At some point in your career, you’ll likely aspire to become the leader in your organisation, which is often the right course of action if you like having responsibility and a direct positive influence on the business. Most professionals develop their leadership approach based on factors like personality, experience, the company’s needs and organisational culture.
Say, for example, that innovation is at the core of your business. Then you’ll likely seek to experiment with payment methods. Since companies like Lush, Microsoft, Shopify, Etsy, and CheapAir, among others, accept Bitcoin payments, you’ll probably weigh the benefits and disadvantages of such an option in case your company implements it someday. You’ll be a transformational leader if you plan a similar project to encourage tech advances and diversity. You’ll therefore have to consult a financial expert and ensure you understand the regulations, implications, and risks. Once you get hold of bitcoins for your products or services, check the BTC price chart to see how much they’re worth and determine whether you should store them long-term or transform them into fiat money.
Being a leader doesn’t reflect only on the business’s bottom line; it’s more about making a statement about being an influencer who knows how to guide others, help those who are stuck and stagnant, and fix issues while finding the best solutions.
While every leader is different, some styles are commonly found in the workplace. Keep reading to learn more about Kurt Lewin’s three leadership styles, as well as the transformational approach that many modern leaders prefer.
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Transformational leadership
Transformational leadership is all about encouraging the staff to raise the bar and do things they never thought they’d be capable of. As a transformational leader, you push employees constantly until their work, businesses, and lives are considerably improved. It comes down to cultivating change in people and organisations by motivating team members to step out of their comfort zones and achieve more than their perceived skills as part of the change.
As a transformational leader, you have high levels of integrity, good communication skills, a shared vision of the future, emotional intelligence, and empathy. This contributes to stronger team connections and can increase employee retention and engagement, particularly among millennial employees.
However, constantly pushing towards an ambitious goal has its downside, as it can lead to employee burnout, the exact opposite of your desired outcome. Constant motivation is high, but you need to treat it correctly to avoid causing too much competitiveness in the workplace. Consider the start-ups that work 80-hour weeks to disrupt their industries; it’s fascinating. But in the long run, it may be pretty exhausting.
There are many examples of transformational leaders because they’re the people who go down in history. Churchill is a great example that inspired a whole nation to work towards a common objective. In today’s world, Elon Musk is another example, with his company SpaceX being the first private spaceflight organisation to send a crew to space.
Autocratic leadership
Autocratic leadership opposes democratic leadership. Here, the leader makes every decision on behalf of the team without consulting or considering any piece of advice, input, or suggestion. The leader has complete authority and control over the tasks, no consultation with employees before a decision is made, and they expect everyone to support the leader’s decision. Often, there’s some level of fear of the leader.
The benefits of this leadership style are that you can promote productivity through delegation, decrease employee stress by making decisions on their behalf, and provide clear and direct communication. However, you’re often the one prone to high levels of stress owing to increased responsibility. Since you need more flexibility, you’ll likely be resented by the team if you adopt this leadership style.
An example of an autocratic leader would be Martha Stewart. She has been regarded as a meticulous boss who expects a lot from her people, especially because of her clear vision shared with customers and her staff. Her attention to detail helped her become a household name, with almost every American home using her products at some point.
Democratic leadership
Democratic leadership, also known as participative leadership, allows every employee to get involved and work together to make an important decision. As the name implies, you’ll encourage collaboration and consultation at the workplace and encourage everyone to contribute, share their ideas, and suggest changes, especially those who are shy or seem disconnected. This style is a combination of the autocratic and laissez-faire types of leadership, and it’s a perfect choice if your company is focused on innovation and creativity, such as in the tech industry.
If you value group discussions, are flexible and rational, promote a work environment where every employee shares their ideas, and provide all information to the team when making decisions, you’re a democratic leader.
The challenge to this approach is that it might be costly and inefficient as it takes a long time to organise large group discussions on possible outcomes, communicate decisions, and obtain ideas and feedback.
General Dwight Eisenhower and Nelson Mandela are two examples of successful democratic leaders.
Laissez-faire leadership
Laissez-faire leadership, also known as delegative leadership, is characterised by a passive or hands-off approach. The “let them be” style entails a leader providing the team with the necessary resources, information, and tools to carry out their work tasks, then stepping aside and letting the team members work without supervision. The employees are free to tackle problems, make decisions, complete the assigned projects, and organise.
This leadership benefits self-motivated, talented, and creative employees, as that level of trust and independence is motivating.
However, this leadership approach doesn’t work well for new employees who need hands-on support. Plus, it can lead to a lack of structure and leadership confusion.
Warren Buffet, an American investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is known as a delegative leader because he empowers his staff to make decisions and handle their problems.
Acknowledging these leadership styles and examples will help you choose one and gain the self-confidence needed to lead your team towards success.
