Leadership Styles

The behavioral approach employed by leaders to influence,

motivate, and direct their followers

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What are Leadership Styles?

Leadership styles refer to the behavioral approach employed by
leaders to influence, motivate, and direct their followers. A
leadership style determines how leaders implement plans and
strategies to accomplish given objectives while accounting for
stakeholder expectations and the wellbeing and soundness of their
team.

Leadership styles have been studied in various fora to establish the

appropriate or most effective leadership style that motivates and
influences others to accomplish set goals. The major tenet of
effective leadership style is the degree to which it builds follower
trust.

Studies carried out indicate that followers who trust in their leader
are more likely to follow through with the leader’s instructions over
and above the expected. In turn, they will accomplish set goals
while being allowed to speak freely to air their ideas and
suggestions on the direction of the projects at hand.

The leadership styles discussed in this article are based on studies

and findings by several accomplished leadership researchers, which
include Robert K. Greenleaf, Karl Lewis, Daniel Goleman, Bruce
Avolio, and Bernard M. Bass.

Why Do Leadership Styles Matter?

A leadership style adopted by any leader is usually a combination of
their personality, life experiences, level of emotional intelligence,
family dynamics, and way of thinking. Thus, leaders should be able
to understand their leadership style in relation to a combination of
traits listed above and determine how best they can be more
effective.

Effective leadership has more to do with leadership style. Hence, a

leader’s ability to take charge and know whether a situation requires
an executive decision or a more consultative one is vital.
Furthermore, a leader needs to have the ability to know the most
effective leadership style that is suitable for an organization or
situation to succeed. Understanding one’s leadership style allows a
leader to take ownership, control, and responsibility for the size and
scope of the tasks ahead.

A study by Daniel Coleman in a Harvard Business Review

article, Leadership That Gets Results, reviewed and analyzed more
than 3,000 middle-level managers to find out specific leadership
behaviors and their effect on profitability. The results revealed that
a manager’s leadership style was responsible for 30% of the
company’s bottom-line profitability.

An understanding of one’s leadership style and the ability to be

flexible based on changing circumstances will likely result in the
additional benefits below:

 Improvement in communication and collaboration

 Increase in employee engagement
 Strengthening of team effectiveness
 Leadership effectiveness becomes conspicuous in the
organization leading to recognition

Below are the most common leadership styles.

Common Leadership Styles

1. Democratic Leadership

A democratic leadership style is where a leader makes decisions

based on the input received from team members. It is a
collaborative and consultative leadership style where each team
member has an opportunity to contribute to the direction of ongoing
projects. However, the leader holds the final responsibility to make
the decision.

Democratic leadership is one of the most popular and effective

leadership styles because of its ability to provide lower-level
employees a voice making it equally important in the organization. It
is a style that resembles how decisions are made in company
boardrooms. Democratic leadership can culminate in a vote to make
decisions.

Democratic leadership also involves the delegation of authority to

other people who determine work assignments. It utilizes the skills
and experiences of team members in carrying out tasks.

The democratic leadership style encourages creativity and

engagement of team members, which often leads to high job
satisfaction and high productivity. However, establishing a
consensus among team members can be time-consuming and
costly, especially in cases where decisions need to be made swiftly.

2. Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership is the direct opposite of democratic leadership.

In this case, the leader makes all decisions on behalf of the team
without taking any input or suggestions from them. The leader holds
all authority and responsibility. They have absolute power and
dictate all tasks to be undertaken. There is no consultation with
employees before a decision is made. After the decision is made,
everyone is expected to support the decision made by the leader.
There is often some level of fear of the leader by the team.

The autocratic type of leadership style can be very retrogressive as

it fuels employee disgruntlement since most decisions would not be
in the employees’ interests. An example can be a unilateral increase
in working hours or a change in other working conditions
unfavorable to employees but made by leadership to increase
production. Without employee consultation, the manager may not
be fully aware of why production is not increasing, thereby resorting
to a forced increase in working hours. It can lead to persistent
absenteeism and high employee turnover.

However, autocratic leadership can be an effective approach in

cases where the leader is experienced and knowledgeable about the
circumstances surrounding the decision in question and where the
decision needs to be made swiftly. There are other instances where
it is also ideal such as when a decision does not require team input
or an agreement to ensure a successful outcome.

3. Laissez-Faire Leadership

Laissez-faire leadership is accurately defined as a hands-off or

passive approach to leadership. Instead, leaders provide their team
members with the necessary tools, information, and resources to
carry out their work tasks. The “let them be” style of leadership
entails that a leader steps back and lets team members work
without supervision and free to plan, organize, make decisions,
tackle problems, and complete the assigned projects.
The laissez-faire leadership approach is empowering to employees
who are creative, skilled, and self-motivated. The level of trust and
independence given to the team can prove to be uplifting and
productive and can lead to job satisfaction.

At the same time, it is important to keep such a type of leadership in

check as chaos and confusion can quickly ensue if the team is not
organized. The team can end up doing completely different things
contrary to what the leader expects.

According to research, laissez-faire leadership is the least satisfying

and least effective.

4. Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is all about transforming the business

or groups by inspiring team members to keep increasing their bar
and achieve what they never thought they were capable of.
Transformational leaders expect the best out of their team and push
them consistently until their work, lives, and businesses go through
a transformation or considerable improvement.

Transformational leadership is about cultivating change in

organizations and people. The transformation is done by motivating
team members to go beyond their comfort zone and achieve much
more than their perceived capabilities. To be effective,
transformational leaders should possess high levels of integrity,
emotional intelligence, a shared vision of the future, empathy, and
good communication skills.

Such a style of leadership is often associated with high growth-

oriented organizations that push boundaries in innovation and
productivity. Practically, such leaders tend to give employees tasks
that grow in difficulty and deadlines that keep getting tighter as
time progresses.

However, transformational leaders risk losing track of individual

learning curves as some team members may not receive
appropriate coaching and guidance to get through challenging
tasks. At the same time, transformational leaders can lead to high
productivity and engagement through shared trust and vision
between the leader and employees.
5. Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership is more short-term and can best be

described as a “give and take” kind of transaction. Team members
agree to follow their leader on job acceptance; therefore, it’s a
transaction involving payment for services rendered. Employees are
rewarded for exactly the work they would’ve performed. If you meet
a certain target, you receive the bonus that you’ve been promised.
It is especially so in sales and marketing jobs.

Transactional leadership establishes roles and responsibilities for

each team member and encourages the work to be completed as
scheduled. There are instances where incentive programs can be
employed over and above regular pay. In addition to incentives,
there are penalties imposed to regulate how work should be done.

Transactional leadership is a more direct way of leadership that

eliminates confusion between leader and subordinate, and tasks are
clearly spelled out by the leader. However, due to its rigid
environment and direct expectations, it may curb creativity and
innovation. It can also lead to lower job satisfaction and high
employee turnover.

6. Bureaucratic Leadership

Bureaucratic leadership is a “go by the book” type of leadership.

Processes and regulations are followed according to policy with no
room for flexibility. Rules are set on how work should be done, and
bureaucratic leaders ensure that team members follow these
procedures meticulously. Input from employees is considered by the
leader; however, it is rejected if it does not conform to
organizational policy. New ideas flow in a trickle, and a lot of red
tape is present. Another characteristic is a hierarchical authority
structure implying that power flows from top to bottom and is
assigned to formal titles.

Bureaucratic leadership is often associated with large, “century-old”

organizations where success has come through the employment of
traditional practices. Hence, proposing a new strategy at these
organizations is met with fierce resistance, especially if it is new and
innovative. New ideas are viewed as wasteful and ineffective, or
even downright risky.
Although there is less control and more freedom than an autocratic
leadership style, there is still no motivation to be innovative or go
the extra mile. It is, therefore, not suitable for young, ambitious
organizations on a growth path.

Bureaucratic leadership is suitable for jobs involving safety risks or

managing valuable items such as large amounts of money or gold. It
is also ideal for managing employees who perform routine work.

7. Servant Leadership

Servant leadership involves a leader being a servant to the team

first before being a leader. A servant leader strives to serve the
needs of their team above their own. It is also a form of leading by
example. Servant leaders try to find ways to develop, elevate and
inspire people following their lead to achieve the best results.

Servant leadership requires leaders with high integrity and

munificence. It creates a positive organizational culture and high
morale among team members. It also creates an ethical
environment characterized by strong values and ideals.

However, other scholars believe servant leadership may not be

suitable for competitive situations where other leaders compete with
servant leaders. Servant leaders can easily fall behind more
ambitious leaders. The servant leadership style is also criticized for
not being agile enough to respond to tight deadlines and high-
velocity organizations or situations.

Other Leadership Styles

1. Coach-style Leadership

Coach-style leadership involves identifying and nurturing individual

strengths and formulating strategies for the team to blend and work
well together, cohesively and successfully.

2. Charismatic Leadership

Charismatic leadership employs charisma to motivate and inspire

followers. Leaders use eloquent communication skills to unite a
team towards a shared vision. However, due to the charismatic
leaders’ overwhelming disposition, they can see themselves as
bigger than the team and lose track of the important tasks.

3. Strategic Leadership

Strategic leadership leads the company’s main operations and

coordinates its growth opportunities. The leader can support
multiple employee layers at the same time.

Which Leadership Style is the Best?

No one leadership style fits all organizations or situations. In

addition, there is no one right way to lead, and there may be a need
to switch between different leadership styles. It is therefore
important to know all leadership styles and their pros and cons. The
right leadership approach is often determined by the following
factors:

 The type of organization, i.e., mature or growth-oriented

 The type of work involved, i.e., routine or creative
 The level of experience and skill of the team
 The personality of the leader

A consideration of the above factors will likely determine the

appropriate leadership style to adopt or an appropriate combination
of certain leadership styles.

More Resources

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to the different Leadership Styles.
To keep advancing your career, the additional CFI resources below
will be useful:

 Bureaucracy
 Leadership Theories
 Types of Organizations
 Leadership Traits
 See all management & strategy resources