5 Types ofLeadership Styles

David Kiger

When you mention the world, "leadership" in a business setting, people think of the type of person who motivates and encourages their team of employees to reach the highest levels of success. While that is the ideal scenario to have, the traits that make you a good leader to your employees can vary based on the working environment and the employees' personalities. Being a strong and commanding leader works for those employees who thrive on being told what to do for every step of the process, yet can stifle innovative and creative employees who do their best work when they control their workflow.

Deciding on the type of leadership styles that will work in your business environment and deciding on when to employ these traits is what will make the difference between being a good leader and a successful one.

AuthoritarianWhen you have an authoritarian leadership style, you have clear goals and steps on how to effectively reach those goals. You assign roles that best fit each employee and oversee them to ensure that objectives are met. An authoritarian style is perfect for new business owners who have more knowledge than the employees they hire as the workers look up to you for leadership. You will also want to have this leadership style when there are any major changes to operations where the employees need guidance on what the next steps will be.

Laissez-Faire

The laissez-faire leadership style is the exact opposite of the authoritarian. You aren't looking to step on the employees' toes because your workers have the superior skills and knowledge to handle any task that falls onto their desks. David Kiger tells business owners looking for leadership advice that the best way to employee a laissez-faire approach is when you delegate tasks and then let your motivated team select their own paths to success. You can still be there to offer advice and guidance. Yet you are engaging in a more hands-off approach.

DemocraticEvery employee has an opinion, and the democratic leader wants to be a team player as you allow all your employees to decide on what is best for the company. Also known as a participative leader, this leadership trait allows you to give each employee a sense of self-worth in the company as well as accountability. You want to employ a democratic style when you are engaging in teams as you want to motivate full participation by all employees, suggests David Kiger. Employees decide on the actions to take through a majority vote as then you can make the final decision.

Servant

You don't want to be in the limelight when you take on the servant leadership role. Everyone knows what they have to do because the business objective is so focused that there is no deviation to present or future business operations. Employees usually rely on collaboration when making decisions or they decide for themselves on what to do. But often, there are very few issues that would need your leadership to solve. Servant leadership styles work best in less dynamic work environments, normally nonprofits, as you allow the services offered by the employees to take center stage.

Inspirational

Motivation and inspiration are the leading qualities that you exhibit toward your employers. An inspirational, or transformational, leader is always around to push the team to become more productive and efficient. You focus on the big goals and let your employees handle the daily tasks. When you are an inspirational leader, you know what the best traits are in your employees and you are always pushing them to become better. While this leadership style can promote a positive work environment, you don't want to have this inspirational style with employees who aren't detail-oriented on what daily tasks are required of them to make the day productive. You won't succeed with employees who require more hand-holding.

So what makes the best leader in your company? David Kiger suggests to try to adopt the best traits of each style based on your operations and employees. It's okay to mix it up and use varying styles on different employees based on their work behaviors. Just understand when you have to push a little more or when it is okay to hang back and let your employee do their own thing when it brings in more positive results. Also, have a firm grasp on what your role is in the company. When it comes to quick decisions, you must be the sole person to make the big choices as you show everyone who is in charge.

How do you lead your company of employees to make them the best business team? The type of leadership traits you have can dictate whether there is a productive or unproductive working environment as you may need to change your style to get the most out of your employees.