While in a management position, it is likely you will utilize various leadership styles. While you may excel in one specific role or setting utilizing a certain style, it’s important to understand the many styles there are and what they entail. Andrew Miller, former CEO of Polycom, Inc., provided us with three of the most effective styles to better help accomplish your company’s current goals and assist in developing your own style of leadership.
Transformational
A transformational leader focuses on inspiring and encouraging employees to facilitate change throughout the organization. By encouraging open communication and mentorship programs, these CEOs enthusiastically lead, while providing a consistent set of values, ethics, and key priorities for the company’s greater good. This model of leadership is ideal for teams that can perform multiple assigned tasks without continuous oversight, since these styles of leaders focus most of their attention on the big picture.
Strategic Management
This management style focuses on staying firm and maintaining core principles in times of change. Usually, strategic leaders identify opportunities others may overlook by recognizing signs of change before they occur. These types of leaders are able to enhance their decision making skills by continuously studying, gathering data, and seeking out others’ perspectives. Strategic productivity is the major objective of this style. They often encourage employees to pursue their own ideas and make greater use of rewards or incentives to encourage productivity and proficient results.
Affiliative Management
What this style of leader focuses on is the promotion of a community that nurtures workers and puts people first. It helps an affiliative leader to preserve unity and ensure that his team feels a sense of commitment to the company by building loyalty, enhancing emotional ties and distributing praise. In difficult times, when trust needs to be established or to boost employee morale, this type of management style works best. As sole reliance on praise and nurturing can lead to mediocre performance and a lack of direction, you want to avoid utilizing this style exclusively.
If you are looking for more structure in your leadership approach, it is helpful to choose a leadership style that feels authentic to you. There are various other styles besides the approaches listed above. As a CEO, it is important that you utilize a blend of styles to better shape your role and fit the needs of your staff.
