Being a leader can be difficult at times. Many leaders share common traits that allow them to excel in their fields and relate to those around them. Leaders have the important task of guiding multiple people towards a goal. In order to accomplish their visions, leaders use a variety of styles to assist teams in understanding the importance of the visions. The visions and goals that leaders have may not be shared by everyone on their teams. Therefore, leaders have to find ways to keep their teams motivated and working towards their goals. These are a few of the most common leadership styles that leaders can utilize in their businesses and companies.
Coaching
A leader who uses coaching to drive his or her team is able to guide team members based on each of their individual sets of strengths and weaknesses. A leader who acts as a coach helps their team members set goals and plans to reach those goals. Along with feedback, a coaching leader provides encouragement and praise during the completion of goals. While coaching is a style that requires a lot of a leader’s time, it is one of the most effective strategies for guiding a team.
Serving
A leader whose preferred leadership style is serving acts as a servant for their team. Acting as a servant allows a leader to meet the needs of the individuals on their teams, making team members more likely to feel better about their work. This leadership allows leaders to help team members remain engaged with their work and in turn grants the leader with the most respect from their teams.
Pacesetting
Pacesetters are leaders who place their focus on performance. Pacesetters, much like the name states, set the pace of their team and assure that their members adhere to the set pace. Pacesetting works best among teams who are already driven, persistent, and high-energy. This isn’t a leadership style that is effective with teams that need individual direction and feedback about their performance.
Transactional
A transactional leader focuses solely on the performance of their team. Unlike pacesetters, transactional leaders provide mentorship and additional guidance to their team members.
Upon reading each of these styles, you should be able to determine the leadership style that is right for your business. You can also mix and match styles to test which attributes work best for motivation and goal completion.