Types of Leadership

There are several branches of psychology that dedicate entire theories to leadership. A lot of human resource specialists do follow-ups and organize workshops so that leaders can better understand their position and manage their employees in a productive manner.

There are many types of leadership and they can all be combined depending on the situation, the employees, the type of leader you are and depending on the company’s goals, too. The following styles are the most common ones, but the list is more comprehensive than this.

The Directive Leadership Style

This is one of the main types of leadership. The directive leadership style deals with concrete matters. The leader that uses the directive style focuses on two things: the needs of the employee and the needs of the company or organization he works for.

The Supporting Leadership Style

This approach is also popular among many leaders nowadays. The leader will always take care of his team, making sure that no employee will be overworked and he or she won’t suffer from burnout. The work tasks and deadlines might be hard to achieve, this is why the leader will always help his team by using his or her fine management abilities. It’s all about getting the employees motivated to do the job, to be productive but not stressed out.

The Coaching Approach

This kind of leadership style turns the manager or leader into a sort of mentor for the employee. The leader pays close attention to every employee, analyzes his strong and weak points and gives positive and constructive feedback. This kind of leader is focused both on the present and future development of the employee. This leader includes the employee in his activities.

The Delegating Approach

The leader leaves the employee to solve the problems; the leader only delegates the tasks. Sometimes the employee has to take a decision on his own. The leader won’t interfere in the employee’s tasks. Only when it’s necessary the leader will make changes and take the decisions for the employee. This kind of approach is used when the employees seem to enjoy handling tasks on their own without the leader’s interference. This kind of leader monitors and sometimes gives out pieces of advice to his team.

The Multiple Leadership Styles Approach

Our personalities can be so different. Even our working styles differ greatly from one person to another. Leaders also choose multiple leadership styles to match their employees’ personalities and behaviors. Leaders also take into account the company’s goals when choosing a certain approach when it comes to leadership.

The Type of Personality Matters

People can usually tell when an attitude, a behavior or leadership style is forced or feigned. Try to stay true to who you are and choose a leadership style that is close to your heart and personality. You must feel comfortable with what you do and if you want to be a leader that people look up to, you have to be transparent, honest and hardworking. You will earn your employees’ respect and you will manage your team better.