Know Your Leadership Style to Improve Your Effectiveness
Leaders are as varied as the worldwide landscape. There are “born leaders” who have a natural talent for leadership and have risen to the top of their profession. There are leaders that have been trained and groomed in order to get there. And there are leaders that have worked hard to achieve fame, fortune, and success without any formal training.
They’re all leaders and can be found in all walks of life.
Some leaders are skilled at identifying themselves with their own work and tend to be motivated by their own self-image rather than by the needs of others. And there are leaders who are passionate and take great pride in their work; they enjoy what they do and often excel at it because it brings them satisfaction from doing it well. Yet there are leaders who tend not to respect those below them because they don’t allow any individual (or even small group) any room for error or growth. These types prefer to make decisions unilaterally without giving anyone else a say in how things should proceed. They place too much emphasis on executing tasks well without regard for the feelings or concerns of those within or outside their organizatons.
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Visionary: Leaders Who Create the Future and Have a Clear Vision
People often have a hard time defining what makes an effective leader. A good leader should be able to change the way people think, feel, and act. In order for leaders to achieve their vision and grow it into a reality, they need to be willing to make bold decisions, lay out clear goals, trust their team and have faith in their ability.
Visionary leaders lead with passion; keeping a spark within themselves that drives them forward. The passion becomes contagious and spreads throughout their team. The excitement they create makes everyone feel like they have a chance at succeeding as well.
Visionary leaders know how to rely on group dynamics, a dream team so they have everyone moving forward with the same purpose.
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Innovator: Leaders Who are Game Changers
Leaders of any industry are not all the same. In fact, it is exceptionally rare to find a leader who does not have at least one of the following characteristics:
- An innovative nature.
- A strong will to change things.
“I am looking for a lot of people who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.” - Henry Ford
Innovative Leaders are passionate about personal growth and development, for themselves and for their team.
"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." - Ronald Osborn
Do you wish to have a more innovative nature? Do you want to become a game changer?
Influencer: Leaders Who Focus on People and are Dynamic
People-focused leaders put the needs of team members first. These leaders prioritise their team's well-being and make sure they feel supported in their work. People-focused leadership helps build trust and respect between the leaders and their team. These leaders make their employees feel valued, included, and motivated at work.
“Take care of your employees, and they will take care of your business.” - Richard Branson
People-focused leaders tend to be self-assured, positive and consistent in leading themselves and others.
Dominator: Leaders Who Command and Control
Dominators are a special breed of leaders. They tend to be very autocratic or egoistic, and they get their way by using intimidation and threats or by just telling people what to do. These types of leaders prefer to make decisions unilaterally without giving anyone else a say in how things should proceed. They tend not to put forth much effort nor care about the opinions of people and they will usually make decisions based on self-interest alone. It's not wrong to get things done with other people's help; it's wrong if you do it without giving them credit for it.
Hesitater: Leaders Who are Slow to Change and Indecisive
These are leaders who do not change quickly and, therefore, cannot be quickly changed. You will never be able to maintain a leadership position if you do not change.
Paralysis by Analysis is an inability to make a decision due to overthinking a problem. Although it is a good idea to be thoughtful in your decision-making, there are times when leaders may move beyond thoughtful to a place of confusion and being overwhelmed.
Abdicator: Leaders Who Resist Change
Leadership is a role that demands a high degree of self-control. Leaders who do not master the art of self-control are abdicators. The abdicator has no desire to lead. He or she will not step up, take charge, and shape the future. Whilst it is true that leaders embrace change, abdicators resist change.
Abdicators are sometimes called weaklings because they have no backbone. In some ways they are more submissive than passive-aggressive leaders like megalomaniacs who insist on absolute control over everything and everybody at all times.
But if you’re one of those people and you’re reading this, I have news for you: You’re not alone! There are other leaders out there in the world who share your inconsistencies and weaknesses with you! And there are also good leaders who will help you to learn how to improve your leadership effectiveness…if you show them how much you are willing to be mentored and/or coached.
The best leader is the one who listens to his or her team members, supports their ideas, looks for solutions, creates solutions together with team members and then decides what to do about them!
Denier: Leaders Who Do Nothing and are Indifferent to Change
Denier is a term used to describe a leader who refuses to accept the existence, truth, or validity of something despite evidence or general support for it. They have an instinctive dislike for change and prefer to maintain their status quo. They are often characterized as stubborn, insistent, controlling, and intolerant.
Knowing Your Leadership Style can Help You be More Effective in Your Role
Imagine your life is like a tree. The trunk is your family and/or organization, the branches are your friends, colleagues and clients. The leaves are your achievements; the buds are the new beginnings; and the fruit is how you feel about yourself.
Your life, as a tree, will be different depending on which direction you choose to take for each season of your life.
While leadership is a notoriously complex topic, there are clear differences that can be identified between people with different leadership styles and those with varying degrees of success in their roles. The main differences can be described as follows:
- The combination of the personality type into which you were born (for example, extroverted vs. introverted)
- What you do and how you do it (for example, leader vs. follower)
- Your style of communication (for example, direct vs. indirect)
- Your level of self-awareness and self-esteem (for example, confidence vs. insecurity)
- Your emotions (for example, action vs. reaction; positive vs. negative).
Each leader has their own strengths and weaknesses in their roles as leaders. If you want to become a better leader then you must consider each type of leader before making any decisions as to which type of leader you want to be.
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