The 4 Most Common Leadership Styles and How to Find Yours

Are you looking for an effective leadership style that best suits you and your team? Learn the four most common leadership styles.

There are many leadership styles, so understanding what type of leader you are could help you avoid some of the common challenges associated with that style.

It is easy to assume that some leadership styles are better and more important than others.

However, what makes an effective leader is the ability to exercise flexibility by applying each style to different unique situations.

In this post, we shall be going through four of the most common leadership styles to help you identify and understand your style.

The four leadership styles to be discussed are Autocratic, Democratic, Laissez-Faire (Delegative), and Transformational leadership styles.

The 4 Leadership Styles

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1. Autocratic Leadership

This leadership style is also called Authoritarian leadership.

An autocratic leader exercises absolute control and authority over everyone and the decision-making process.

These types of leaders are usually regarded as dictatorial, controlling, and bossy.

Control and command principles by the leader are the focal point of this leadership style, as the disconnection between the leader and followers is clear.

According to psychologist Kurt Lewin and his team, there is little or no adoption of creativity in the decision-making process under an autocratic leader.

The leader usually makes decisions independently without considering the opinion of others.

To Lewin, it is more difficult for a society or leader to move from an autocratic leadership style to a democratic one than vice versa.

When to use autocratic leadership

Despite the tyrannical nature of this leadership style, it can still fairly be applied in certain situations for the overall benefit of all.

This style of leadership can best be adopted in situations where;

• The situation calls for quick and decisive action to be taken.
• The leader is the most enlightened member of the group.
• Members are inexperienced, and the group can’t afford to make a costly decision

Nonetheless, this leadership style isn’t the best as it tends to create a hostile environment that is broken and defective, with the future possibility of a revolt against the leader by the people.

2. Democratic Leadership

According to Lewin, democratic leadership is the second style of leadership. It is also known as participative or participatory leadership.

Under democratic leadership, there is a clear involvement of others by the leader in the decision-making process.

Democratic leaders recognize the importance of having a team around, and their inputs and opinions are given great consideration by the leader.

A democratic leader appreciates creativity and innovation, which encourages open discussion for the free sharing of thoughts, opinions, and ideas.

Although there is an encouragement for open participation and discussion in the decision-making process, the leader retains the role of guiding and directing the process.

The power to make the ultimate decision lies with the leader.

Under this style of leadership, the followers are expected to be self-confident and also have in-depth experience.

Advantages of Democratic Leadership

1. Creates a high-performance team

People are being engaged and given a real sense of belonging in decision-making. It creates a good working environment where everyone is motivated to apply creativity in solving problems.

This indeed creates a good working environment.

1. Reduced risk of massive failure

With the involvement of others in the decision-making process, the possibility of the leader making a fatal and disastrous decision is less likely.

Disadvantages of Democratic Leadership

1. Slow decision-making process

With the involvement of others, this slows down the decision-making process, particularly in emergency situations.

1. Over-dependence on the team

Allowing others to make decisions may give room for the leader to become too reliant on the group.

This could become counterproductive as the group may end up making bad decisions.

1. Collaboration distraction

The idea of the leader trying to ensure that every member of the group is on the same page and collaborating well might become a distraction to the leader.

This may take a leader off what is most important to the group.

When to Use Democratic Leadership

• When necessary to create ownership amongst the team
• When subordinates are experts

3. Laissez-Faire (Delegative) Leadership

Laissez-faire is a French phrase meaning “allow to do.”

This leadership style is sometimes called the “hands-off style,” the “do nothing” approach, or the Delegative approach.

Under this leadership style, the leader sits and allows the group or members to make the decisions on his/her behalf.

Such a leader merely takes a supervisory role.

Many suggest that a personality figure that stands as a role model can possibly experience success becoming a laissez-faire leader even by doing nothing.

The mere physical presence of the leader can become a source of motivation for others to get the job done. Everyone wants to impress the boss!

This style of leadership is capable of attracting dissatisfaction from members.

Where it becomes clear that the leader has become incompetent and ineffective, the chance of a take-over by a leader with a democratic or authoritarian style becomes likely.

As a laissez-faire leader, it is important to exercise flexibility and be open to change.

When to Use Laissez-Faire Leadership

This style of leadership can become quite effective where;

• The team or group is highly motivated and skilled
• The team is aware of all looming deadlines
• You are able to supervise the team’s progress, to enable you step in when necessary
• You have the required resources, information, background, and tools from the beginning

Where the group or team is neither motivated nor qualified, this leadership style may lead to a devastating end.

4. Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership was introduced as a concept by James Burns.

In his book titled ‘leadership’, he defined transformational leadership as a process where leaders and subordinates raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality.

This concept was developed further by Bernard Bass in his 1985 Book titled ‘Leadership and performance beyond expectations.’

These leaders are sometimes called ‘quiet leaders’ as they possess the will to lead by example.

Transformational leadership is one where the leader models the behavior that they expect from others.

Transformational leaders set high expectations and clear goals.

They also show support to the group by guiding and motivating the group to succeed.

Transformational leaders consistently promote their vision and dreams by emotionally persuading others to adopt the vision as theirs and live and work by it.

Transformational leaders encourage a culture where the focus is on the task at hand and how to achieve it.

They are often not detailed strategic planners, as they rely on facilitating interactions and connections with key players to achieve the said vision.

Advantages of Transformational Leadership

• Balanced need for both long-term and short-term goals
• Builds trust as others feel supported
• Communication is vision focused

Disadvantages to Transformational Leadership

• It can be very ineffective in the beginning as building trust, and strong collaborations take time
• Leadership strategy is not detail-oriented

When to Use Transformational Leadership

• When the leader has earned the right to lead others
• When an inspiring long term vision is needed
• When there isn’t a necessary or urgent need for short-term focus

Conclusion

Indeed, no single leadership style works for every situation, as there are many other frameworks and approaches that can be adopted to lead a team effectively.

Understanding the different leadership styles available helps you understand and tailor your style to better fit your situation.

According to research, the most effective style was Democratic, while the least effective was laissez-faire.

For you, which of these leadership styles do you think is the most effective or best suit your current leadership position?

Comment below

This article was contributed by Godwin Amanyi.

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