requirements of the job or task.
 - Isolation from other team members and lack of collaboration.
 - The challenge to create meaningful bonds.
 - Difficulty maintaining accountability in leadership.

5.  - Low morale and a lack of encouragement among team members.
Laissez-faire leadership can work when you have complete trust in your team
members to complete tasks. However, some individuals will need more
guidance, which means that this leadership style won't work for everyone.
The same goes for each type of leadership style. No matter which style you
choose, some team members will be receptive to it, while others may feel that
they're not being heard or need more support than certain leadership styles can
provide. That's why leaders need to adapt to individual circumstances and
choose the leadership style that will work best at the moment.