Leadership - Switching Styles

Learn to lead, life will be so much more rewarding, relationships so much richer, success so much sweeter when you do!

Much has been written about leadership styles. Studying leaders of the past and present will lead you to some great insights as to what leadership styles work or don’t work. Under estimate the importance of reading about the bad ones at your own peril. Balance your perspective out and develop a solid understanding of how these leaders influenced others, did they dictate preying on the fears of others or did they sell the benefits and inspire? …How they operated - was their planning and preparation messy and lacking? …Was their execution of the plan efficient effective and communicated well with clear and transparent intent? …What improved as a result of their leadership, who gained and at what expense? Did their legacy thrive after they moved on or was there an audible sigh of relief?

A truly versatile leader is one that is flexible in their style of leadership depending on the circumstance. It should also be noted with equal importance where a leader places themselves physically. Experienced leaders position themselves based upon the experience of the group, environmental factors, and your relationship with the individuals in the team, the group as a whole and the task at hand. Some situations require leadership from the front and is recommended e.g. when your team is in the forming and storming phases of group development, are inexperienced and face difficult, unfamiliar and stressful situations. Leadership from the middle or theoretical center when the group has bonded and in the norming phase of group development. The leader is able to step to the back temporarily when the group has developed the experience and maturity it needs and evidence of consistent performance is present.

Presupposing that the leader has an understanding of the distinct relationship between leader and follower, the two key needs of individuals in any organization – that of security and self-confidence and how it influences follower-participation, a good leader should be able to switch styles with agility whilst getting the most out of their team. Rob Markey and Jon Kaufman of Bain & Company published an article in the HBR (January 27, 2014) based on a global survey titled “The Four Secrets to Employee Engagement” which essentially highlights the lack of good basic leadership in the workplace. If Morale is down and the absence of Esprit de Corp is evident, building rapport and trust is critical to encouraging and maintaining employee engagement as is the understanding and application of group and task dynamics, the principals of employee management and “top down” support. Being stuck in one style of leadership for whatever reason puts you on a fast track to disengaging your team because their trust and confidence in you to call the right shots at the right time is not there.

Switching leadership styles with agility also calls for an understanding of the positives and negatives that result from each style.

The leadership styles and benefits examined here are “Authoritarian or Autocratic”, “Participative or Democratic” and “Free-rein or Laissez-faire”.

Authoritarian or Autocratic

Ask yourself how successful this style has been for the likes of Kim Jong-un and the other members of the top 10 in this category? If you consider the presupposition of “people like people who are like themselves” and “sameness equals safety – difference equals threat” then you can see how Hitler achieved what he did by delegating to people who shared the same values.

This style insinuates that the leader makes the decisions independently with little or no input from the rest of the group and keeps complete control using such means as:

1. Micro managing (directing activities and actions step by step). This causes uncertainty in what future activities will be for team members, 
2. Allocate tasks and steps to individual team members and assigning work companions, 
3. Determining all policies, 
4. Imposing discipline, 
5. Delegated authority, 
6. Sanctions, 
7. Communication is predominantly one-way.

However this authoritarian style is suitable when:

1. There is conflict e.g. police controlling riots, 
2. A stressful and or dangerous situation exists e.g. evacuation of an area because a man-made or natural threat to human life exists, 
3. Time is short e.g. a movie director on a film set dealing with fading light for a specific scene shot, 
4. There is a requirement to condition individuals and groups to respond quickly e.g. a basketball teams’ transition from attack to defense or scenario based training for rescue personnel, firefighters or paramedics, 
5. Dealing with large numbers of people e.g. security staff at a rock concert or sporting event. 

The results of authoritarian leadership when it’s adopted over a more appropriate style produce results such as:

1. Performance goals are achieved, 
2. Performance drops off significantly when the leader is away – when the cats away the mice will play! 
3. Individuals or the group may exhibit the so called “bad attitude” displaying such symptoms as indifference, lack of interest and enthusiasm toward the task and bitterness, spite and resentment towards leadership, 
4. Team members undervalue their performance and productivity levels drop, 
5. The “fun-factor” is missing. 

Participative or Democratic

The team-building approach lies behind this leadership style and centers on both the leader and the team. Given a task(s) the leader asks the team for input and recommendations for a solution however the final decision on what to do lies with the leader. This type of style is appropriate when you are dealing with a cohesive group and time exists for this type of consultation.

This style insinuates the leader may or will act to:

1. Encourages suggestions from the group so that they will identify themselves with the plan, 
2. Plans and aligns future activities, goals and objectives by discussing them with the group, 
3. Allows group members to choose their own work partners and divide work amongst themselves as they see fit provided that proper use is made of available knowledge skills and resources, 
4. When advice or solutions are needed the group is consulted, 
5. The leader includes them self in tasks and discussions in a helpful manner much the same way as a coach would but still retains the position of leader, 
6. Inspires, 
7. Encourage and foster two way communication. 

The participative leadership style is suitable when:

1. Teaching complex knowledge and skills, 
2. Problem solving outside of stressful situations, 
3. Interviewing and counselling, 
4. Individuals or the group is experiencing personal hardship. 

The results of participative leadership when it’s adopted correctly may produce results such as:

1. Work goals are achieved, 
2. The “Fun-factor” and a friendliness is present amongst the group, 
3. The standard of expected performance continues in the leaders’ absence, 
4. Group member’s demonstrate a willingness to cooperate, 
5. Team members place greater value on their performance and pride increases in achievements, 
6. Productivity is maintained or elevated. 

Free-reign or Laissez-faire

Free-reign leadership is a temporary withdrawal of the leader’s influence pending a need to tighten the reins and requires experience and maturity in a leader to manage this effectively.

It is the correct style when group members are:

1. Technically expert, 
2. Well motivated, 
3. Mature and experienced, 
4. Meeting and maintaining standards 
5. Accepting and achieving task objectives. 

The delegating style of leadership is more of a tool or mechanism for the leader to distribute work to the appropriate person. Structured correctly it becomes part of “on-the-job” training for group members and creates the opportunity to understudy the leader. Depending on the make-up and culture of an organization this style is most often used by heads of department and managers when dealing with foreman, supervisors and team leaders and at an organizational and strategic level.

Transformational and transactional leadership styles require considerable experience. Transactional leadership is often found in Zero-harm environments to do with safety programs where there are negative and positive results for achieving goals within a safety program. In the right place and well managed it can be very effective. Poorly managed due to immaturity, inexperience and/or a lack of disciplined subjectivity, it opens up the very real possibility of subjective reporting and errors being covered up in turn increasing the likelihood of a dangerous event occurring counter to its primary objective of avoiding, reducing or elimination potentially harmful events.

Having outlined the pros and cons of the main styles to assist in making a more informed choice, it’s not enough that a leader can switch styles with agility; more over it is one of a bunch of critical leadership competencies that requires conscious practice and evaluation. If you want to be a leader who is continually growing and improving, it is crucial for you to regularly evaluate yourself in order to move towards optimal productivity and inspirational presence. This will include what you need to stop doing, continue doing, what type of climate you want to nurture at your work place and how do all of these things fit into your vision for your company or organisation.

Safe journeys in your quest for knowledge through experience, strength through adversity.

Resources: FM 22-100, ADF Leadership Handbook, ADF Leadership theory & practice, Training for Leadership – John Adair,