The Monthly Huddle: Your Leadership Style

Welcome to the October edition of The Monthly Huddle– A short, sweet, and to-the-point advice blog for tackling some of business management’s most difficult questions! Today, we’ll take a quick sneak peek at 12 different leadership styles. Then, over the next few months, check back in as we deep-dive into each type in more detail!

Good leadership doesn’t have just one definition, just as no leader has just one style. The very nature of being an effective leader requires a dynamic personality that can monitor and adjust according to the needs of the business. 

That’s why it’s critical to understand which common leadership style you favor and learn to embrace the others. Each has a time and a place when it’s appropriate, and understanding the impact each can have, both positive and negative, can be eye-opening. 

What leadership style do you naturally default to? Which do you find the most challenging? 

Charismatic Leadership Style

Charismatic leaders are those that thrive on interpersonal connections. They want to understand what makes people tick, then use that knowledge to drive them toward success. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Charming
• Empathetic
• Optimistic
• Outgoing
• Enthusiastic

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“Charisma is a sparkle in people that money can’t buy. It’s an invisible energy with visible effects.” — Marianne Williamson

Visionary Leadership Style

The visionary leader always keeps the big picture in mind. They can see the forest for the trees, and because of that, often have great success charting a long-term course for their team. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Innovative
• Daring
• Collaborative
• Magnetic
• Strategic

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” — Michelangelo

Coaching Leadership Style

This type of leader sees the individual strengths of each “player” and works to cultivate those strengths into an asset for the team. They’re often “big picture” thinkers who want to see results, not ponder over details. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Supportive
• High emotional intelligence
• Honest
• Facilitating
• Constructive

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.” – Timothy Gallwey

Transactional Leadership Style

The transactional leader is a classic “carrot on a stick” thinker. They believe that following through on clear rewards and consequences for short-term goals is the most effective way to see results.

Top 5 Traits:

• Extrinsically motivating
• Reward-based
• Focused on short-term
• Efficient
• Structured

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest.” — Leo Babauta

Transformational Leadership Style  

A business run by transformational leadership will constantly be abuzz with conversation. No decision is finalized until everyone has had their fair shot at voicing their thoughts. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Self-managers
• Inspirational
• Adaptive
• Curious
• Values autonomy

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“Punishing honest mistakes stifles creativity. I want people moving and shaking the earth and they are going to make mistakes.” – Henry Ross Perot

Servant Leadership Style

Selflessness and altruism guide the servant leader. They strive to know their teams personally and professionally, then provide every means necessary of helping them succeed. In return, the team is motivated to pursue a common vision. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Trusting
• Highly empathetic
• Altruistic
• Courageous
• Authentic

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. Serve and thou shall be served.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Autocratic Leadership Style

In autocratic leadership, all decisions are made by the person in charge. Rarely, if ever, are their conversations with others about what should be done. Instead, people are handed directives and expected to follow through. Boundaries and expectations are very clear. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Highly-structured
• Prefers the top-down model
• Individualistic
• Responsible
• Dislike for “grey areas” or ambiguity

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“Audiences are shifting. Platforms are shifting. Ages are shifting. It’s better to be in charge than to have to react to change.” — Roger Ailes

Democratic Leadership Style

Democratic leadership is also called participative leadership, as they are driven to invite others to take ownership of the work they do through collaboration. While a democratic leader still has the final say, they genuinely welcome outside input.

Top 5 Traits:

• Sincerity
• Seeks whole-team satisfaction
• Eager
• Openly communicates
• Uplifting

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Team Leadership Style

Like the coaching leader, team leaders have a plan in mind, along with a mixed bag of strategies to achieve the final result. They differ in that they prefer to focus on the team’s relationships as a whole, instead of individual talents. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Organized
• Respectful
• Fair
• Influential
• Demonstrates integrity

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” — Helen Keller

Cross-Cultural Leadership Style

This is a fairly modern leadership style that has emerged as the global market continues to expand. Cross-cultural leaders are focused on building bridges between nations to facilitate business and relationships. They are highly attuned and sensitive to the perception one culture may have of another and work to overcome negative preconceived notions. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Flexible
• Hungry for knowledge
• Self-reflective
• Sensitive
• Persistent

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“Differences simply act as a yarn of curiosity unraveling until we get to the other side” — Ciore Taylor

Facilitative Leadership Style

The facilitative leaders are similar to laissez-faire leaders, in that they value autonomy. Unlike the latter, though, facilitators get dirty doing the work right along with the team. They encourage collaboration and honesty while helping manage conflict. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Focused on the future
• Inclusive
• Begins with the end in mind
• Purposeful
• Acts as an advocate

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.” – John Ciardi

Laissez-faire Leadership Style

In the laissez-faire leadership style, the boss steps away to let teams do what they do best. There is often very little actual management or oversight happening. While this is ideal for creative teams not driven by deadlines, it can be problematic in industries that require more structure. 

Top 5 Traits:

• Takes a back seat until needed
• Hands-off
• Effective delegators
• Encourage independence
• Rewards creativity

A Quote You’ll Connect With:

“If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings, and put compensation as a carrier behind it, you almost don’t have to manage them.” — Jack Welch