6 Styles of Leadership

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Lynne Leahy joined Uspire’s 5th Paradigm Shifter to speak about the power of humility and how having a modest view on ones importance and believing in the power of the group is often a hallmark of an effective leader.
Lynne talked extremely knowledgeably about her experience of developing and maintaining high performance cultures. Integral to this were her thoughts on the 6 common leadership styles she has observed in high performing teams.
The Visionary Leader
This leader communicates an inspiring vision to their team, but to make it powerful it needs to connect with the hearts and minds of their team.
The Directive Leader
This is a take-charge leader. Someone who dictates actions and expects them to be met. They make it known that there will be negative consequences if the team don’t do as they say.
The Pacesetting Leader
This leader exudes high energy and takes their team with them at pace. They expect their team to “do it like this” and “do it fast” and suggest that if their team behave like them they will be alright.
The Affiliative Leader
The affiliative leader promotes harmony among their team and attempts to build teams that feel connected to one another. However to display true affiliative qualities , an affiliative leader must be understood to be someone who will police behaviour.
The Participative Leader
This leader asks their team lots of open questions. They take feedback and although they think their votes carries more weight, most of the time it doesn’t.
The Coaching Leader
The Coaching leader does not dictate, but listens. They don’t give advice but guide their team to arrive at the decisions that are best for them and the business. The employee decides what needs to be done, not the leader.
Exceptional leaders use all 6, whilst coaching, being something that requires the most emotional intelligence, is the hardest leadership style to adopt.
For a fascinating insight into what makes an effective coach listen to Lynne's second talk at the 5th Paradigm Shifter.
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