Find the Leadership Style That Works for Your Business

As a business owner, leadership is a very important role you have to play. While there are quite a few leadership styles, you have to decide what style of leadership you wish to adopt for your business. 

You can use Vistacreate’s mood board template to effectively communicate with your employees, clients and subordinates.

It is important to note that when it comes to leadership, there are complex factors to consider, and leadership in itself has a very broad scope. With over 10 leadership styles to choose from, it is important to note that what suits one business may not necessarily suit the other. 

In today’s industry, most leaders adapt leadership roles as they see fit. However, there is no specific blueprint that defines a type of leader. However, it helps to learn a thing or two about leadership as a business owner.

Here are the leadership styles you may choose to adopt in your business.

Transformational leadership

Transformational leadership involves advancing up the hierarchy in a certain role. A good example of a transformational leader is an employee who gets promoted and acquires the responsibilities of a manager, divisional head or any other senior-level Post. While transformational leadership has its advantages it may be negatively perceived by subordinates due to its uncanny similarity with brown-nosing. 

Transactional leadership.

Transactional leadership involves an effort vs reward premise. Transactional leadership offers a reward for acceptable performance however it has the disadvantage of risking employee discontentment if punishment is meted out for underperforming.

It is important to note that holding employees against their will to meet a deadline for the benefit of the business is an acceptable practice even as a transactional leader. Transactional leadership has the tenacity to get work done due to the incentives used to motivate employees to perform their best. However, you must take care not to go too far.

Servant leadership.

Servant leadership involves an element of humility. It involves leading by example putting the company and employees’ needs ahead of personal agendas. Being a servant leader comes with an element of rarity because these types of leaders practice power-sharing modes of authority which is not a widely practiced role. A benefit of servant leadership is that it pushes birthday subordinates and the leader to new levels of responsibilities and skill where there is potential. However, servant leadership may be perceived as lacking in authority. Servant leadership is the best style of good leadership when you seek to connect with your employees and subordinates. It also inspires loyalty however there is a risk of the leader being undermined by subordinates due to conflict of interest.

As a servant leader, you can avoid insubordination by ensuring that you are set and exhibit your authority and show strict adherence to a predetermined protocol.

Autocratic leadership.

This leadership style focuses on a result-oriented approach. Autocratic leaders often make decisions alone. This style of leadership lacks an element of trust and it implies an expectation for subordinates to be just as passionate about the work as the leader.

Autocratic leadership vastly resembles military decorum. In business this type of leadership is rarely used; this is because the different environment setup and organizational structure cannot be directly applied in a business setting. Employees are under no obligations to follow orders as military personnel.

Autocratic leadership is best suited to organizations with strict policies however there is a high risk of initiative and creativity drastically minimized. Employees will likely work in the system following orders without any creative inputs or initiative taken. This type of leadership does not offer any personal growth or development to the employee.

Hands off leadership (Laissez-faire)

Hands off leadership primarily involves delegation of tasks with the implication that subordinates are to complete these tasks to the best of their abilities. In this type of system, the leader will likely give instructions along the lines of “I leave that in your capable hands”. Hands of leadership does not involve strict adherence to policies and may also allow employees to define their work hours as long as they produce results and complete their tasks. The quota is assigned and the employees are left to their own devices on how to meet This quota. 

Hands of leadership allows you to recognize employees who over-deliver and offer befitting rewards. It allows you to easily identify employees who require minimum supervision.

Democratic leadership.

Democratic leadership involves fostering dialogue, participation, discussion and different creative tactics. Democratic leadership is quite different from autocratic leadership in that it encourages employees to follow their colleagues and take initiative wherever possible.

Pacesetter leadership.

Pacesetter leadership focuses and speed. This style of leadership is ideal in agile work environments where communication is not hierarchical and things can scale up at any time. Pacesetter leaders push their employees to their limits however they do so without hindering the performance or individual energy levels of the employees.

Pacesetter leadership also offers rewards to employees and subordinates. In a pace-setting leadership business, employees that are willing to put in their best tend to get rewarded and grow personally. This style of leadership is ideal in sales-oriented businesses where numbers matter at the end of any given period.

Read also: 5 Qualities That Make You a Successful Entrepreneur