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Leadership styles
As a manager you probably have a preferred leadership style and this may work
most of the time, but it is important to vary your approach when necessary.
Daniel Golemans book, Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence, first
published in 2002, states that the most successful leadership is that of managing
the emotions of their team in order to keep motivation and morale high. The better
a leader understands the members of their team, the more successful they can be
in stimulating and maintaining motivation to achieve the desired goals. But not all
people can be managed in the same way.
The six leadership styles Goleman identified are:
f The visionary leader this style of leadership sets out a vision or an ideal
and shares it with the team, guiding and supporting, but not directing team
members in a specific direction. It is often used when a new direction is needed
and there is no clear path yet forged. It is often more successful with young
and inexperienced individuals than with seasoned workers resistant to change
f The coaching leader this is a much more personalised approach to
leadership in which much time is invested in long conversations with individual
workers in order to link the goals of the organisation with the individuals
personal goals and career aspirations. For individuals who already know what
they want, are already doing it, and are self-motivated, this style of leadership
can be over bearing and can seem like micro-management
f The affiliative leader this style of leadership places the importance on the
emotional needs of the workforce over work and organisational needs and
this sort of leader wants to retain harmony amongst the whole workforce at
all costs. It can be quite destructive if the workforce take advantage of the
kindness and compassion afforded to them and it can also be regarded as
sweeping issues under the carpet in order to appease the emotions of the staff
f The democratic leader this is a collaborative approach in which management
seeks the input of their workforce for decision-making processes. It is an
effective way of gaining support from the workforce as it allows them to
take ownership of the goals, but it can also be regarded as management not
knowing what they are doing
f The pace-setting leader this approach is to lead by example. A pace-setting
leader will often bring in new and exciting challenges, demonstrating their
own ability and excellence, and expecting the same from everyone else.
If a situation needs rescuing they will often wade in and resolve matters
themselves. Very little guidance is offered to the workforce and they are
expected to know what to do and get it done. It works best with an experienced
and able team who are highly motivated
f The commanding leader perhaps the most traditional style of leadership, the
commanding leader issues clear instructions with no room for manoeuvre that
they expect will be completed without any questions asked. It is as far from
democratic as possible. This type of leader has a powerful presence and can
often be seen as cold and aloof. This style works best in a crisis when results
or changes are needed immediately and a floundering team needs clear
guidance.
Our personalities lend us to a specific style of leadership but a good manager
should employ a combination of all styles to suit the occasion and the people with
whom they deal.
WORKBOOK | 2017 YOUNG RABBIT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PACIFIC COLLEGE
BSB51915 DIPLOMA OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT & BSB61215 ADVANCED DIPLOMA OF PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE_V1.5
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Activity 2.3
1. When dealing with people in your organisation, what matters might arise?
2. Describe a situation concerning a member of your team with which you had
to deal. How did you have to adapt your normal approach to deal with it and
what was the outcome?
Activity 2.4