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The leadership toolkit includes resources for leaders to refer to and learn from throughout their leadership journey.

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The awareness of our emotions and feelings and how they may affect ourselves and others (Gleeson, 2020).

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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.

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(Indeed Editorial Team, 2021)

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We all want to be part of a great success story. To run, start, or play a senior role in a company that wins big or changes the course of its industry. To launch a brand that dazzles customers and dominates its markets. To be the kind of executive or entrepreneur who creates jobs, generates wealth, and builds an organization bursting with energy and creativity.

Which means that all of us, no matter where we are in our career, have to wrestle with the big questions of leadership: What is our personal definition of success? What does it mean to make a difference and have an impact? What is the best way to rally colleagues to our cause, to handle problems and obstacles that inevitably arise, to revise plans in the face of setbacks or to stand pat no matter the odds? How much do we rely on our own ideas and experiences, and how widely do we seek the advice and support of those around us? If we hope to succeed, we need to understand how we lead.

Over the last three decades - first as a young editor at Harvard Business Review, then as cofounder of Fast Company magazine, now as a book author - I've spent time with truly remarkable leaders in a vast range of fields. All of them have achieved tremendous success and impact, and none of them has done it in precisely the same way. But I've been able to identify four styles that capture their different approaches to the whys and hows of leadership, and I've come up with a set of 16 questions to help you figure out which style suits you best. There are no right answers to these questions, of course, no one way to lead. But each of us has to figure out which style of leadership fits who we are and what we are trying to achieve.

What are those four styles of leadership?

The Classic Entrepreneur. As legendary investor John Doerr likes to say, classic entrepreneurs do "more than anyone thinks possible with less than anyone thinks possible." Leadership is about the thrill of competition and the quest for success. No-nonsense variables, such as costs, quality, profit margins, and savvy deals, are the metrics that matter. Sure, these leaders care about the values their company stands for, but it's the dollars-and-cents value proposition that matters most. They love to build killer products and butt-kicking companies. They are, in Doerr's words, and he doesn't mean this critically, "opportunistic" - they revel in "the pitch" and "the deal." When faced with decisions about launching a new product, or dealing with a disgruntled customer, or selling the company to an eager suitor, they focus on tough-minded calculations and no-nonsense financial returns.

The Modern Missionary. These leaders aim for more than mere business success; they aspire to success and significance. Winning is less about beating the competition than it is about building something original and meaningful. Success is less about making money than it is about making a difference and having an impact. Sure, economic value is important, but human values are what drive their passion to succeed. So these leaders may take risks that classic entrepreneurs won't, even if the short-term returns aren't obvious, or they may turn down deals that others might accept, because the financial payoffs aren't as important as the broader impact they hope to make. These leaders don't just want to run companies; they aim to turn their companies into a cause.

The Problem Solver. They worry less about dramatic impact than about concrete results. They believe in the power of expertise and the value of experience. Disruptive technologies and blank-sheet-of-paper business models may be reshaping markets and industries, but past success is a good predictor of future impact. So as they rise through the ranks or lead organizations they've built, problem solvers are the first to confront difficulties and identify new opportunities. Yes, they rely on the advice of colleagues, but ultimately they fall back on everything they've learned and seen to guide the organization into the future. These top-down, take-charge, the-buck-stops-here executives may be the most recognizable sorts of leaders, in terms of the image we carry around of what it takes to get things done.

The Solution Finder. This style is about incremental results and concrete solutions, but these leaders believe that the most powerful contributions often come from the most unexpected places - the hidden genius of their colleagues, the collective genius that surrounds their organization. They are committed to making sure that what they know doesn't limit what they can imagine. They're ultimately responsible for business results, but they believe that achieving those results is everybody's business. These modest, humble, self-effacing leaders don't make headlines, but that doesn't mean they're not ambitious. They believe that humility in the service of ambition is the right mindset to do big things in a world of huge unknowns.

Why is it important to gain clarity about the leadership style that fits each of us best? Because the more we understand about ourselves - what we truly care about, how we make decisions, why we do what we do - the more effective we will be at marshaling the support of others for what we hope to achieve. In a time of wrenching disruptions and exhilarating advances, of unrelenting turmoil and unlimited promise, there have never been more roads to success - or more opportunities to fail.
Author's note: I've created a 16-question quiz on my website to help you figure out your style. It's free, but you do have to enter your email address to get your results.

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Figure Out the Leadership Style That Fits Who You Are

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We all want to be part of a great success story. To run, start, or play a senior role in a company that wins big or changes the course of its industry. To launch a brand that dazzles customers and dominates its markets.

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Transactional vs Transformational Leadership | Created using Powtoon - The Visual Communication Platform

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This quiz will help you identify your natural leadership style (Mind Tools, n.d.)

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When we lead for the first time, we might adopt a style of leadership that we've experienced from someone else, or that we've heard or read about. If it seems to work, we'll likely stick with it - in effect, it becomes "our" style.

But there are many approaches available to us, and a good leader is able to adapt their style according to the situation and the people involved.

Choose the right leadership style to suit the situation.

This quiz will help you to identify the style that you naturally lean toward, and introduce you to alternative approaches that you might find it helpful to develop, and the occasions when they may be appropriate.

We've based our questions on psychologist Kurt Lewin's Leadership Styles Framework - a model developed in the 1930s that is still popular and useful today.

What's Your Leadership Style?

Instructions

For each question, complete the statement by choosing one of the three options: A, B or C. Please answer according to how you would behave in reality, rather than how you think you should behave. When you're finished, please click the "Calculate My Total" button at the bottom of the test, and go on to read the guidance that follows.

12-20

You most commonly adopt an authoritarian or autocratic leadership style. You rarely consult your team members and, instead, tend to tell them what you want, when you want it, and how you want it done.

This style works well in a crisis, when a task must be completed quickly. However, you'll likely demoralize, demotivate and aggravate people if you use it all the time. This can translate into high absenteeism and turnover rates. You'll also miss out on a wealth of ideas, thereby stifling innovation and creativity. Read more below.

21-27

You lean toward a democratic or participative style of leadership. You tend to set the parameters for the work and have the final say on decisions, but you actively involve your team members in the process.

This style can build trust between you and your people, as they'll likely feel engaged and valued. But it's not great in a high-pressure situation that requires a fast turnaround, as it will slow you down. And, if you dislike disagreement or conflict, you might struggle with how people respond to consultation. Read more below.

28-36

Your default leadership style is probably delegating or "laissez faire." You give your team members free rein in how they work toward their goals.

This is an ideal approach when your people are highly skilled and motivated, and when you're working with contractors and freelancers who you trust. But if a team member is inexperienced or untrustworthy, or if you lose sight of what's going on, this approach can backfire catastrophically. Read more below.

Do you believe that you can adapt your style? Harvard University professor Ron Heifetz and leadership experts David Rooke and William Torbert say that you can. So let's look in more depth at Lewin's leadership styles, their strengths and risks, and how you might become more skillful in using them.

Authoritarian, Autocratic Leadership

This approach is helpful when your team needs to follow a process "to the letter," to manage a significant risk. It's also effective when you need to be hands-on with people who miss deadlines, in departments where conflict is an issue, or in teams that rely on quick decisions being made.

But you need to be aware that relying on control and punishment to maintain standards will likely drive people away. Similarly, if you always demand that your team works at top speed, you can end up exhausting everyone.

Instead, you can show respect for team members by providing the rationale for your decisions. And they will more likely comply with your expectations if you take the trouble to explain Why the Rules Are There.

You can improve your ability to "lead from the front" by Planning for a Crisis, Thinking on Your Feet, and making good decisions under pressure. But be sure to balance these skills with an awareness of their potential negative impact on creativity, ideas gathering, motivation, and trust within the team.

Being too autocratic can also mean that you'll find it hard to stand back from the detail and take a wider, more strategic view.

Tip:

Did you achieve your leadership role thanks to your technical expertise? If so, you'll likely be used to getting things right, adding value, and having people's respect. But your soft skills might be lacking, so don't be afraid to listen and collaborate more.

Democratic, Participative Leadership

With this approach, you set goals, guide team discussions, and make the final decision. But you also acknowledge that your people can have valuable insight into a problem or process, so you actively consult them. As a result, you'll likely gain creative input and fresh ideas that you wouldn't have come up with if you were working alone.

You might wonder how to manage differing opinions in the team, once you've invited participation in this way. Your goal is to build a culture in which people can have healthy debates with one another. So:

Be aware that processes could become dangerously slow if you involve your team members in every decision. You'll need to judge carefully whether you need to adopt a more autocratic approach, even if it's only briefly.

The Delegating, "Laissez Faire" Leader

"Laissez faire" is a French phrase adopted into English that means, "Let (people) do (as they choose)." It describes a policy of leaving situations to run their own course, without interfering.

By adopting this style of leadership, you empower your team to make decisions and to organize its own processes, with little or no guidance. The danger of this approach is that situations can collapse into chaos if your people have low motivation or poor skills. It can work, however, if they are experienced, knowledgeable, confident, creative, and driven, or if deadlines are flexible and processes are simple.

Be in no doubt, though, that as the leader you will still be held accountable for the outcome! So you might want to organize team decision making processes to support your people while you take a "hands off" approach. Just be sure to delegate the right task to the right person, as a mismatch could mean that the whole team fails.

Avoid becoming too remote, even with a high-performing, highly autonomous team. Change can occur at any time in business, so your organization's requirements for your team might shift after your initial brief. If this happens, stay in touch with your people, and communicate clearly and promptly. Remember, you can offer your support without becoming a micromanager!

Tip:

Consistently excellent and long-lasting teams tend to have transformational leaders. These leaders have high expectations for, and set a fine example to, their people. And they inspire them to reach for the seemingly impossible.

Further Reading:

We have numerous resources on leadership styles and approaches in our Leadership Skills toolkit. You might find the following articles helpful:

Key Points

We all tend toward one leadership style more than another, due to our personal preferences, abilities, role models, and more.

But one approach doesn't fit all scenarios: some situations and people call for a fast, firm, top-down approach, while others flourish with shared responsibilities and the freedom to plan, decide and act.

You and your team will likely perform better if you develop a wide set of styles to apply as appropriate.

Kurt Lewin's model expresses this range of styles in relatively simple terms, from Authoritarian or Autocratic, through Democratic or Participative, to Delegating or "Laissez Faire."

Transformational leadership is the best approach for most situations.

This self-test is just one of a large set that helps you evaluate your abilities in a wide range of important career skills. Visit our Test Yourself section for other self-tests.

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What's Your Leadership Style?: - Learn About the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Way You Like to Lead

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When we lead for the first time, we might adopt a style of leadership that we've experienced from someone else, or that we've heard or read about. If it seems to work, we'll likely stick with it - in effect, it becomes "our" style.

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Quiz

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The quiz below is based on the 4 leadership styles Bill discusses in his Harvard Business Review article, The 4 Leadership Styles, and How to Identify Yours.

Do you dream of doing something extraordinary, even in a field that can be pretty ordinary? Are you searching for the right way to translate your personal definition of success into a product, project, or company that achieves something remarkable? It all comes down to the "why" and "how" of leadership. This test will help you figure out what kind of leader you are, and the leadership style that suits you.

It takes just a few minutes to answer the questions and learn more the style of leadership that fits you. For an accurate result, make sure your answers reflect what you really think and do, rather than what you think you should do. There are no right or wrong answers, and no right or wrong ways to lead.

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The quiz below is based on the 4 leadership styles Bill discusses in his Harvard Business Review article, The 4 Leadership Styles, and How to Identify Yours . Do you dream of doing something extraordinary, even in a field that can be pretty ordinary?

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To Resolve a Conflict, First Decide: Is It Hot or Cold?

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Lincoln on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips.
Good to Great  by Jim Collins.

How Remarkable Women Lead by Joanna Barsh.

Leaders Make the Future by Bob Johansen.

Leadership on the Line by Linsky & Heifetz.

Reframing Academic Leadership by Bolman & Gallos.

Reframing the Path to School Leadership by Bolman & Deal.

Shackleton's Way by Morrell & Capparell.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Lencioni.

The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes & Posner.

The Wizard & The Warrior by Bolman & Deal.

Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: A Guide for Students by Shankman, Allen & Haber-Curran.

Identity & Leadership by Chavez & Santo.

On Becoming a Servant Leader by Greenleaf

Creating Multicultural Change on Campus by Pope, Reynolds, Mueller.

Changing on the Job: Developing Leaders for a Complex World by Berger.

Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation by Vasan & Przybylo.

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School counselors apply leadership competencies in all four components of
the comprehensive developmental school counseling program.
Standard 1
Provide leadership for the implementation of the school’s
comprehensive developmental school counseling program.
Standard 2
Provide leadership in the school’s responsiveness to the personal and
social needs of diverse students.
Standard 3
Provide leadership for the enhancement of learning environments that
address the diverse needs of students (Texas Education Agency, 2018).

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The American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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The American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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According to the American School Counselor Association (2014), school counselors must lead students to adopt Mindset and Behavior Standards for student success.

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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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Gleeson, B. (2020, February 6). 5 Aspects of Emotional Intelligence Required for Effective Leadership. Inc.Com. https://www.inc.com/brent-gleeson/5-aspects-of-emotional-intelligence-required-for-effective-leadership.html

Indeed Editorial Team. (2021, March 8). Common Leadership Styles [Illustration]. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/10-common-leadership-styles

Mind Tools. (n.d.). What’s Your Leadership Style?: – Learn About the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Way You Like to Lead. Retrieved May 10, 2021, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/leadership-style-quiz.htm?utm_source=social&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=tweetchatblog

Texas Education Agency. (2018).  The Texas model for comprehensive school counseling programs  (5th ed.). Texas Counseling Association.      https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/Pub_2018_Texas-Model_5th-Edition.pdf