Get to Know Your Leadership Style

There’s no one right way to lead a team, but there are tried and true formulas for success. As you grow in your career, you’ll get more and more experience leading people. An understanding of different well-known and proven types of leadership can help you find the right path that resonates for you. Find the right leadership style for you, and set your team up for success.

Democratic Leadership Style

Democratic leaders strive to sincerely include their team in the decision making process rather than going it alone.  This type of leadership allows the whole team to participate in―and take ownership of―the organization’s direction. This highly participatory style promotes high levels of job satisfaction, workplace morale and creativity. Everyone feels connected to the overall health and well-being of the organization. However, just like any leadership style, it does have its drawbacks. Soliciting advice from one’s team can be time consuming if decisions are needed quickly. Also, it relies on all team members being well informed. Democratic leaders need to strike a balance within their team of both decisive action and rich participation.

Transformational Leadership Style

Transformational leaders work with their team to implement improvement and growth. Charismatic and intellectual, these leaders redirect their team’s thinking towards a better tomorrow. The transformational leader solicits input from her team to identify what areas of the organization require change, creates the vision to guide that change, and then works with her team to execute the redirection. These big-picture thinkers may require teammates around them who are more detail-oriented to implement processes, and they need to develop strategies for soliciting their teammates’ assistance.

Coaching Leadership Style

Coaching leaders thrive in one-on-one mentoring situations. They help to define their team members’ goals, align those goals to the organization and then assist team members as they pursue their goals. The coaching style of leadership can be thought of as a sort of win-win relationship between the leader and her teammates. Coaching leaders help their team members to develop professionally, and they also thereby bolster the health of the overall organization. However, it can be easy to go overboard with this type of leadership and engage in behaviors that border on micromanagement. Coaching leaders need to yield their influence tactfully.

Visionary Leadership Style

Visionary leaders articulate where they see an organization heading in the future. They craft compelling―and often unheard-of―visions of what an organization can become. This style of leadership acts to inspire the team towards a shared goal. The internal drive they spark in their team members frees up creativity, and that freedom allows all the team members to delve into innovative strategies on how to get from Point A to Point B. However, visionary leaders need to keep in close contact with their team and stay involved in the team’s progression. Such an approach keeps everyone grounded as they strive towards the future.

Pacesetting Leadership Style

Pacesetting leaders like to lead by example, first and foremost. They rely on their unbridled enthusiasm and work ethic to establish the standards they expect from others. They are the roll-up-the-sleeves-and-get-dirty types. Pacesetting leaders are particularly adept at driving results, because they set the bar so high. They demonstrate to their team that no one is above the work required to accomplish goals. Pacesetting leaders should be cautious, however, and strive not to become single-minded. Narrowing one’s vision down to a single goal―or several―can mean that effective feedback and mentoring get neglected. Pacesetting leaders need to check in with their team members or a regular basis.

It is likely that you recognize one or more of these types of leadership in your own style. It’s rare that any one individual engenders just one leadership style. Explore which styles resonate with you. By cultivating a dynamic leadership style that encompasses a number of different approaches, you can find the right tools within yourself to tackle even the largest challenges.

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We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales and marketing services located in Agoura Hills, California. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company to garnering a reputation for consistently exceeding client expectations and driving outstanding revenue growth, Cydcor has been helping Fortune 500 and emerging companies achieve their customer acquisition, retention, and business goals since 1994. Cydcor takes pride in the unique combination of in-person sales, call center, and digital marketing services we offer to provide our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.