Https www skillsyouneed com ls index php 325444

Your assessment

Your Leadership Styles

Based on the answers you gave your leadership style mix is:

Well developed styles

0

Styles that need some further development

5

Styles that need a lot of further development

1

Overall, you have a reasonable mix of leadership styles but there is still a lot of opportunity to develop them further.

You have 5 fairly well-developed leadership styles, these are:

Pace-Setter

Pace-setting leaders expect excellence and self-direction, and can be summed up as ‘Do as I do, now’. The Pace-setter very much leads by example, but this type of leadership only works with a highly-competent and well-motivated team. It can only be sustained for a while without team members flagging. Like the Coercive leader, Pace-setters also show drive to succeed and initiative, but instead of self-control, these are coupled with conscientiousness.

See our pages: Organising Skills | Delegation Skills | Strategic Thinking Skills for more on developing the skills of a pace-setting leader.

Visionary

Authoritative leaders move people towards a vision, so are often described as ‘Visionary’. This style is probably best summed up as ‘Come with me’. It is the most useful style when a new vision or clear direction is needed, and is most strongly positive. Authoritative leaders are high in self-confidence and empathy, acting as a change catalyst by drawing people into the vision and engaging them with the future.

See our pages: Persuasion and Influencing Skills | Strategic Thinking Skills | Emotional Intelligence for more on developing the skills of a visionary or authoritative leader.

Affiliative

An affiliative leader values and creates emotional bonds and harmony, believing that ‘People come first’. Such leaders demonstrate empathy, and strong communication skills, and are very good at building relationships. This style is most useful when a team has been through a difficult experience, and needs to heal rifts, or develop motivation. It is not a very goal-oriented style, so anyone using it will need to make sure others understand that the goal is team harmony, and not specific tasks. It is probably obvious from this that it cannot be used on its own for any length of time if you need to ‘get the job done’.

See our pages: What is Empathy? | Motivating Others | Building Rapport for more on developing the skills of a affiliative leader.

Democratic

The democratic leader builds consensus through participation, constantly asking ‘What do you think?’, and showing high levels of collaboration, team leadership and strong communication skills. This style of leadership works well in developing ownership for a project, but it can make for slow progress towards goals, until a certain amount of momentum has built up. Anyone wishing to use this style will need to make sure that senior managers are signed up to the process, and understand that it may take time to develop the consensus.

See our pages: Communication Skills | Transactional Analysis | Negotiation Skills for more on developing the skills of a democratic leader.

Coaching

A coaching leader will develop people, allowing them to try different approaches in an open way. The phrase that sums up this style is ‘Try it’, and this leader shows high levels of empathy, self-awareness and skills in developing others. A coaching style is especially useful when an organisation values long-term staff development.

See our pages: What is Coaching? | Coaching Skills and Building a Motivational Environment for more on developing the skills of a coaching leader.

Your least well-developed leadership style is:

Coercive

Coercive leaders demand immediate obedience. In a single phrase, this style is ‘Do what I tell you’. These leaders show initiative, self-control, and drive to succeed. There is, of course, a time and a place for such leadership: a battlefield is the classic example, but any crisis will need clear, calm, commanding leadership. This style does not, however, encourage anyone else to take the initiative, and often has a negative effect on how people feel.

See our pages: Action Planning | Strategic Thinking Skills | Decision Making for more on developing the skills of a coercive leader.

Read more at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ls/index.php/325444