How many types of leadership do you think that there are? Five? Ten? As many as there are leaders in the world?

According to one very influ-ential theory, most famously outlined in Daniel Goleman’s Harvard Business Review article Leadership That Gets Results, there are six: directive/ coercive; visionary/authoritative; affiliative; participative/ democratic; pacesetting; and coaching. Each of these affects the working environment – and organisational performance – in a different way.

“Leadership style is the one variable that has the most impact on what it’s like to work for an organisation,” says Chris Watkin, director of talent at Hay Group, the consultancy that conducted the research upon which Goleman’s work is based. Good managers can do much to engage and motivate staff to perform at their best, but poor leadership creates an atmosphere that discourages people from bothering to put in much effort at all. At its worst, it can result in people quitting the company or finding ways to sabotage their employer.

It’s for this reason that managers and employees should take the time to understand different approaches to leadership, even if they think that they’ve heard it all before. Understanding leaders’ differing techniques can help staff to get ahead and make it easier for them to handle poor managers; it can also help managers to gain an insight into what they are doing wrong – and how to improve it.

Managers who want a true picture of their own style should seek feedback from their staff rather than relying simply on their own interpretation, Watkin says. “You will have your own perception of what your style is but often that will be an idealised view. When you ask your direct reports, they often come up with a different set of styles.”

Looking at the difference between what you think you are doing and the effect that your staff say that you’re having can be useful. “For example, a lot of leaders who are experienced as highly controlling by their team often think that they do a lot of coaching, but actually they are telling people ‘here, do it like this’, which isn’t coaching at all.”

One of the key aspects of the six styles theory of leadership is that the best leaders do not rely on a single style. Instead they draw on the most appropriate style for any given situation, much as a golfer picks the right club for a particular shot. Over the next seven weeks, Careerwill take a look at each style of leadership; examine when it is most and least effective; and suggest what people can do if they find themselves working for a leader who uses that style excessively. We will wrap up by looking at how to choose the right style for a given situation.

Leaderboard

Over the following weeks, Career will examine six leadership styles:

Directive/coercive. The primary aim of this style is immediate compliance.
Authoritative/visionary. Wants to provide long-term direction for employees.
Affiliative. Aims to bring about harmony between managers and employees.
Participative/ democratic. Creates ideas; builds commitment.
Pacesetting. Aims high and leads by example.
Coaching. Focuses on employees’ development.

The golf club approach. The final article in the series will look at how to select the best leadership style for a particular situation, just as golfers choose different clubs to play different shots.

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