Professor George Kohlrieser explores various leadership styles and the pluses and/or minuses for each, and how we can succeed by finding the right balance.
Daniel Goleman’s 5 Leadership styles
Here is a handy explanation of what each style involves and when it can be appropriate to use:
Coercive leadership
Does it work? Yes, however only in the short term. Threats work if you keep upping them; when coercive leaders run out of threats, they can’t get things done.
Should I use it? In a crisis situation, this style can help kick start or turn around a problem. If you communicate your sense of trust and authenticity, you are unlikely to need to.
Authoritative leadership
Does it work? Yes. People will follow an authoritative leader because they trust the bond between them. It’s one of the reasons that this leadership style, not the coercive style, is promoted within the military – counterintuitive as this may seem. It is a critical leadership style when a new vision is required or a clear direction is needed.
Should I use it? Yes. It is the best way for leaders to unleash high performance in others over the long term.
Affiliative leadership
Does it work? It’s effective in healing wounds in fractured teams and motivating others during stressful periods. Affiliative leaders can struggle to give tough feedback or make hard calls.
Should I use it? It has positive elements but you need to be able to adopt an authoritative style when a critical approach is needed.Democratic leadership
What is it? Democratic leaders take everyone’s opinion on board so that all decisions are backed by a consensus.
Does it work? It can – with some caveats. Giving everyone in a team a chance to participate in every decision simply takes too long; trying to do this can result in terrible bureaucratic slowdown. However, organizations that can streamline the process so that democracy does not impede progress can find it positive.
Should I use it? Consider combining elements of this approach with an authoritative style. Teams that trust one another, and their leaders, are willing to allow other people to make decisions on their behalf if and when necessary, but they are also willing to speak up if and when needed.
Pace-setting leadership
Does it work? It depends. It can work to get quick results from a highly motivated team. When combined with empathy and compassion it can be an effective way of developing people; without these characteristics it will have a fundamentally negative effect.
Should I use it? Yes, if used in the short term and you are compassionate and empathetic. Otherwise, no.Want to find out which leadership style, or which mix of styles, best suits you and your organization?
Leadership and Character
More than 180 executives attended an IMD Discovery Event that explored the issue of leadership and character.
The participants – senior leaders from a variety of industries and companies – went through a journey of self-discovery that gave them the opportunity to reflect on their own leadership experiences and those of others in their organizations.
George Kohlrieser is a Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at IMD, where he directs the High Performance Leadership (HPL), Advanced High Performance Leadership (AHPL) and Learning Leadership programs.
Kohlrieser is author of the award-winning bestseller Hostage at the Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others and Raise Performance, which was released in audio version by Talking Book on 24 June 2016.
