Types of Leadership
Welcome back!
Today I want to lay out the types of leadership. When doing research about leadership online you will notice quickly that there are many different types of leaders. You will read an entire article called, “The 9 Types of Leadership” only to go to the next article that shows fifteen different types. At first this annoyed me. I always said in my head, “Why can’t everyone agree on what types there are so we can all be on the same page!” As I thought about it more, I realized that leadership is not meant to have a permanent description. New generations and personalities will appear, so the ways we lead must adapt.
I will cover the types of leadership that I have read up on and facts that we know about them. These will be in alphabetical order, so please do not confuse this as a “ranking” system. I narrowed down my sources to just four sites. There are a lot of overlapping ideas when reading through these. I was able to eliminate the sites that had the same info but not as descriptive. Starting with BokasTutor where they explain twelve types of leadership that may show ones you are not familiar with. Personio covers six types, one of which is not covered in any of the four sites. Institute Project Management covers all the same types but goes in depth to explain each one including pros and cons. HubSpot also covers the same types as the others, but this one was my favorite site. They use clever images that accurately depict each type along with good descriptions of each. I am going to do my best to not include any types that may sound repetitive. There are many leadership type names that have the same meaning. As you read through these, try to envision which types resonate with you. Are there any types you would want to try? Do you have someone in mind that your type of leadership doesn’t work with?
1. Affiliative
Also known as Servant leadership, this leadership style focuses on their team being sure to tend to their needs. This allows feedback from employees to be a major factor in the business. Leaders using this style will often resolve situations quickly to keep a conflict from escalating. This style can help get a team to trust their leader by improving communication, but the leader needs to be careful to not lose sight on goals by focusing too much on people-pleasing.
2. Autocratic
Also known as Authoritarian leadership, Autocratic leaders provide clear instructions on what the goal is. While it is good to be upfront about what the business objective is, this type does not want feedback from the team. Decisions are made by the leader. Ideas or processes are usually sprung on the team after it has been finalized without any input on if there are better options. This style of leadership can be effective with newer team members. It also comes in handy in times of crisis when there is no time to come together to develop a plan. With objectives laid out for everyone to see, productivity is more consistent. The downside is that in this type of environment can cause employees to feel as though they do not matter. Without the opportunity to be heard and be creative there will be more callouts and turnover.
3. Bureaucratic
Bureaucratic is the more formal style of leadership typically found in larger companies. This type follows a chain of command and focuses on rules, procedures, and structure of the business. The team can be heard if they have ideas to offer, but if the ideas do not align with the usual company practices, then the idea could get turned down. This is a case of “If it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it.” Ideas to change processes or policies can be too risky. In this environment it is hard for there to be any favoritism but can be challenging to move up in the company.
4. Coach
Considered a newer type of leadership and also known as Conscious leadership, Coach is one of my personal favorites. This type of leadership focuses on their teams’ strengths. Coach leaders are supportive with a positive attitude. They influence their team to strengthen their weaknesses by giving opportunities to learn a new task. You must know where the line is drawn though to ensure you don’t make anyone feel overwhelmed. If your team has initiative and wants to grow their skill set, this is the style for you. There are times when coaching style should be turned off such as if someone needs too much help taking all the leader’s time. Remember that not everyone learns the same way so you must have multiple leadership styles. This environment can help promote motivation and willingness to learn.
5. Coercive
Very similar description to Autocratic. I almost did not include this one, but after I read through on Personio, I was able to see why they see Coercive differently. It is specific that Coercive should be the least used out of all styles. This method is for “putting out fires” in the workplace. Tough decisions are made in high-pressure moments without any input from team members. This can hurt the team’s morale and make them afraid to approach their leader. I have not been in a position personally to have to use this type of leadership. If you are consistently communicating with your team, then you can make snap decisions in emergencies that you know the team will be on board with.
6. Democratic
Democratic leadership is all about listening. Employees’ feedback and ideas are heard and encouraged to be presented with how to launch them. There is research showing that this is considered to create higher productivity and higher morale. The downside to look out for is this type of leadership can cause a long length of time before a decision is made. Leaders that use this also tend to have too many team meetings which can quickly turn that increased morale into burnout. You must be able to show that you are still the authority and steer the meetings to a decision. The more time in meetings, the less productive the team will be.
7. Entrepreneurial
This leadership style is a lot more hands-on in daily responsibilities while still developing business ideas, models, and procedures. Leaders that use this style tend to be role models for their team and promote creativity. This one is not mentioned as often and was only talked about by BokasTutor. They explain that with this type of leadership there is a lot of change which can cause new challenges that have not been experienced before.
8. Laissez-faire
This type of leadership is also known as delegative leadership. Leaders who use this type hold their employees accountable for their work. This has little to no micromanagement as you give your team the freedom to experiment to hit their goals. Employees can feel more validated in their work rather than just following orders, but this does not mean they can’t learn from their mistakes. It is important that this type is not used with newer employees as they will need more guidance than the others. Since this is a “hands-off” style of leadership it can be easily abused by leaders. You must maintain the responsibilities of the leader and provide feedback when you are able. An example of a bad Laissez-faire leader would be Michael Scott from The Office.
9. Pacesetting
A pacesetting leader sets high expectations and goals. This is typically seen in sales roles. These leaders focus on results and speed even to the point of working alongside the team if it helps hit their numbers. This method is meant for teams that have a good amount of experience as it could overwhelm newer employees. Pacesetting can go wrong though. I have personally had experience with some goals being impossible to obtain. The goal was locked in for an entire year as we had no power to change the decisions made. It created a frustrating environment for everyone on the team and burnout came quickly. With everyone’s focus being on hitting the goal you risk losing creative thinking in your team. Pacesetting is not a wrong way to lead, but you must make sure that you are realistic and flexible in goals and deadlines.
10. Situational
I refer to this one as “common sense leading” as every leader should know that one type of leadership isn’t enough. Situational leadership is all about reading the issue and the room to adjust which type of leader you are in that moment. This is challenging for many leaders to be able to change quickly, and if you change your type too much then you will cause mass confusion amongst your team. This is said to be the best type of leader, but it takes a strong-minded leader to pull this off.
11. Strategic/Visionary
I am combining Visionary leadership in this category as Visionary and Strategic both focus on long term goals. They focus on the future by trying to predict their markets, have eyes on competition, and are ready to adapt like Situational leaders. It is common for leaders who use this to plan too far out while ignoring the problems that their team currently faces. While long term goals are good to have, including smaller goals for the team to hit that helps achieve the overall goal will keep your team more engaged. It is important to celebrate small victories when striving to hit a goal that is far from reach.
12. Transactional
Rewards and punishment are how Transactional leaders motivate their team. All eyes are on employee performance. If goals are hit then rewards are given, but if they are not then you can expect a meeting to talk about your performance. It is said that this type doesn’t care about their relationship with their employees, but I do not have much in-person experience with this type. If the meetings that these leaders have when goals are not hit truly feel like a punishment for their team, then I disagree with this method. However, if you listen to the employee and see what happened to make the goal not be hit. Then you can provide coaching to help achieve goals in the future. Anyone that uses, “Don’t let this happen again!” without any form of help does not belong in the leader seat.
13. Transformational
This is also referred to as one of the best types of leadership. Transformational leaders are ones that can inspire the best out of their team. This method can help move your team into future leaders themselves. They work to help their team apply change in the business to push towards a better future for the company. This can lead to high morale and low turnover but only if your employees are on board. There will be a need for feedback often without seeming too overbearing on your team. Some sites say this type is like visionary, but even though they both focus on the future, Transformational cares more about the growth of the skills in their team.
Conclusion
If you made it this far then congrats! I understand that this can be a lot of information. Pulling nearly every type from multiple articles into one was harder than I expected. I often scrolled up to make sure I wasn’t typing the same type again. Hopefully putting in some of the pros and cons of each type will be useful for you to know what may help your team the most. In an upcoming post I will cover different types of learning. If you know how people learn, then that can help you determine the best way to lead them. I would love to hear from you about what type you are most related to, or even what type you would least want to work for. Again, if you find this helpful, please consider becoming a subscriber! Even if you are not a leader my content can help you better understand your leader. Like and share! We are making our way to a better work culture.
“Empowering those around you to be heard and valued makes the difference between a leader who simply instructs and one who inspires.” - Adena Friedman, Nasdaq CEO