Week Of Leadership: Styles of Leadership

Identifying The Right Leadership Style

While it is important to be able to use a variety of leadership styles, flexibility alone is not enough – to use different leadership styles effectively, you need to make sure that you use the right style for the particular situation.

This means that you need to work out what it is that the person you are leading needs to accomplish the task successfully.

Whenever there is performance gap it is usually an issue of competence or commitment, or a mixture of the two.

Competence

In situational leadership terms, competence means the person’s knowledge and skills which are gained through experience, training and in some cases, formal education. Competence in this sense is not the same as innate ability or potential. Instead, competence is here used to describe something that can be developed over time with the right direction and support.

Commitment

This is a combination of confidence and motivation. Confidence is a measure of somebody’s self-assuredness and security - the extent to which they feel able to perform a task with little or no guidance. Motivation is a measure of their keenness to perform a task, their desire to achieve and their enthusiasm – in other words, how much they want to do the task.

People are said to be at different levels of confidence and competence in relation to a specific task. With the right direction and support, people typically move through the levels of development, starting out as an enthusiastic beginner and moving through to being a peak performer. It is rare to find a person who is at the same development level for every part of their job – instead people are usually at different development levels for different aspects of their job.

Different styles of Leadership

Authoritative

• In control
• Communicates clear instructions and directions to achieve tasks
• Is highly specific in the achievement of tasks, goals and objectives
• Highly supervisory, determining roles and responsibilities

Consultative

• Ensures clear instructions are given, whilst soliciting occasional feedback and discussion with team members
• Enables greater confidence and motivation in the team through on-going feedback
• Constantly monitors performance to ensure that it meets standards

Supportive

• Whilst acting as a manager/leader is also able to be a member of the team
• Constantly solicits feedback and suggestions from the team to aid and share decision-making
• Encourages the team to make decisions and take responsibility where appropriate
• Makes appropriate changes where evidence shows that this is necessary

Delegative

• Maintains accountability for the team, but devolves responsibility to the team
• Steps in when asked or required in order to offer advice and guidance
• Demonstrates clear trust for the team, their knowledge, skills and behaviour

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Week of Leadership: Behaviours

Leadership Behaviours

Although each organisation is different, certain key themes emerge repeatedly. Having some kind of vision usually features strongly, as does the ability to inspire people. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of devising a tailor–made set for your company, Kouzes and Posner have developed one of the best generic models. In their book ‘The Leadership Challenge’ they identify five key leadership behaviours:

Challenge the process

This leadership behaviour is about commitment to continuous improvement. James Dyson challenged the way vacuum cleaners were designed and marketed when he developed his dual cyclone model. Julian Richer questioned the way hi-fi systems and mobile phones were sold to retail customers. Richer, of Richer Sounds, passionately believes that if you treat people well, genuinely respect them and work hard at constantly motivating them, it results in a group of people who value their jobs and value themselves. 

Inspire a shared vision

Inspiring a shared vision means having a very clear view of where you want to go. Mark Simpson isn’t a nationally known figure. When he took over the family screen–printing business on Tyneside, it was just another small printing firm. But what makes Simpson a true leader is his vision of the future. This vision is transforming his company into the number one player in its market sector, designing and producing innovative point-of-purchase products for retailers.

Enable others to act

Enabling others to act means not only creating the kind of intense loyalty that people such as Richard Branson can inspire in their staff, but also making sure that other people have the skills to act in the pursuit of the vision. Kevin Newman set up the very successful telephone bank, First Direct. When I asked him how he went about taking important decisions, his answer surprised me. ‘I avoid taking decisions as much as possible’ he said. ’As chief executive, my job is to teach other people how to make the decision’. 

Model the way

Modelling the way is perhaps the most interesting leadership behaviour. The credibility of a manager who says one thing and does another can be seriously questioned. Living consistently by a set of values is what sets true leaders apart. In Built to Last Porras and Collins investigate what makes a company successful over the long term. Their research shows that leaders don’t have to be charismatic, leading from the front, sparkling with quick wit and ready repartee. But they do have to have a set of values that they believe in and which they demonstrate by their action dozens of times every day. Building trust and credibility is the ultimate leadership challenge. 

Encourage the heart

Encouraging the heart is about giving the praise and encouragement people need to keep going. William James, often described as the father of modern psychology, once said ‘The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be accepted’. It’s the little things in life that make people feel appreciated. When Rotary watches won an industry award for one of their products, MD Robert Dreyfuss sent every member of staff a personal thank you letter, which contained a £50 note. People at Rotary still refer to this special approach, remembering the personal letter rather than the financial reward.

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Week Of Leadership: What is Leadership?

Leadership is a really big subject…

• ‘Leadership’ web search: 135,000,000 pages
• ‘Leadership definition’ search: 113,000,000 pages

Source: Google – 22 April 2014

Defining Leadership is a difficult task.  A simple search on Google willl

give you...

Some Key theorists have attempted to define it:

"The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers"

Peter Drucker – Management theorist

"Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well

communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realise your own leadership potential"

Warren Bennis – Co-founder, The Leadership Institute USC

One of the functions of leadership is to integrate individual goals and targets, department goals and organisational objectives.

Management skills versus Leadership skills

Management Skills (short term): planning, organisation, control of resources, budgeting, resolving staffing issues, problem solving, team structure, policies and procedures.

Leadership Skills (long term): motivating staff, setting team direction, open communication, building co-operation, encouraging questions, allowing freedom to work on own initiative, growing and nurturing talent, support and encouragement.

Strong management without leadership can result in:

• Bureaucratic and hierarchical teams
• Robust polices
• Clear job roles and defined responsibilities 
• Control which can stifle innovation 
• Routine and maintenance with little change   

Strong leadership without management can result in: 

• Innovation but detached from reality
• High motivation and energy but little formal planning
• Personal development at the expense of the task
• High degree of open communication and change which is not well focused

The result of a balanced approach is: 

• Innovation and direction
• Change which is well planned
• Logical implementation and clear policies
• Staff who are motivated and understand their roles

Fresh Learning offers a range of training and support with Leadership  and Management courses . For more information, send us a message using the contact form on the right-hand side of this post or email hello@freshlearning.eu.

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