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Here's the thing about leadership that a lot of people either don't understand or refuse to believe: E veryone can be a leader. There is no single answer to " What is leadership ?" because it isn't something you're either born with or without, but a powerful skill that can be developed over time. Great leaders don't follow a single path or personality type. In fact, you've probably taken on leadership roles in your life that you didn't realize at the time. So what makes a good leader , really? And how can you sharpen those skills and put them to work for you in your career and your life?

In developing a grasp of true leadership meaning, you must ask yourself not only what is leadership , but also, what is great leadership? Great leadership - quality leadership - is servant leadership. Servant leadership refers to someone who wants to influence others to serve the greater good. They don't just want to get from Point A to Point B, and they're not searching for an outcome that only benefits themselves; a great leader always has the big picture in mind. They're searching for ways to not just help themselves, but to help other people and the community at large. They're figuring out ways to influence their community and culture in such a way that everyone who's part of it benefits. Serving the greater good is their driving force, also known as their purpose.

The best leaders in the world all have a distinct purpose in mind before they take action. Purpose makes us resilient and strong. Without that purpose, you're much more susceptible to failure, prolonged ruts and depression. That's because purpose is what sustains us when things get tough - and things will always get tough.

When you want to develop effective leadership skills, turn toward the purpose that drives you. Your purpose is the juice that will drive you to keep going when you face the obstacles and challenges that are so inevitable of any worthwhile journey. It's what will pick you up and uplift others around you whenever setbacks present themselves. It's your energy. It's Kryptonite for defeat and discouragement, and it's what will give you focus and direction amid the chaos. In other words, your purpose is the North Star of leadership.

Not all leaders are necessarily good leaders. Few are truly great leaders. What sets the great apart from the bad? Learn the fundamental skills of an outstanding, inspiring leader.

Leadership comes in different shapes and styles, each with its own strengths. Learn what these are and see which one is best suited to you and the outcome you'd like to inspire towards.

Management and leadership aren't the same thing, but they do share common goals: inspiring others to do more and be better. Discover how to incorporate great leadership into your management.

Do you want to learn what makes a good leader ? At this life-changing event, you'll master the skills, strategies and tools used by Tony himself to inspire others to empowerment and fulfillment.

Outstanding leaders share common traits and qualities. By studying the best and emulating their actions, we can fast track our own leadership mastery and inspire positive, lasting change.

In this podcast, Sam Walker, who has spent his career studying how unconventional leaders inspire, achieve and build massively successful teams, shares the essential skills and knowledge you need to join the ranks of the greatest leaders .

Whether you want to work on your own leadership skills or cultivate leaders within your organization, leadership development programs will help you get there.

Great leaders know that their true goal is to create the next generation of leaders. Once you've conquered leadership, the next step is to learn how to teach others to follow in your footsteps.

To become an effective leader, you must be willing to work on yourself as well as others. Developing your own potential will allow you to communicate better, positively influence others and ultimately create lasting change. Tony Robbins' Seven Qualities of Leadership teach us that there are seven areas of our lives we must master in order to be a great leader: energy, emotions, time, relationships, purpose, finances and our ability to celebrate victories. Learn more about these seven principles and how you can use them to develop your potential.

We took a high-level view of the characteristics of a great leader above. Let's dig a little deeper now. Every great athlete has a coach and, fortunately for us, there are so many inspirational leaders that we don't have to look far to pick up the core of the features, or qualities, of influence and leadership.

So what makes a good leader and how can we apply these traits to our own lives? Let's take a look at Tony's essential qualities of leadership.

If there's one thing a leader needs to be able to do it's the ability to make tough decisions. It comes with the territory of mastering uncertainty, of being able to lead others where they are too timid to explore on their own. This isn't to deny the difficulty of the task and the undeniable stress that comes with it. So how do we make the decisions we need to and keep ourselves sane?

Decision-making starts from the heart and the brain. It has everything to do with our energy and our emotional state, which are completely in your control. Learn the principles of heart breathing.

The ability to influence, to drive action that creates long-lasting change, is a question of creating a vision that compels . Easier said than done, right? How do we form goals, objectives and outcomes that reveal the passion in us and our team? The truth is that the power to compel and propel is within all of us, we just need to learn and practice the skills to harness that power.

If you want to influence and drive change, not just in people but also in the world around you, check out Tony's goal-setting workshop.

General Stanley McChrystal is an outstanding example of effective leadership . He has been called "perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat" by a former defense secretary and retired as a four-star general in 2010. Discover his philosophy that the best leadership is based on relationships, trust and empathy. This is a philosophy that will come as a surprise to many in traditional, command-and-control roles, but one that Tony Robbins knows to be efficient and effective.

What is leadership without action? It isn't worth much. Imagine a military leader whose unit doesn't follow the plan. Or a CEO whose employees are apathetic and indifferent. Or a sports team that can't make any plays. Tony says that "The path to success is to take massive, determined action." Here he talks with Simon Sinek about his Ten Rules for Success that will show you how to think, act and communicate in a way that will inspire others to not only follow you, but believe in you wholeheartedly.

Ready to master effective leadership?

Great leaders are made, not born. Unlock your inner leader and develop your skills at Leadership Academy.

What is the meaning of leadership?

The answer to "What is leadership?" goes beyond delegating tasks and supervising work. Being a leader is much more than being a boss. Leaders help others reach their full potential by listening to them and supporting them with the right tools and strategies. Leaders have passion, and they live that passion every day. The energy and positivity of outstanding leadership is contagious - so it leads to amazing business outcomes, too. That's the true importance of leadership. Learn more about the differences between being a boss and being a leader today.

What is a leadership role?

Leadership roles are often thought of as upper management titles, like supervisors, managers and executives in business or a coach in athletics. But you probably have plenty of leaders in your life who aren't in top-level management positions. The truth is that anyone can play a leadership role in an organization - it's about relating to others, communicating a strong vision and taking decisive action. Those are skills anyone can develop. Learn how via the Tony Robbins Leadership Academy and take command of your life.

What are the leadership models?

The overarching model that drives every leader is servant leadership: using your position to give back to others and serve a greater good. Servant leadership is the only way to find true fulfillment in your career and in life. Within that, there are many other models for leadership, including affiliative and democratic styles, which take into account the opinions of your team, and commanding or visionary models, which are more directive and reliant on inspiring others. The ultimate goal is to develop leadership skills that are so strong, you can adapt to any situation or need.

How can I improve my leadership skills?

If you want to improve your leadership skills, it helps to think of leadership in terms of influence. To be a great leader, you must focus on cultivating your ability to influence others (and yourself) to push harder, grow further and accomplish greater goals. Once you master the art of positive influence, you become a magnet for others; you become a person others turn to for guidance, insight and, yes, leadership. Find out more about becoming a master of influence and improving your leadership skills here.

As a leader, I want to make an impact on my peers. How do I do that?

The ability to make an impact on your peers is an integral part of being a great leader, so you're on the right track by asking this question. If you want to make a lasting impact, then you must focus on honing your skills of influence to compel lasting change, which involves learning to recognize the patterns behind human behavior, figuring out how to help others identify what's holding them back and developing the ability to apply the principles of human needs psychology. If that sounds like a lot, don't sweat it - it's actually a lot easier than you might think, and you can learn all about it here.

Leaders always seem to have so much energy. How do I get the energy of a great leader?

The cool thing about truly energetic leadership is that, more often than not, it has less to do with how much sleep one gets and more to do with tapping into a vision and sense of purpose. When people feel drained and exhausted, it's frequently because their energy is divided in a million different directions via myriad internal conflicts. If you want to tap into your energetic potential, you must identify your unifying vision - your primary purpose for being on this journey to begin with - and refer to it day after day. Once you find that, you'll discover that there's no limit to your energetic power. Learn more about pure energy here.

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What is Leadership? The ultimate guide | Tony Robbins

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Here's the thing about leadership that a lot of people either don't understand or refuse to believe: E veryone can be a leader. There is no single answer to " What is leadership ?" because it isn't something you're either born with or without, but a powerful skill that can be developed over time.

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 Leadership theories help to understand how and why some people become leaders. The theories focus on certain attributes in leaders.  Some of the theories believe people are born to be leaders while others believe people have certain traits that make them nature leaders. 

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 Leadership theories help to understand how and why some people become leaders. The theories focus on certain attributes in leaders.  Some of the theories believe people are born to be leaders while others believe people have certain traits that make them nature leaders. 

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Theories of leadership explain how and why specific individuals become leaders. They emphasize the character characteristics and actions that people might adopt to improve their leadership skills. Top qualities cited by leaders as essential to effective leadership involve:

Strong moral principles and ethics

Excellent organizational abilities

Competent learner

Encourages employee development

Encourages affiliation and connection

These qualities are thought to be the most crucial by leaders all across the world, according to research. And leadership theories aid in illuminating how leaders use and cultivate these qualities.Leadership theories have recently been more codified, which makes them simpler to comprehend, discuss, and evaluate in practice.

What is a Leadership Theory?
A leadership theory describes how and why certain individuals become leaders. The focus is on the characteristics and behaviors that people can adopt to enhance their leadership ability. According to leaders, strong ethics and high moral standards are essential qualities of a good leader.

What Makes an Honest Leader?

A successful leader possesses personality, bravery, a transparent vision, and ambition. A strong leader creates organizational success by encouraging the team to perform at their highest level.

Essential Leadership Skills of Excellent Leaders

Understand the way to offer support. Supportive leaders are accessible to their staff, transparent about their choices, team players, and adept communicators of plans and tactics.

Have empathy and demonstrate it

Keep the lines of communication open

Being capable of taking decisions

Effective planning

Collaborate.

10 Major Leadership Theories You Need to Know About

1. The Transactional Theory or Management Theory

Well during Industrial Revolution, this transactional theory was developed to boost company productivity. It is a leadership approach that emphasizes the value of hierarchy for enhancing organizational effectiveness. These managers place high importance on structure and utilize their authority to enforce rules to inspire staff to perform at their best. In accordance with this philosophy, workers are rewarded for achieving their given objectives. The concept also presupposes that workers must comply with managerial directives.

Managers whopractice transactional leadership keep an eye on their staff, making sure they are rewarded for reaching milestones and disciplined when they fall short. These executives, however, do not serve as a trigger for a company's expansion. Instead, they concentrate on upholding the organization's policies and standards to ensure that everything goes as planned.

Leaders Who Practice Transactional Leadership:

Target immediate objectives.

Favor standardized processes and regulations

Recent changes

Discourage original thought

Emphasis on one's own interests

Encourage performance

When there are challenges that are clearly stated and the main goal is to finish a work, transactional leadership works well.

2. Theory of Transformation

The relationship between leaders and staff can help the organization, according to the transformational theory of management. This leadership theory contends that effective leaders inspire workers to go above and beyond what they are capable of. Leaders develop a vision for their team members and motivate them to realize it.

Employee morale is raised and inspired by transformational leaders, which helps them perform better at work. These managers encourage staff members by their deeds rather than their words because they specialize in setting an example.

Leaders Who Practice Transformational Leadership:

Self-manage

Set an example

Give interaction a high priority

Be proactive in your work

Promote the development of employees

Receptive to fresh concepts

Take chances and make difficult choices

Transformational leaders, as opposed to transactional leaders, prioritize failed processes and gather personnel who get along well to accomplish shared corporate objectives. Additionally, effective executives prioritize the requirements of the organization and its employees over their own.

3. The Theory of Contingencies

According to the contingency hypothesis, there is no one right way to run an organization. Determining the optimal strategy for leading an organization to achieve depends on both internal and external considerations. The right candidate should fit the correct scenario, according to the contingency theory.

The following elements influence the leadership style, based on contingency theory:

Management approach

Work speed

Organizational policies and culture

Employee spirit

Employees' level of maturity

Relationship between coworkers or members of a team

Organizational objectives

Environment and routine at work

The management strategy that will help the organization achieve its objectives in a particular situation is decided by the leader.

According to this view, situations determine whether or not leaders are effective. No matter how successful a leader is, the idea explains, difficult situations will always arise. It emphasizes that the leaders are aware that the conditions in combination with their abilities have a role in their achievement.

4. The Theory of Situations

Similar to the contingency theory, this idea emphasizes the significance of context and holds that a leader should adjust to the shifting context to achieve objectives and make judgments. The level of competence and dedication of the team members can influence how these leaders choose to lead.

Situational leadership, as per situational theory:

Develop a connection with the workforce

Encourage employees

Recognize when alternative leadership philosophies are required in a given situation

Develop teams and organizational units

The idea also distinguishes four main leadership styles:

1. Telling: Managers instruct staff members on what needs to be done and how to go about it.

2. Selling: Team members are persuaded to adopt a leader's concepts or ideas.

3. Participating: Effective leaders encourage their team members to take an active part in problem-solving and decision-making processes.

4. Delegating: Limiting their involvement, leaders hand off the majority of the work to the team. Such leaders defer to the group for decision-making but they are always ready for advice.

The theory lists a few essential traits of a situational leader, such as problem-solving abilities, trust, adaptability, insight, and coaching.

5. The Great Man Theory

One of the first theories on leadership makes the assumption that these qualities are inherent, which indicates that leaders are born, not created, and cannot be learned. This hypothesis asserts that a leader has certain innate human characteristics, such as:

Glamour

Decisive

Wisdom

Daring

Assertiveness

Appeal

This viewpoint emphasizes the fact that individuals cannot be taught to be effective leaders. It's a quality that either you have or you don't. These abilities come naturally, thus you cannot learn them or receive training in them.

In addition, the idea holds that these leadership qualities are constant over time and apply to all organizations, regardless of the setting in which these leaders are employed. The idea that exceptional leaders emerge when they are required is another tenet of this leadership ideology.

6. The Trait Theory

The great man theory is expanded upon by the trait theory of leadership, which is predicated on the idea that effective leaders have particular personality qualities and features of behavior. They can become effective leaders in a number of circumstances thanks to these qualities. It also promotes the idea that certain people are more naturally gifted as leaders than others. Effective people have hobbies and personality traits that are very different from those of non-leaders.

The main characteristics of a successful leader are:

Emotional equilibrium

Acknowledging one's duty

Competence

Recognising obstacles

Thinking with action

Motivational abilities

Talents in communication

Tenacity and flexibility

Making decisions with assurance

You can learn more about your limitations and strengths with the help of this leadership idea. Then, you can try to strengthen your areas of weakness.The ideal person for a leadership position is chosen by many organizations using the trait approach.

7. Behaviorist Theory

According to this view, a person's leadership abilities are a product of their environment. Different learning talents contribute to effective management. The behavioral idea holds that leaders are formed and trained, not born, in contrast to the model of leadership. In other words, a leader's performance is not influenced by their inherent traits because leadership qualities are driven by behavior. Anyone is capable of becoming a leader with the right training and instruction.

According to the theory, in order to boost the output and morale of their team, managers should be mindful of their own behavior. This theory classifies managers into the following categories depending on the leadership styles it acknowledges:

Task-focused managers

Leaders who put people first

Apathetic leaders

Effective leaders

Dictatorial authorities

Current authorities

Reliable leaders

Shrewd businesspeople

Daddy-like bosses

Heads of Country Clubs

It is simple to assess the style of leadership of construction professionals, team leaders, or indeed any skilled leader using the behavioral theory.

8. Behavioral Theory

Behavioral leadership theory focuses on the actions of leaders and holds that other leaders are able to imitate similar actions. Because it is sometimes known, the design theory contends that successful leaders could also be developed through teachable conduct rather than being born with it. The behaviors of a pacesetter are extensively emphasized in behavioral theories of leadership; this theory contends that observing a leader's behavior is the best indicator of how successful their leadership will be. The behavioral learning hypothesis emphasizes behavior instead of traits. Consistent with this idea, observable patterns of conduct are classified as "styles of leadership." Task-oriented leaders, club leaders, people-oriented leaders, dictatorial leaders, status-quo leaders, and more are some samples of leadership styles.

9. Functional Theory

The functional theory of leadership emphasizes how employment or organization is being led rather than who has been formally designated as the leader. Within the functional leadership approach, the power to get things done is supported by a collection of people's behaviors rather than one individual.

10. Integrated Psychological Theory

Integrative leadership may be a new style of leadership that encourages cooperation across a variety of barriers in order to advance the common good. It combines leadership theories and techniques that have their roots in five important societal spheres: industry, government, nonprofits, the media, and the community.

Why Are Leadership Theories Important?

Theories of leadership describe how and why particular people develop to be leaders. They lay emphasis on the actions and character characteristics that folks might adopt for improving their leadership skills. Top qualities that leaders cite as essential to effective leadership include: Strong moral principles and ethics

It is not necessary to overemphasize the importance of leadership. Any organization's success may be a result of its leadership. Due to its leadership, even the state has achieved independence, expansion, prosperity, and power. Effective leadership is another thing about the success and expansion of a business or industrial organization.

What Are Leadership Styles?

Following are the five sorts of leadership according to the Personnel Research Board at Ohio University.

1. The bureaucrat

2. The autocrat

3. The diplomat

4. The expert

5. The quarterback

Applying Leadership Theories at Workplace

10 methods to point out leadership at the office

Become a thought leader

Join a corporation for professionals

Consider the large picture

Think proactively and with positivity

Listen to others and pick up tips from them

Connect with a goal in mind

Look for a mentor

Accept diversity

Bottom Line

As you can see, leadership theories are based on different ways of thinking. Some focus on traits and qualities, while some touch upon the importance of situational aspects that influence how leaders behave. Like many other behavioral concepts, leadership is highly multi-dimensional, and there are numerous factors that go into filling the shoes of a leader. Because the human side of the business is one of the most - if not the most - important elements that determine the success and failure of an organization, leadership will always remain the most prized skill in the business world.

If you want to up your managerial performance and boost your leadership capabilities, Simplilearn's Master Of Business Administration (MBA) with IU, Germany can get you there. The state-of-the-art program prepares professionals (both aspiring and experienced ones) wjth the skills needed to succeed today as a the modern leader in businesses across industries. Boost your career with a Degree from London South Bank University & study in Bad Honnef or Berlin. This 12 month program covers all the in-demand business management skills and offers 4 specializations - Digital Marketing, Business Analysis, Design Thinking, Digital Transformation. Explore the program today.

What is a Leadership Theory?
A leadership theory describes how and why certain individuals become leaders. The focus is on the characteristics and behaviors that people can adopt to enhance their leadership ability. According to leaders, strong ethics and high moral standards are essential qualities of a good leader.

What Makes an Honest Leader?

A successful leader possesses personality, bravery, a transparent vision, and ambition. A strong leader creates organizational success by encouraging the team to perform at their highest level.

Essential Leadership Skills of Excellent Leaders

Understand the way to offer support. Supportive leaders are accessible to their staff, transparent about their choices, team players, and adept communicators of plans and tactics.

Have empathy and demonstrate it

Keep the lines of communication open

Being capable of taking decisions

Effective planning

Collaborate.

10 Major Leadership Theories You Need to Know About

1. The Transactional Theory or Management Theory

Well during Industrial Revolution, this transactional theory was developed to boost company productivity. It is a leadership approach that emphasizes the value of hierarchy for enhancing organizational effectiveness. These managers place high importance on structure and utilize their authority to enforce rules to inspire staff to perform at their best. In accordance with this philosophy, workers are rewarded for achieving their given objectives. The concept also presupposes that workers must comply with managerial directives.

Managers whopractice transactional leadership keep an eye on their staff, making sure they are rewarded for reaching milestones and disciplined when they fall short. These executives, however, do not serve as a trigger for a company's expansion. Instead, they concentrate on upholding the organization's policies and standards to ensure that everything goes as planned.

Leaders Who Practice Transactional Leadership:

Target immediate objectives.

Favor standardized processes and regulations

Recent changes

Discourage original thought

Emphasis on one's own interests

Encourage performance

When there are challenges that are clearly stated and the main goal is to finish a work, transactional leadership works well.

2. Theory of Transformation

The relationship between leaders and staff can help the organization, according to the transformational theory of management. This leadership theory contends that effective leaders inspire workers to go above and beyond what they are capable of. Leaders develop a vision for their team members and motivate them to realize it.

Employee morale is raised and inspired by transformational leaders, which helps them perform better at work. These managers encourage staff members by their deeds rather than their words because they specialize in setting an example.

Leaders Who Practice Transformational Leadership:

Self-manage

Set an example

Give interaction a high priority

Be proactive in your work

Promote the development of employees

Receptive to fresh concepts

Take chances and make difficult choices

Transformational leaders, as opposed to transactional leaders, prioritize failed processes and gather personnel who get along well to accomplish shared corporate objectives. Additionally, effective executives prioritize the requirements of the organization and its employees over their own.

3. The Theory of Contingencies

According to the contingency hypothesis, there is no one right way to run an organization. Determining the optimal strategy for leading an organization to achieve depends on both internal and external considerations. The right candidate should fit the correct scenario, according to the contingency theory.

The following elements influence the leadership style, based on contingency theory:

Management approach

Work speed

Organizational policies and culture

Employee spirit

Employees' level of maturity

Relationship between coworkers or members of a team

Organizational objectives

Environment and routine at work

The management strategy that will help the organization achieve its objectives in a particular situation is decided by the leader.

According to this view, situations determine whether or not leaders are effective. No matter how successful a leader is, the idea explains, difficult situations will always arise. It emphasizes that the leaders are aware that the conditions in combination with their abilities have a role in their achievement.

4. The Theory of Situations

Similar to the contingency theory, this idea emphasizes the significance of context and holds that a leader should adjust to the shifting context to achieve objectives and make judgments. The level of competence and dedication of the team members can influence how these leaders choose to lead.

Situational leadership, as per situational theory:

Develop a connection with the workforce

Encourage employees

Recognize when alternative leadership philosophies are required in a given situation

Develop teams and organizational units

The idea also distinguishes four main leadership styles:

1. Telling: Managers instruct staff members on what needs to be done and how to go about it.

2. Selling: Team members are persuaded to adopt a leader's concepts or ideas.

3. Participating: Effective leaders encourage their team members to take an active part in problem-solving and decision-making processes.

4. Delegating: Limiting their involvement, leaders hand off the majority of the work to the team. Such leaders defer to the group for decision-making but they are always ready for advice.

The theory lists a few essential traits of a situational leader, such as problem-solving abilities, trust, adaptability, insight, and coaching.

5. The Great Man Theory

One of the first theories on leadership makes the assumption that these qualities are inherent, which indicates that leaders are born, not created, and cannot be learned. This hypothesis asserts that a leader has certain innate human characteristics, such as:

Glamour

Decisive

Wisdom

Daring

Assertiveness

Appeal

This viewpoint emphasizes the fact that individuals cannot be taught to be effective leaders. It's a quality that either you have or you don't. These abilities come naturally, thus you cannot learn them or receive training in them.

In addition, the idea holds that these leadership qualities are constant over time and apply to all organizations, regardless of the setting in which these leaders are employed. The idea that exceptional leaders emerge when they are required is another tenet of this leadership ideology.

6. The Trait Theory

The great man theory is expanded upon by the trait theory of leadership, which is predicated on the idea that effective leaders have particular personality qualities and features of behavior. They can become effective leaders in a number of circumstances thanks to these qualities. It also promotes the idea that certain people are more naturally gifted as leaders than others. Effective people have hobbies and personality traits that are very different from those of non-leaders.

The main characteristics of a successful leader are:

Emotional equilibrium

Acknowledging one's duty

Competence

Recognising obstacles

Thinking with action

Motivational abilities

Talents in communication

Tenacity and flexibility

Making decisions with assurance

You can learn more about your limitations and strengths with the help of this leadership idea. Then, you can try to strengthen your areas of weakness.The ideal person for a leadership position is chosen by many organizations using the trait approach.

7. Behaviorist Theory

According to this view, a person's leadership abilities are a product of their environment. Different learning talents contribute to effective management. The behavioral idea holds that leaders are formed and trained, not born, in contrast to the model of leadership. In other words, a leader's performance is not influenced by their inherent traits because leadership qualities are driven by behavior. Anyone is capable of becoming a leader with the right training and instruction.

According to the theory, in order to boost the output and morale of their team, managers should be mindful of their own behavior. This theory classifies managers into the following categories depending on the leadership styles it acknowledges:

Task-focused managers

Leaders who put people first

Apathetic leaders

Effective leaders

Dictatorial authorities

Current authorities

Reliable leaders

Shrewd businesspeople

Daddy-like bosses

Heads of Country Clubs

It is simple to assess the style of leadership of construction professionals, team leaders, or indeed any skilled leader using the behavioral theory.

8. Behavioral Theory

Behavioral leadership theory focuses on the actions of leaders and holds that other leaders are able to imitate similar actions. Because it is sometimes known, the design theory contends that successful leaders could also be developed through teachable conduct rather than being born with it. The behaviors of a pacesetter are extensively emphasized in behavioral theories of leadership; this theory contends that observing a leader's behavior is the best indicator of how successful their leadership will be. The behavioral learning hypothesis emphasizes behavior instead of traits. Consistent with this idea, observable patterns of conduct are classified as "styles of leadership." Task-oriented leaders, club leaders, people-oriented leaders, dictatorial leaders, status-quo leaders, and more are some samples of leadership styles.

9. Functional Theory

The functional theory of leadership emphasizes how employment or organization is being led rather than who has been formally designated as the leader. Within the functional leadership approach, the power to get things done is supported by a collection of people's behaviors rather than one individual.

10. Integrated Psychological Theory

Integrative leadership may be a new style of leadership that encourages cooperation across a variety of barriers in order to advance the common good. It combines leadership theories and techniques that have their roots in five important societal spheres: industry, government, nonprofits, the media, and the community.

Why Are Leadership Theories Important?

Theories of leadership describe how and why particular people develop to be leaders. They lay emphasis on the actions and character characteristics that folks might adopt for improving their leadership skills. Top qualities that leaders cite as essential to effective leadership include: Strong moral principles and ethics

It is not necessary to overemphasize the importance of leadership. Any organization's success may be a result of its leadership. Due to its leadership, even the state has achieved independence, expansion, prosperity, and power. Effective leadership is another thing about the success and expansion of a business or industrial organization.

What Are Leadership Styles?

Following are the five sorts of leadership according to the Personnel Research Board at Ohio University.

1. The bureaucrat

2. The autocrat

3. The diplomat

4. The expert

5. The quarterback

Applying Leadership Theories at Workplace

10 methods to point out leadership at the office

Become a thought leader

Join a corporation for professionals

Consider the large picture

Think proactively and with positivity

Listen to others and pick up tips from them

Connect with a goal in mind

Look for a mentor

Accept diversity

Bottom Line

As you can see, leadership theories are based on different ways of thinking. Some focus on traits and qualities, while some touch upon the importance of situational aspects that influence how leaders behave. Like many other behavioral concepts, leadership is highly multi-dimensional, and there are numerous factors that go into filling the shoes of a leader. Because the human side of the business is one of the most - if not the most - important elements that determine the success and failure of an organization, leadership will always remain the most prized skill in the business world.

If you want to up your managerial performance and boost your leadership capabilities, Simplilearn's Master Of Business Administration (MBA) with IU, Germany can get you there. The state-of-the-art program prepares professionals (both aspiring and experienced ones) wjth the skills needed to succeed today as a the modern leader in businesses across industries. Boost your career with a Degree from London South Bank University & study in Bad Honnef or Berlin. This 12 month program covers all the in-demand business management skills and offers 4 specializations - Digital Marketing, Business Analysis, Design Thinking, Digital Transformation. Explore the program today.

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10 Major Leadership Theories Every Manager Should Master in 2023

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Theories of leadership explain how and why specific individuals become leaders. They emphasize the character characteristics and actions that people might adopt to improve their leadership skills. Top qualities cited by leaders as essential to effective leadership involve: Strong moral principles and ethics Excellent organizational abilities Competent learner Encourages employee development Encourages affiliation and connection These qualities are thought to be the most crucial by leaders all across the world, according to research.

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In this article, we'll continue our exploration of various leadership styles and focus on transactional leadership. This leadership style is frequently compared to transformational leadership but, as you'll see throughout the post, there are key differences between the two.

Understanding these distinctions among leadership styles will allow you to identify which is the most appropriate one to implement for your current role. It also gives you the freedom to combine the most applicable aspects of each leadership style to suit your needs. Let's take a deeper dive into the world of transactional leadership.

What is Transactional Leadership?

The Definition

Transactional leadership is defined by control, organization, and short-term planning. Leaders who adopt this style rely on a system of rewards and punishment to motivate their followers.

There are also a few key assumptions associated with transactional leadership:

Rewards and punishments are motivating for followers

Adhering to the instructions of the leader is the primary goal of followers

Followers have to be monitored to ensure that performance standards are met

The Origin Story

A 20th century sociologist named Max Weber was the first person to describe the idea of transactional leadership , which was originally referred to as rational-legal leadership. This leadership style was widely used after World War II in the United States, when the government was focused on rebuilding and required a high level of structure to maintain national stability.

In the 1990s, researchers like James McGregor Burns, Bernard M. Bass, Jane Howell, and Bruce Avolio went on to advance Weber's theory on Transactional Leadership and defined three major dimensions of this style:

Contingent Rewards: Transactional leaders like to link goals to rewards.

Active Management By Exception: Transactional leaders actively monitor their teams, anticipate problems, and issue corrective measures.

Passive Management By Exception: Transactional leaders tend to stay out of the team's way and only intervene when standards aren't met or when the performance doesn't meet expectations.

What Type of Person is a Transactional Leader?

Transactional leadership can be appropriate in several contexts. Let's go through a business example to better understand what this leadership style looks like in action:

The company you work for has been struggling for many years, dealing with everything from public relations debacles to plummeting sales. Thankfully, things have stabilized recently and the organization is trying to rebuild itself. To help, Jamie was brought in as the new CEO and has been tasked with maintaining stability.

Jamie has over two decades of experience running large, multi-million dollar corporations, so she brings expertise in terms of creating structure, processes, and order. Over the next few months, she focuses on making the short-term goals of the company clear to all employees so everyone understands their roles and what's expected of them in terms of performance.

While Jamie doesn't get involved in the day-to-day, she actively monitors progress and intervenes as soon as she notices a problem. Jamie is also quick to praise and reward high-performing employees, while issuing performance improvement plans to team members who aren't meeting expectations.

In the course of a year, Jamie has brought the company back to a stable place - all thanks to her high level of organization and her teams staying focused on the goals that were set for them.

How to Become a Transactional Leader

While the steps to becoming a transactional leader will vary depending on your exact situation and personality, here are a few general guidelines you can follow to help you move in the right direction:

Create structure

Establishing structure is one of the key roles of a transactional leader. This is done by creating processes, systems, and policies to ensure all work can be done effectively by both individuals and groups. Without this level of structure, things can easily fall through the cracks or there can be room for miscommunication.

Make expectations clear

Transactional leadership is all about generating results. That's why, as a leader who practices this style, it's critical to make your expectations clear to the rest of your team. Get specific about what you're trying to achieve, what your expectations around performance are, and what the rewards and consequences will be if they're not met.

This way, there's no confusion about what defines success at your organization. In order to ensure the expectations are being understood, transactional leaders tend to lean on tools like performance reviews and one-on-one meetings to measure progress.

Recognize top-performing employees

A transactional leader should be quick to reward high-quality performance. Linking performance to recognition will make it clear to employees and followers the type of outcome that's expected of them and will motivate them to continue producing impactful results.

On the flip side, a transactional leader also has to be able to do the harder job of managing poor performance. Similar to rewarding positive performance, there has to be clear consequences associated with unmet expectations - this can come in the form of not being considered for promotions, being put on performance improvement plans, or - in the worst-case scenario - can be grounds for termination.

Real-World Examples of Transactional Leadership

Where does it make sense to apply transactional leadership? In general, we believe this type of leadership is effective in crisis and emergency situations, as well as for complex projects that need to be carried out in a very specific way. Here's what those situations could look like in real life.

Your team was recently given instructions for a complex product launch that need to be followed precisely to ensure a good outcome. Applying the transactional leadership style can be helpful in this situation since it'll require control, organization, and short-term planning to complete the project in an effective way.

Your company is dealing with a cybersecurity crisis that jeopardizes the privacy of your customers. Thankfully, the team has an emergency plan ready to go for situations like this. But implementing it will require a leader who can provide stability, carefully monitor the situation, and quickly intervene if things don't go as planned. This is exactly the type of situation where a transactional leadership style could be immensely useful.

There are also real-life examples of successful transactional leaders. Here are a few to draw inspiration from:

Transactional leadership can be incredibly effective when applied to the appropriate circumstances. Understanding this approach - and being able to compare it to the other leadership styles we explore in our series - will help you become a more well-rounded and adaptable leader.

Whether you decide to implement transactional leadership or a different style of leadership, there are many resources available to help you fine-tune your approach. Everything from coaching to 360-degree assessments are great tools that can better your understanding and application of leadership.

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your own leadership style can help you better identify which approach is best for your current role. Check out our ebook, 10 Leadership Styles You Should Know, to learn more about different approaches to leadership and when and how to apply them.

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What is transactional leadership? | Torch

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In this article, we'll continue our exploration of various leadership styles and focus on transactional leadership. This leadership style is frequently compared to transformational leadership but, as you'll see throughout the post, there are key differences between the two.

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David Burkus - Author of The Myths of Creativity

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What Is Transformational Leadership Theory?

Transformational leadership is a relatively new approach to leadership that focuses on how leaders can create valuable and positive change in their followers. James MacGregor Burns first introduced the concepts of transformational leadership when studying political leaders, but this term is now used when studying organizations as well. Burns described two leadership styles: transactional and transformational.

Transactional leaders focus on gaining compliance by giving and withholding rewards and benefits. Transformational leaders focus on "transforming" others to support each other and the organization as a whole. Followers of a transformational leader respond by feeling trust, admiration, loyalty, and respect for the leader and are more willing to work harder than originally expected. Another researcher, Bernard M. Bass, added to the work of Burns by explaining the psychological mechanisms that underlie transformational and transactional leadership. Bass' work established that transformational leaders demonstrate four factors: individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation (charismatic leadership), and idealized influence.

Transformational leadership theory is supported by nearly 30 years of research correlating transformational leadership to positive performance outcomes including individual, group, and organizational level variables. It also solidified the need to study followers in leadership research. Transformational leadership was the first developed and validated theory to emphasis morals and values in leadership. However, research on the theory is primarily based on the multifactor leadership questionnaire, which has produced inconsistent results. Research has also focused heavily on senior-level leaders. Transformational leadership also has the potential to be used negatively by leaders "faking it." Regardless, transformational leadership theory is a valuable and widely used approach to studying and teaching leadership.

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Transformational Leadership Theory - David Burkus

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What Is Transformational Leadership Theory? Transformational leadership is a relatively new approach to leadership that focuses on how leaders can create valuable and positive change in their followers. James MacGregor Burns first introduced the concepts of transformational leadership when studying political leaders, but this term is now used when studying organizations as well.

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Executive and Leadership Coach, Lecturer, Founder of unabridged - engaging your power and potential for greater personal and social impact.
Navigating the pandemic's psychological, physical and economic effects is complicated and evokes a range of different - and often conflicting - emotions. Add social injustice and political unrest, and emotional intelligence is needed more than ever before.

EI is the ability to notice, identify, understand and manage our own feelings and the emotions of others. It incorporates self-control, social skills, relationships, communication and influencing or motivating other people - all great skills for personal and professional success.

Daniel Goleman presents an EI framework that includes four interconnected competencies.

* Self-awareness: Being able to recognize the ways in which your emotions impact your behavior and how you interact with other people.

* Self-management: Taking charge of your emotions, to affect a balance of emotions.

* Social awareness: Being able to understand the social surroundings, inferring the feelings of other people there.
What's so important about EI?
* Relationship management: The ability to communicate effectively, bond with people and interact well, so as to elicit the best from people.

Each of these areas impacts the other.

EI has many benefits:

* Emotionally intelligent people are not as stressed and anxious as others. In my experience, they are usually happier and have better emotional stability, mental health and physical well-being.

* I've also seen how people who are emotionally intelligent have better, stronger relationships all around, whether with partners, friends, workmates, relatives or anyone they get to know or routinely meet.
You can build your EI.
* CertainEI qualities play into the top 10 vital skills for the future workforce, as defined by the World Economic Forum. Furthermore, 71% of hiring managers say they value high EI over IQ.

* As leaders, emotionally intelligent people are proven to be more effective. Research also says that, in terms of performance, EI is more important than IQ when people with equivalent academic backgrounds - say MBAs - are compared.

EI is a learnable skill, so you can develop it and build on your baseline. You just have to have some understanding of EI, learn some tools to help you and practice them.

1. Recognize your feelings. Observe your emotions as you experience them and identify them for what they are - anger, hurt, jealousy, happiness. Or, if you can't find a single word, describe them. For example, it could be a "sick-in-the-gut feeling" or "bubbling and high-energy." Although these experiences are personal and subjective, naming them enables you to see them as things separate from you, not integral or attached to you. Recognize what they mean to you and how they affect you, your mood and your behavior. When you recognize what it is you're facing, this detachment helps you to control your feelings and manage them better instead of them controlling you! Marc Brackett's mood meter is a great tool to assist.

2. Assess yourself. Do half a SWOT analysis on yourself. Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Be realistic - not too harsh or too imaginative. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses gives you a reminder to put your skills and qualities to good use; identify ways in which you need development and how to improve. You can also do this activity with your staff or team members to identify how best to develop and optimize their performance. Knowing your own weaknesses and others' strengths enables you to delegate appropriately, too.

3. Use mindfulness. This means developing the practice of being wholly present in the moment and aware of everything around us and in us, including the environment, physical sensations, our thoughts and our feelings for certain periods of time. Studies have shown that mindfulness is clearly linked to improvement in leaders - both in their professional and their personal capacities.

4. Listen with tolerance, compassion and empathy. Instead of expressing your own emotional needs through your own feelings and their enactment, imagine how other people might feel and identify their emotions. This can help you to empathize with them and give an appropriate response to them and their needs. Attune yourself to the emotions of others, and you can respond in the most appropriate way to any circumstance - whether it's reassuring a staff member who is wary of a certain assignment, motivating someone who missed out on a promotion or enthusing a large audience. Empathetic leaders listen carefully, are approachable and recognize an underlying emotion, so their staff feel acknowledged and understood.

5. Be curious and encouraging. Show an interest in your team members' hopes, dreams and goals. Help them to realize them and to succeed. Support them in acknowledging their own stresses, challenges and barriers and help them discover ways to address them, find solutions and act.

6. Practice social awareness. Notice your environment and context, socially and organizationally. Leaders consistently interact with others, so social awareness is essential to recognizing their moods, states and feelings - from the expression on their face to their body language to what they say and what they do. Organizationally, be aware of strategies, decisions priorities, politics and trends and communicate them. Be aware of people's needs and know how to provide for them.

EI encourages compassion globally and helps to develop our connections with one another. Develop your EI now, and I believe you will have the skills and ability to holistically succeed in all aspects of work and life - even in these turbulent times.

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

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Council Post: Emotional Intelligence: Why We Need It Now, More Than Ever

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Executive and Leadership Coach, Lecturer, Founder of unabridged - engaging your power and potential for greater personal and social impact. Navigating the pandemic's psychological, physical and economic effects is complicated and evokes a range of different - and often conflicting - emotions. Add social injustice and political unrest, and emotional intelligence is needed more than ever before.

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Using these 4 key skills, you can improve your emotional intelligence and increase your success at work, school, and in your relationships.

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School staffing shortages are plaguing districts from coast to coast. Classes have been canceled, principals are picking up mops and brooms to fill in for other positions, and some students have even stepped up to fill in vacant jobs following the coronavirus.

"The reality is that these districts just don't feel they have any other options than canceling school for the day. This should serve as a wakeup call that we need to do better by our students and our public schools," Colorado Education Association President Amie Baca-Oehler said last week, according to USA Today.

"There's an overwhelming sense of exhaustion," she added.

Some Denver area schools already switched to temporary remote learning to cope with the shortages, and were among other schools across the U.S. that canceled classes on Friday to extend the observance of Veterans Day to a four-day weekend.

The issue isn't an isolated one. Schools in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington state, Maryland and Colorado have all canceled classes in recent days because of staffing shortages.
SCHOOL NURSES STRETCHED THIN AMID NATIONWIDE STAFF SHORTAGE AMID COVID-19
In Seattle, more than 600 teachers requested the Friday after Veterans Day off, forcing schools to cancel classes. The district attributed the influx of substitute teacher requests to the "the fatigue that educators and students are experiencing, locally and nationwide, 11 weeks into the return to in-class learning."
TEACHER SHORTAGES IMPACTING SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE
The shortages of teachers have left some parents outraged, while other parents have put their foot down on canceling classes.

"They care about themselves more than they care about the kids," one anonymous Pennsylvania parent told ABC 6 of teachers.

San Diego Unified School District planned to give students the day off on Friday for a mental health day amid staffing shortages but backed off the plan after pushback from parents.

"It would have been great if it would have been on the calendar from the beginning. The parents I talked to all felt like 'here we go again' with just that regular stress of trying to manage childcare," parent Jen Boynton told CBS 8.

Much of the shortages are attributed to fatigue following lockdowns in 2020 and teachers heading back to classrooms this year where they face issues of learning loss and mental health issues with students. The country has also seen large protests from teachers over various state and city vaccine mandates.
NEW YORK TEACHERS PROTEST VACCINE MANDATES, MARCH ACROSS BROOKLYN BRIDGE: 'I CALL THE SHOTS'
Data from Education Week shows 40% of district leaders and principals would call their staffing situation "severe" or "very severe" this year. While stress stemming from the coronavirus last year is contributing to about a quarter of teachers nationwide contemplating quitting their jobs, RAND Corp found in a survey earlier this year.

Only 5% of school administrators say staffing shortages are not an issue, while 18% say the shortages are "mild" or "very mild," Education Week found.

While some districts are forced to cancel classes as a short term answer, others see financial incentives and pay increases as the best fix. The Michigan state superintendent, for example, is suggesting investing between $300-$500 million over the next five years to recruit and retain teachers in the state. Philadelphia substitute teachers are getting $50 daily increases in pay. And West Contra Costa County Unified in California is offering a $6,000 bonus for teachers.

"We need to re-invest now. We need to rebuild the teacher profession," Michigan superintendent Dr. Michael Rice said.

Increasing pay for teachers is also supported by the Biden administration. First lady Jill Biden, who is a teacher, has said that "the bottom line" is getting more pay to educators, adding that it needs to "start from the top."

But some are bracing for the issue to get worse.

"What I'm concerned is the potential for a great resignation," Maryland's Montgomery County Education Association president Jennifer Martin told NBC 4 on Wednesday.

Montgomery County Public Schools is short 161 teachers and more than 100 paraeducators. The remaining teachers in the district are struggling to help kids with mental health issues stemming from lockdowns during the pandemic and are reporting missing lunch breaks to cover classes that don't have teachers.

As district leaders juggle filling in the gaps of empty teaching jobs, they're also coping with custodial, food service and bus driver shortages. In Missouri, a district is hiring its own students to fill maintenance and food service positions within the school.

"Some of the positions have been short-staffed since last year," Northwest School District Kim Hawk, the district's chief operating officer, told Fox 2 last week. "We just have struggled to find any help at all, and if you drive around and look at the help-wanted signs everywhere, you know the competition is stiff. So, we knew we had to come up with some other plan."
EDUCATION SECRETARY: 'ALL HANDS ON DECK' TO ADDRESS SCHOOL STAFFING SHORTAGES
In Nevada, principals are vacuuming and mopping up schools amid a custodial shortage.

"You just go into the kitchen and start stuffing some food into the little plastic bags and hand it out to the kids," the principal of Gwendolyn Woolley Elementary School in North Las Vegas, Joseph Uy, told KUER last week.

"Honestly, I'm tired," he added.

A bus driver shortage has also plagued schools across the country for months. In Massachusetts, the state called in the National Guard in September to drive kids to school. A grandfather and retired pilot in California started a new career this year and became a bus driver to help with the shortage. In Tennessee, Metro Nashville Public Schools is bracing for the problem to get worse as drivers in the area prepare to strike this week.

The supply chain crisis that is looming over the U.S. as the holiday season picks up is even affecting schools. Some school districts are struggling to feed students or find cafeteria supplies such as plates and cups because of the supply chain crisis.
OKLAHOMA EDUCATION SECRETARY SAYS IT'S 'OUTRAGEOUS' 6 TEACHERS FIRED OVER MASKS AMID STAFFING SHORTAGE
"We are hoping that deliveries arrive so that we don't have to adjust our menu to ensure that our students receive meals," Dimtra Barrios, the director of food service at the Ridley School District in Pennsylvania, told Fox Business last month. Barrios said she is making trips to grocery stores and warehouse suppliers to "get whatever we can get our hands on to make it happen for our students to receive meals."

In Alabama, the issue is also persisting. Cayce Davis, who directs nutrition for schools in Elmore County, makes trips to Sam's Club to pick up supplies and food for students as food deliveries are delayed due to the supply crisis.

"This is a quick solution for our meal tomorrow, but it is not a solution to the problem," Davis told CBS last month. "It appears that there are cracks at all points in the supply chain."

As districts continue scrambling to keep up with the shortages, for now, schools are looking at "all hands on deck" situations.

"Everyone in our district rolled up our sleeves and covered for one another and made sure that we were able to continue to provide classes today in a thoughtful way," Northshore, Washington, superintendent Michelle Reid said of her district remaining open last Friday despite shortages.

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Staffing shortages at school districts across America cause cancelations, anxiety among parents

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School staffing shortages are plaguing districts from coast to coast. Classes have been canceled, principals are picking up mops and brooms to fill in for other positions, and some students have even stepped up to fill in vacant jobs following the coronavirus.

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It's already October, and teachers are getting a true feel for this school year's biggest challenges. TikTok challenges, anyone? We asked the WeAreTeachers Advisory Board to give their predictions for the remainder of the school year and tell us the biggest issues facing teachers. From critical race theory to mental health and wellness, these are likely to be the biggest issues in education for 2021-2022.

Reintroducing Collaboration Skills

After almost two years of virtual/asynchronous learning, most schools are planning a fully in-person schedule this year. We are likely to find many of our students out of practice with working with others face-to-face. Therefore, one of the biggest issues facing education today will be how we reintroduce and reteach these vital collaboration skills.

Understanding Critical Race Theory

Scroll through your social media feed or check the news outlets, and you're likely to hear about this issue. Critical race theory has jumped into public consciousness in a big way. A major topic in political debates, it's certainly going to remain one of the biggest issues in education today. Because of this, teachers will need support in understanding what it is, what it isn't, and how to talk about it with students and parents. WeAreTeachers Advisory Board Member Patty McGee believes that teachers are facing a daunting but essential challenge this school year. "Inequities in our society have come to the surface, and we have the opportunity to repair them as a country. The classroom is one of those places that can aid this repair through healthy, developmentally sound conversations about inclusion."

Rebuilding Student Stamina

WeAreTeachers Advisory Board Member Shannon Webster is concerned about how the hybrid and remote school settings have affected student stamina. "Students have become very accustomed to having someone at home give them immediate direction, correction, and support. I imagine many teachers this year will struggle to reestablish the need to grapple and will have to reignite students' desire to be empowered by learning." In addition to fears over "learning loss," teachers this year are going to be faced with the challenge of how to reacclimatize students to the rigors of the school setting.

Scheduling Time To Reflect

Many districts are rushing to return to normal pre-COVID routines. But if schools bring students back without reflecting on these past few years, we will have lost a great opportunity. One of the biggest issues facing education this year will be finding much-needed time to reflect. The modern educational system has never experienced anything like this before. What have we learned about what works and what doesn't work for our students during this pandemic? How can we keep the things we know worked for our students and find better alternatives for what didn't? "If we don't reflect on the innovative approaches used during and lessons learned from the pandemic and leverage that new knowledge moving forward, we miss an opportunity to make the best of a bad situation," states WeAreTeachers Advisory Board Member C.C. Bates.

Building Meaningful Connections

We know the power of positive face-to-face interaction. Being able to see our students in person this year will definitely be a good thing. But our students are arriving in our classrooms carrying not only their triumphs but also their traumas along with them. WeAreTeachers Advisory Board Member Fred Dillon stresses the importance of focusing on what really matters this year. "A big part of helping students move forward is building meaningful connections with them, so they know we value them, their experiences, and their learning."

Supporting Mental Health and Wellness Needs

As students return, they will bring a wide range of mental health and wellness needs with them. In addition to all of the normal things teachers do in an average school year, one of the biggest issues facing education this year will be how to best address our students' mental wellness needs. WeAreTeachers Advisory Board Member Julie Stern explains how valuable this is for our students and for us. "When teachers practice well-being strategies with their students, everyone benefits. We don't have to be experts or do anything elaborate. Even something as simple as asking students to take three deep breaths or playing a nature video as students enter our rooms can help boost our moods and health."

Planning For The Unexpected

We are so ready to "return to normal." But one of the biggest issues facing education this year will be the knowledge that we aren't there yet. We may never be. The debates over mask mandates, vaccine requirements, and potential second quarantines loom in the wings as we greet our students and begin the year. WeAreTeachers Advisory Board Member Anthony Kim states, "Our mental models of what school is will shift as macro-conditions from our health to work environments change in coming years. Adaptability is key to supporting our future generation."

Anthony Kim has been making yearly predictions about education on his blog since 2010. Check out his complete list of predictions for 2021 here.

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WeAreTeachers Predicts: These Will Be The Biggest Issues In Education This Year

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It's already October, and teachers are getting a true feel for this school year's biggest challenges. TikTok challenges, anyone? We asked the WeAreTeachers Advisory Board to give their predictions for the remainder of the school year and tell us the biggest issues facing teachers.

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students! Here are 11 ways school counselors serve as leaders in your building.

1. School counselors recognize and showcase diversity.

In many buildings, school counselors are considered the "heart" of the school. They help create an inclusive environment that is respectful, welcoming, kind, and open to all.

2. School counselors develop community partnerships.

Counseling staff work collaboratively with universities, community colleges, technical schools, local unions, military reps, and apprentice programs to provide a variety of opportunities for students. They are especially vital in ensuring underserved and first-generation students have access to and the tools to reach all possible post-high school options.

3. School counselors help during difficult situations.

Strengths such as listening, reflecting, and high emotional intelligence make school counselors valuable allies when trying to get buy-in from staff or the greater community on difficult issues. Counselors foster a culture of change via strong lines of communication and valuing input from all parties involved.

4. School counselors maintain strong home-school connections.

Counselors tend to be the liaison for parents when it comes to communicating with the school. This leadership role is especially important when assisting families who are not familiar with the school setting or have issues trusting staff.

5. School counselors maximize educational success.

School counselors can help to maximize the educational attainment of all students by providing students with mental health services (school or community-based) and developmental guidance that takes a proactive approach in helping students set and reach academic goals.

6. School counselors lead staff trainings.

Administrators who use their counseling staff (rather than outside contractors) to lead building-wide trainings can save a lot of money and gain quicker buy-in from staff. School counselors are experts on topics such as student engagement, positive discipline, suicide/self-harm, students-as-leaders, peer mentoring programs, and academic/social interventions for low-performing students.

7. School counselors protect and advocate for disadvantaged students.

Counselors identify and amend policies and practices that negatively impact disadvantaged students and advocate for equitable services for all students.

8. School counselors use expertise to bring data to life.

Like administrators, counselors are trained in data collection and analysis. They are skilled at using this information to drive decisions about placement, intervention, and overall student health and wellbeing.

9. School counselors mediate difficult situations between parents/students and staff.

Counselors are consistently looking for ways to support the relationship between school staff and parents. Acting as a mediator when one or both parties are upset about a situation is a critical way in which school counselors serve as leaders.

10. School counselors organize and lead crisis response.

Counselors are on the front lines after a tragedy has happened in a school or community. Staff, students, parents, and community members look to the counselors for guidance and support immediately following an event. Because of their training in emotional/mental, the counseling staff is critical in advocating for and teaching self-care to staff, parents, and students during a crisis.

11. School counselors empower and inspire.

School counselors inherently believe in people and work tirelessly to communicate that. By being visible and accessible at all times, their calming, caring, and encouraging presence helps support and empower staff in the building.

School counselors serve as leaders in many ways and we need to value their perspectives and strengths. They are vital to building positive learning environments in which students thrive.
Join our Facebook group Principal Life for more conversation about and insights into the challenges of school leadership.

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11 Ways Your School Counselors Serve as Leaders - WeAreTeachers

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students!

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School counselors have become an indispensable part of today's school environment. They assume a that are essential in helping students manage their mental health and perform at the highest caliber in order to prepare them for an increasingly competitive job market. variety of roles

A focus on student success and higher education is becoming increasingly important. As technology advances, a growing number of low-skill jobs are being mechanized or outsourced, meaning that the remaining jobs will require new competencies that are learned at college and trade school. ¹

Clearly, the demands of life beyond high school are in flux. As such, educational leaders are needed to rise to the challenge in order to help lead systemic change in schools.

According to The Education Trust, school counselors are uniquely positioned to lead during this transitional time in ways that teachers and administrators cannot. ¹

"Teachers are responsible for teaching subject matter to the students assigned to them. Principals and assistant principals are responsible for managing the budget, assuring a safe learning environment, making the buses run on time, and supporting the instructional and co-curricular programs," researchers Peggy Laturno Hines and Richard W. Lemons write. "Given the design and demands of their jobs, neither teachers nor school administrators are in a position to easily spot, much less change, the alarming mismatch between the demands of the outside world and the trajectories of individual students." ¹

School counselors pick up where administrators and teachers can not. Not only are school counselors responsible for each student in the schools they work for, but they also have the unique opportunity to shape each individual's educational trajectory.

In most schools, counselors manage course assignments for students, ensuring that students earn the required number of credits to graduate from high school. They are also privy to information such as test scores, enrollment patterns, and attendance rates. With this knowledge they can best determine which students are on a solid path to success, and which need additional resources in order to be successful.

Using this data, good counselors can also see how their institutions contribute to the success and/or failure of certain individuals or demographics, and work to improve policies in order to help each student reach their full potential. ¹

Counselors can also lead their schools in creating a "college-going culture" where all students are required to take college and career-readiness courses regardless of their plans after graduation.

"We promote a college-going culture and help students create a roadmap toward graduation filled with rigorous courses," notes Caron Cox, a counselor at one such school who has adopted a college-going culture. "All of our students are in college and career-readiness courses. Even if the students are struggling, we know they'll be more successful in college because they will have been exposed to the material and be better prepared when they leave Elmont." ¹

Other school counselors have made a difference in college readiness by changing their school standards to be more rigorous than in years previous.

Counselors in Bryant High School of the Mobile County Public School system in Alabama recently did just that after noticing that their students didn't seem to be graduating with the mathematics skills necessary to succeed in a college environment.

According to researchers Laturno Hines and Lemons, "They tracked [the problem] back to the school's policy of giving credit for Algebra IA and IB as well as Geometry A and B, which allowed students to complete the four-credit math graduation requirement by the end of their sophomore year." In essence, students who didn't wish to take math as juniors and seniors weren't required to. Sensing a problem, counselors in that school district advocated to change the graduation requirements for future students, ensuring they would have a proper education in mathematics before enrolling in college. The results have been wildly successful.

"Mobile is the only large district in Alabama to make AYP this year and one of the big reasons is what school counselors did," Deputy Superintendent Martha Peek said. "There has been this tendency to put students in low-level courses and just herd them through. You know we can't do that anymore. We've got to ramp up to the Common Core national standards. School counselors, you are the best to spread the word." ¹

These success stories show the kind of potential school counselors have to be agents of change and ensure student success. Through advocacy, thorough use of data, and rapport with administration and students, counselors can easily define pain points and work on new policies to help students become college ready.

In many school districts throughout the United States, this isn't the case, however. In fact, many counselors face a number challenges that can prevent them from advocating and leading in ways that are the best for their students.

Counseling Programs May Not Train Counselors to Properly Lead Change

In years previous, counselors have been trained to be practitioners of mental health and advocates for their students, and as such, not necessarily viewed as traditional leaders in the school environment.

Before, counselors were educated in a model that primarily focused on mental health training, but that has significantly changed. Over the course of the past two to three decades, many counseling programs have adapted their curriculum to better help their students as they become leaders and advocates for systemic change in the school system. ²

Today, counseling programs function on a model that defines the role of the school counselor as "A profession that focuses on. . .reducing the effect of environmental and institutional barriers that impede student academic success. The profession fosters conditions that ensure educational equity, access, and academic success for all students K-12." ²

This shift in focus allows counselors to be better prepared to face some of the most complex challenges facing today's student populations.

Principals and Administration May Not See the Need for School Counselors

In most school settings, counselors report directly to principals or administration, meaning that principals have a lot of say when it comes to a counselor's day-to-day activities. While principals have mastered the administrative capacities of their position, many are still unsure of the best practices for hiring, developing, and evaluating school counselors.. In an ideal school environment, school counselors and administrators work closely together in order to achieve student success.

As a result, many principals don't recognize the essential value that counselors offer to the educational experience for their students. Counselors are often spread thin performing non-counseling duties, from standardized-test coordination, to student discipline, and even substitute teaching. These barriers can prevent counselors from properly taking over leadership roles in the schools that they work for.

In order for counselors to become leaders in the education sphere, principals must understand the critical link between school counselors and college and career-readiness

A recent North Carolina State University study evaluated the relationships between principals and school counselors at high schools that won or were runners up in the College Board's Inspiration Awards. These schools, which were highly diverse, and in areas of high-poverty, had substantially increased student achievement, AP and honors class participation, test scores, and college acceptance and enrollment.

What did these schools have in common?

Their administrators and school counselors shared a core belief that all students could attend college, worked together and maintained responsibility for providing an environment where college-readiness was possible, and collaborated so that the entire school community, working together, reached its goals. is a stepping stone into a career path that helps students achieve their full potential. ³

Now more than ever, educators are in agreement about the goals of K-12 education, which is to prepare all students for college and career. In fact, 46 states have implemented a common curriculum which prioritizes "college-and-career-ready" standards. But the presence of these new standards won't ensure that students will thrive in higher education or in the workforce.

As key members of the educational team, counselors will have to develop the necessary leadership skills in order to help transform today's secondary schools. By providing counselors with the time, resources, and training necessary, students will reap the benefits of an educational system that was designed for their individual success.

For those interested in leading and making a difference in today's secondary schools, Wake Forest University Online

¹ http://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Poised_To_Lead_0.pdf
² http://jsc.montana.edu/articles/v5n19.pdf

³ http://www.academia.edu/5151304/Increasing_college_placement_rates_of_low_income_students

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Student success has become a major focus in today's schools. Counselors perform a necessary role in ensuring a bright future for today's students

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Mod 9 Video 1: The Counselor in the Principal’s Leadership Circle

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What Is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)? Why It's Key to Career Growth

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Imagine the leaders that inspire you. Each is likely unique, with a different style they use to meet goals, motivate, and animate their teams. There are many different styles of leadership, and each can have a different impact on a company.

In this post, we'll cover the most common types of leadership, how they influence business, and give tools to help you figure out what styles are best for you.

Start reading, or jump to the section you're looking for:

Why It's Important to Know Your Leadership Style

Knowing your leadership style helps you provide adequate guidance and feedback to employees, and better understand your thoughts, how you make decisions and strategies you can consider implementing when making business decisions.

It can also help you understand how your direct reports see you and why they may give you specific feedback. For example, if employees feel stifled at work and don't have many opportunities to speak their minds, they may be telling you that you're an autocratic leader who can benefit from changing their style.

Knowing your leadership styles may help you improve with limited feedback. Each leadership style has its pitfalls, allowing you to proactively address areas of improvement. This is critical because some employees might hesitate to speak up, even in an anonymous survey.

Ready to find out your leadership styles? Check out the most common styles below.

1. Democratic Leadership

Also called: Participative or Facilitative Leadership

Democratic leadership is exactly what it sounds like - the leader makes decisions based on each team member's input. Although a leader makes the final call, each employee has an equal say in a project's direction.

Democratic leaders often have the following characteristics:

Inclusive

Collaborative

Effective communicator

Empowering

Supportive and empathetic

Trust-building

Emotionally intelligent

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

This leadership style resembles how leaders often make decisions in company board meetings.

For example, a democratic leader might give the team a few decision-related options in a company board meeting. They could then open a discussion about each option. After a discussion, this leader might consider the board's thoughts and feedback, or they might open this decision up to a vote.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

The democratic leadership style is one of the most effective because it encourages everyone to participate in all processes, share their opinions, and know that you will hear them. It also encourages employees to be engaged because they know you will hear their feedback.

Team members feeling like they have space to participate can also increase employee empowerment, motivation, and participation.

Potential challenges for leaders with a Democratic style:

Reaching a consensus can take considerable time, resources, and communication with a democratic style. It can also impact decision-making because some team members may not have the right expertise to make critical decisions.

Featured resources:

2. Autocratic Leadership

Also called: Authoritarian, Coercive, or Commanding Leadership

Autocratic leadership is the inverse of democratic leadership. In this leadership style, the leader makes decisions without taking input from anyone who reports to them.

Autocratic leadership is typically characterized by:

Centralized decision-making

Direct and top-down communication

Minimal delegation

Limited autonomy for team members

Emphasis on hierarchy and status

Resistant to feedback or criticism

This style is most useful when a business needs to control specific situations, not as a standalone leadership style. For instance, it can be effective in emergency or crisis situations where quick and decisive action is necessary.

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

Autocratic leaders carry out strategies and directives with absolute focus. So, when a situation calls for it, an authoritative leader can make a quick best-fit decision for a business without needing to get additional input (helpful on a case-by-case basis).

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

This type of leadership is most effective when a company makes difficult decisions that don't benefit from additional input from others who aren't fully knowledgeable on the subject. Responsible parties can make a decision and give employees a clear sense of direction, and it can also make up for a lack of experience on a team.

Potential challenges for leaders with an Autocratic style:

Most organizations can't sustain such a hegemonic culture without losing employees, which can significantly lower morale and creative problem-solving.

An example of authoritative leadership gone bad could be when a manager changes the hours of work shifts for employees without consulting anyone.

Other challenges with autocratic leaders include:

Intimidation

Micromanagement

Over-reliance on a single leader

3. Laissez-Faire Leadership

Also called: Delegative or Hands-off Leadership

If you remember your high-school French, you'll accurately assume that laissez-faire leadership is the least intrusive form of leadership. The French term "laissez-faire" literally translates to "let them do."

Leaders who embrace it give nearly all authority to their employees and don't often interject unless the situation calls for it.

Some key characteristics of laissez-faire leadership include:

Limited guidance, direction, and feedback

Minimal interference and control

High autonomy and freedom

Empowerment and trust

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

Laissez-faire leaders make employees accountable for their work. This gives many employees an incentive to do their best work.

This type of leader often creates a more relaxed company culture. This makes it a good model for creative businesses like ad agencies or product design. It's also a good fit for a business with a highly-skilled team.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

In a young startup, for example, you might see a laissez-faire company founder who makes no major office policies around work hours or deadlines.They might put complete trust in their employees while they focus on the overall workings of running the company.

Because of this high level of trust, employees working for laissez-faire leaders feel valued. They get the information they need and use their resources and experience to meet business goals.

Potential challenges for leaders with a Laissez-Faire style:

Although laissez-faire leadership can empower employees by trusting them to work however they'd like, there are downsides. It can limit team development and pose a challenge for new or inexperienced employees who would benefit from guidance as they get ramped up. Roles and responsibilities can also become unclear, and it can build a culture of working in silos where people might work autonomously rather than as a cohesive group.

This style can lead to overlooking critical company growth and learning opportunities, so keeping this leadership style in check is important.

Featured resources:

4. Strategic Leadership

Strategic leaders sit between a company's primary operations and its growth opportunities. This form of leadership requires vision, competitive awareness, and adaptability.

These leaders accept the burden of executive interests but also ensure that working conditions are stable for everyone else.

Strategic leaders aim to guide their organization toward its long-term goals. By utilizing this leadership style, you can create a forward-thinking, agile, and adaptable organization that can thrive in today's dynamic business landscape.

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

Strategic leaders tie plans for growth and strategy to how they manage a team. They ask questions, develop and execute strategies, and consider future growth. This approach supports popular business goals like:

Accountability

Productivity

Collaboration

Transparency

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

This is a desirable leadership style in many companies because strategic thinking supports many types of employees at once.

Strategic thinking supports many employees at once, so it's a desirable style for many companies. It encourages visualization, planning, and making the most of existing resources, and it can motivate employees.

Potential challenges for leaders with a strategic leadership style:

Leaders who work strategically might take on too much and risk thinking too far into the future of possibilities while missing critical present-day issues. It's important to learn how to delegate with this leadership style and share the weight of decision-making.

Compromise, communication skills, and consistent outreach are also essential.

Featured resources:

5. Transformational Leadership

Transformational leaders gain the trust and confidence of their teams, encourage team members, and lead employees toward meeting company goals.

Transformational leadership also always improves upon the company's conventions and motivates employees to grow and further develop their skills.

Ultimately, the goal of a transformational leader is to create a lasting positive impact, uplift their team to achieve their full potential, and drive success for the organization.

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

Transformational leaders can inspire their teams to think in new ways. This can help companies update business processes to improve productivity and profitability. It can also help with employee satisfaction, morale, and motivation.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

This is a highly encouraging form of leadership where employees are supported and encouraged to see what they're capable of.

When starting a job with this type of leader, all employees might get a list of goals to reach and deadlines for reaching them. The goals might begin quite simple, but as employees grow and meet their goals, leaders will give them more tasks and challenges to conquer as they grow with the company.

Potential challenges for leaders with a Transformational style:

Transformational leaders can lose sight of everyone's individual learning curves in place of the company's goals. Employee burnout can also become an issue, so it's important to work with your team to update benchmarks.

Featured resources:

6. Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership is based on reward and punishment to motivate and direct the behavior. These managers set specific rules and standards, and they closely monitor their employees' performance. They tell employees they can expect rewards if a goal is met. However, they may require more 1:1s or check-ins if people aren't meeting goals.

This leadership style is concerned with maintaining the status quo and ensuring that predetermined goals and standards are met. It also assumes that teams need structure and monitoring to meet business goals and that they are reward-motivated.

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

This style is popular in enterprise companies as it focuses on results, existing structures, and set systems of rewards or penalties. This leadership style also recognizes and rewards commitment.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

Transactional leaders can offer helpful clarity and structure of expectations, which can help employees feel safe because they understand expectations. Employees also have a clear view of what they get in return for meeting business goals.

Potential challenges for leaders with a transactional style:

This style is more about using rewards to motivate and less about building relationships with employees, coaching, and developing team morale. Keeping a diverse team engaged can be hard if only some are reward-motivated, and it can lead to low creativity and fear of punishment.

7. Coaching Leadership

Also called: Conscious Leadership

A coaching leader focuses on identifying and nurturing the individual strengths of each member of the team and developing strategies that will enable teams to work better together.

This style is similar to strategic and democratic leadership, but it emphasizes individual employees' success.

A manager with this leadership style might help employees improve on their strengths by:

Giving them new tasks to try

Offering guidance

Meeting to discuss constructive feedback

They might also encourage one or more team members to expand on their strengths by learning new skills from other teammates.

Coaching leaders focus on building trust and establishing strong relationships with their team members. They foster an environment of open communication and psychological safety that encourages individuals to share ideas, seek feedback, and work together toward common objectives.

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

Coaching leaders actively support skill development and independent problem-solving. They meet ambitious business goals by creating a strong company culture and add to a business's long-term vision as valuable mentors, often even after leaving a company.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

This leadership style can motivate employees as they feel supported on the team. It recognizes that each employee is unique and can build diverse and exciting teams where each employee offers something different.

This leader focuses on high performance, with employees that can communicate well and embrace unique skill sets to get work done. They also encourage team members to seek new challenges, learn from experiences, and continuously improve their skills and knowledge.

Potential challenges for leaders with a coaching style:

It can take a lot of time to develop employees with a coaching style, but mentoring isn't effective for every employee.

Featured resources:

8. Bureaucratic Leadership

Bureaucratic leaders follow the rules. Unlike autocratic leadership, they might listen and consider the input of employees, but they might reject input that doesn't align with company policy or past practices.

Some key features of bureaucratic leadership include:

Centralized decision-making

Strict adherence to rules and procedures

Clear chain of command

Limited autonomy

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

This style works best for larger, older, or traditional companies that are successful in their current processes. This leadership style works for these businesses because they want to maintain existing business models and processes because their current strategies are successful, and trying something new that doesn't work could waste time and resources.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

This leadership style can be challenging for some, but it has many benefits. It lowers the risk of favoritism and replaces it with central duties, job security, and predictability.

This clear and efficient leadership style can lead to high levels of creativity for some employees.

Potential challenges for leaders with a bureaucratic leadership style:

Employees might not feel as controlled as autocratic leadership, but there can be a lack of freedom in how much people can do in their roles. This approach can shut down innovation and is not the right fit for companies chasing ambitious goals and quick growth.

Featured resources:

9. Visionary Leadership

Also called: Affiliative Leadership

Visionary leadership focuses on future and long-term goals. They aim to inspire and guide their team towards the achievement of a shared vision.

This type of leader encourages collaboration, emotional intelligence, and teamwork. They also foster a culture of innovation and change, encouraging individuals to embrace new ideas and approaches.

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

Visionary leaders can create a clear plan for employees to follow and execute. They are powerful and persuasive communicators, which helps them energize teams toward impactful business growth.

As the focus is on future growth, visionary leaders can forecast potential roadblocks and outline action plans, giving employees increased confidence during uncertainty or challenging times.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

Teams can do more and enjoy their work more if they have a vision to work toward. This type of leader offers vision statements and other tools to inspire and motivate teams to engage at work.

Potential challenges for leaders with a visionary style:

Visionary leaders can skip over day-to-day issues to focus on long-term ideas, missing roadblocks that could build up and cause problems in the future. Another common challenge is hyper-focus on a single goal, which can impact consideration for other ideas that may be just as valuable to the business.

Featured resources:

10. Pacesetting Leadership

A pacesetting leader sets ambitious standards and expects employees to meet those goals in the exact manner they've laid out. These leaders expect productivity and high-quality outputs from employees, and they may step in to ensure things are done correctly and on time.

Some characteristics of a pacesetting leader include:

High performance standards

Leading by example

Results-oriented

Preference for speed and efficiency

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

This type of leader sets ambitious goals with a clear and focused effort, so employees know exactly what is expected of them. For example, pacesetting sales leaders set and exceed ambitious quarterly sales cadences.

These leaders might also work alongside their team and push performance, boosting team morale.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

Skilled and experienced teams often thrive under this kind of leader. They use the abilities of motivated and competent team members and make meeting goals feel urgent and exciting.

It can also be gratifying for team members to see their leader working hard alongside them.

Potential challenges for leaders with a pacesetting style:

Pacesetting leaders can sometimes create a high-stress workplace environment if goals are unrealistic, which can overwhelm and demotivate teams. This can impact engagement and lead to burnout, where people struggle to meet goals and perform as expected.

Focusing on goals can also stifle creativity and diversity of thought, so employees don't feel they can use their expertise to suggest alternative goals or strategies.

Featured resources:

11. Situational Leadership

Situational leaders change their management style to meet the needs of the situation or team. It suggests that effective leaders must adapt their leadership style to match the readiness and development levels of their team members

This leadership style involves analyzing specific situations, assessing the competence and commitment of individuals, and adjusting the leadership approach accordingly. It is proactive and recognizes that change is the only constant.

Why this leadership style works for businesses:

This leadership approach can motivate employees and ensure that people aren't stuck working in a way that doesn't make sense for the situation. It's also valuable for startups or businesses requiring frequent changes and flexible talent and support.

Why this leadership style is good for the team:

Situational leaders are great communicators and use team feedback to make decisions. They also analyze market changes and can quickly evaluate and update processes to ensure success. This can create strong relationships and help employees see and feel their value to the business.

Potential challenges for leaders with a situational style:

Leaders need a high level of expertise in all business processes and functions to make decisions, and they must be able to pivot quickly. It's important to remember long-term goals and meet immediate needs; not every leader can do this effectively.

It can become confusing and stressful for teams if a leader's approach changes too often, as they won't know what to expect.

Featured resources:

Deciding Between Different Leadership Styles

There's no single "best" leadership style, so figuring out what is best for you and your environment is essential.

How to Understand Your Instinctive Leadership Style

Leaders need good instincts, and many leaders focus on their own experiences and habits as they develop a leadership style. As you start your path toward leadership, you may want to keep notes. Write down how you would handle specific situations or problems.

Doing this can help you be a confident and capable leader, but if you notice things aren't going as expected, you may want to reconsider your approach.

Your instincts and habits will always impact the way you lead. But if you find yourself in situations that you're unsure how to respond to, you may want to look at other leadership styles.

For example, if you're an extrovert with a shy member on your team, you may want to work on active listening. If you're an introvert leading a team of outgoing people, you may need to learn new ways to nurture, support, and inspire your team.

Can you change your leadership style?

While it may take some time and effort, you can always change your leadership style and improve your processes.

The first step to making changes is recognizing the need for change. Whether this comes from direct employee feedback, noticing that goals aren't being met, or people seeming to experience burnout, identifying this is the first step.

Next, you need to prepare yourself for changes. For example, your leadership style may be effective for your team, but you might have a more challenging time connecting with stakeholders. In this case, you wouldn't want to throw out your current style, but you'd want to identify what is and isn't working. Then, get curious, and begin the work of adjusting the way you lead.

How to Choose the Right Leadership Style for You

There are many ways to find a leadership style that works for you. Because of this, it can be tough to know where to begin. If you're not sure what leadership styles will work for you, these steps can help.

1. Get to know yourself.

Everyone has a unique path to self-discover. Some take risks and try new things and others prioritize quiet time, writing exercises, and listing strengths and weaknesses.

Another path to learning about yourself is through physical activity and spending time with other people. However you go about it, getting to know yourself is an important first step toward being a leader.

2. Outline your values and challenges.

Knowing yourself will help you understand what's important to you and where you struggle. Being a leader means working quickly and making decisions quickly, so having your values mapped out can be extremely helpful.

As you write out your values, look at pivotal moments in your life to date. Then, look for trends, people you're drawn to, and common themes. If your list is long, group similar ideas together.

Having an outline can help you see how you react, your strengths and weaknesses, and a base for your core values.

3. Watch leaders you respect.

Observing leaders you respect can also help you define your leadership style. As you watch them in meetings, client conversations, and presentations, take notes of what you like.

Another approach is to view their actions with specific leadership styles in mind, helping you figure out what their approach is and whether it will work for you.

4. Try different leadership styles.

A hands-on option is to try out different leadership styles. You can create an outline of what interests you and review your notes before your next meeting to see how you can incorporate it into your interactions.

5. Find a business coach or mentor.

Working with a business coach can also help you hone your leadership style.

A mentor can be someone in your workplace you respect and would appreciate feedback from, whether it's another leader or a colleague you respect. You can also check out this guide on how to find a business coach.

6. Ask colleagues and leaders for feedback.

Another way to find the best style for your needs is to ask other colleagues, leaders, and team members for feedback.

The best approach for this strategy is to plan out what you want to ask and why so you get the feedback you need. Think about how people might respond and also set clear guidelines and expectations.

When you get feedback, make sure to listen carefully. You'll gain valuable information about your strengths and weaknesses that will help you understand where you need to improve and the style that will help you improve.

7. Complete a leadership style assessment.

Leadership assessments are helpful tools for leaders, for yourself as an individual, and to assess your teams.

A leadership quiz can make it easier to understand your strengths and skills. It can surface habits and qualities you might not be aware of and give you a clear direction for growth.

If this is something you want to try, the leadership assessment below is a great place to start.

Leadership Style Assessment

Leaders carry a mix of the leadership styles mentioned above. At the root of these styles, leadership experts Bill Torbert and David Rooke say, are what are called "action logics."

These action logics assess "how [leaders] interpret their surroundings and react when their power or safety is challenged."

That's the idea behind the Leadership Development Profile, a popular management survey tool. Created by professor Torbert and psychologist Susanne Cook-Greuter - and featured in the book, Personal and Organizational Transformations - the survey uses a set of 36 open-ended sentence completion tasks to help researchers better understand how leaders develop and grow.

Below we've used open-ended sentences to outline six action logics that describe each one. Review the sentences, see how they resonate with you, and figure out which leadership style upholds based on the action logic you most align with.

1. Individualist

The individualist is self-aware, creative, and primarily focused on their actions and development as opposed to overall organizational performance. This action logic is exceptionally driven by the desire to exceed personal goals and constantly improve their skills.

Here are some things an individualist might say:

Individualist 1: "A good leader should always trust their own intuition over established organizational processes."

Individualist 2: "It's important to be able to relate to others so I can easily communicate complex ideas to them."

Individualist 3: "I'm more comfortable with progress than sustained success."

2. Strategist

Strategists are acutely aware of the environments they're in and have a deep understanding of the structures and processes that make their businesses tick. Still, they're also able to evaluate what could be improved.

Here are some things a strategist might say:

Strategist 1: "A good leader should always be able to build a consensus in divided groups."

Strategist 2: "It's important to help develop the organization as a whole, as well as the growth and individual achievements of my direct reports."

Strategist 3: "Conflict is inevitable, but I'm knowledgeable enough about my team's personal and professional relationships to handle the friction."

3. Alchemist

Rooke and Tolbert describe the alchemist as highly evolved and effective at managing organizational change. They differ from other action logics in their unique ability to simultaneously see the big picture and minute details. No department or employee gets overlooked with an alchemist leader.

Here are some things an alchemist might say:

Alchemist 1: "A good leader helps their employees reach their highest potential, and possesses the necessary empathy and moral awareness to get there."

Alchemist 2: "It's important to make a profound and positive impact on whatever I'm working on."

Alchemist 3: "I have a unique ability to balance short-term needs and long-term goals."

4. Opportunist

Opportunists are guided by a certain level of mistrust of others, relying on a facade of control to keep their employees in line. "Opportunists tend to regard their bad behavior as legitimate in the cut and thrust of an eye-for-an-eye world," Rooke and Tolbert write.

Here are some things an opportunist might say:

Opportunist 1: "A good leader should always view others as potential competition to be bested, even if it's at the expense of their professional development."

Opportunist 2: "I reserve the right to reject the input of those who question or criticize my ideas."

5. Diplomat

Unlike the opportunist, the diplomat isn't concerned with competition or assuming control over situations. Instead, this action logic seeks to cause minimal impact on their organization by conforming to existing norms and completing their daily tasks with as little friction as possible.

Here are some things a diplomat might say:

Diplomat 1: "A good leader should always resist change since it risks causing instability among their direct reports."

Diplomat 2: "It's important to provide the 'social glue' in team situations, safely away from conflict."

Diplomat 3: "I tend to thrive in more team-oriented or supporting leadership roles."

6. Expert

The expert is a pro in their given field, constantly striving to perfect their knowledge of a subject and perform to meet their own high expectations. Rooke and Tolbert describe the expert as a talented individual contributor and a source of knowledge for the team. But this action logic does lack something central to many good leaders: emotional intelligence.

Here are some things a diplomat might say:

Expert 1: "A good leader should prioritize their own pursuit of knowledge over the needs of the organization and their direct reports."

Expert 2: "When problem-solving with others in the company, my opinion tends to be the correct one."

Which Leader Are You?

So, which action logics above felt like you? Think about each sentence for a moment.

Now, check out which of the seven leadership styles you embrace on the right based on the sentences you resonated with on the left.

The more action logics you agree with, the more likely you are to practice a mix of leadership styles.

For example, if you agreed with everything the strategist said, this would make you a 66% strategic leader and 33% democratic leader. If you agreed with the third statement and everything the alchemist said, this would make you a 50% transformational, 25% strategic, and 25% democratic leader.

Keep in mind that these action logics are considered developmental stages, not fixed attributes - most leaders will progress through multiple types of leadership throughout their careers.

Learn Your Leadership Management Style to Become a Better Leader

Whether you manage a big or small team, your leadership style heavily impacts how your direct reports see you and how your team works together to achieve your company's goals. There are many different styles of leadership, so choosing one that works for you can make you a more effective leader.

If you want to be a leader that makes a difference, you'll need to keep growing and embrace change. Are you ready to get started?
Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Leadership Styles: The 11 Most Common & How to Find Your Style [Quiz]

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Learn about 11 types of leadership styles, and the traits they carry. Choose the leadership style for you and test to find out what type of leader you are.