How to Decode and Develop Your Authentic Leadership Style?

1. Do you like to make decisions on your own?
2. Do you take inputs from your coworkers before making significant decisions?
3. Do you often motivate your team members to surpass the benchmark?
4. Do you like going by the book?

Leadership is not one-size-fits-all. This is why Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s, have made a place of their own because of their unique leadership styles. However, successful leaders often don’t force any particular style. They adapt according to the change, risks, crisis, or priorities. It won’t be wrong to say that leadership is by default fluid. In other words, leaders often stay true to one style of leadership. But at the advent of change, they shape and reshape their leadership styles.

For example,

• How many times did you change your path to meet the end goals?
• Did you change your work style to achieve the milestones?

But what if you don’t know about your style? What if you want to explore and develop a style that’s unique to your personality? So, if you’re going to move up the corporate ladder, you will need some information about the types of styles if you want to develop an authentic leadership style.

This article will talk about different leadership styles, the tricks to choosing your style, and some foundational skills to develop an authentic style. So, let’s begin!

Types of Leadership Styles: Which One Are You?

• Do you believe in the “Do as I say” philosophy- You are an Autocratic Leader?

If you are someone who believes that you are the smartest person and know more than others, this is your leadership style. You try to follow a command and control approach and hardly take any inputs from others. This might seem to be a negative sense of leadership style. However, you can extract the maximum benefits when making crucial decisions, and your team is fairly new. If you can’t wait for your team to gain familiarity with their role, this is quite a beneficial style that will allow you to keep up with the momentum.

• Do you believe in the “Follow me” philosophy- You are an Authoritative Leader.

If you are a confident leader who sets expectations and energizes followers along the way, this is your leadership style. Such leaders are a ray of hope in situations of uncertainty. They tend to lift the fog for people. However, they don’t issue orders. They take into account people’s choices to achieve the ultimate goals.

• Do you believe in the “Keep up” philosophy- You are a Pacesetting Leader.

If you are driven and set the pace to push your team members to start hustling and doing their best, this is your leadership style. Such leaders are quite efficient in getting things done. However, this approach often results in the burnout of team members. But that doesn’t mean the approach is entirely wrong. If you are working with like-minded individuals, this style will suit you pretty well. However, you need to give some time to rejuvenate to avoid causing work stress.

• Do you believe in the “How do you see it” philosophy- You are a Democratic Leader

If you like to seek your team members’ opinions, this is your leadership style. Such leaders love to promote team spirit by cooperating with employees. If you choose to develop this style, you will allow your employees to grow and do what they want to enhance creativity and innovation.

• Do you believe in the “Consider this” philosophy- You are a Coaching Leader.

If you like to use a coaching style to unlock your team’s potential, this is your leadership style. If you like to open doors for people and believe that everyone has potential, you will adopt this style. It usually helps your team members with direction and finding ways to tap into their ability to achieve their full potential.

• Do you believe in the “People come first” philosophy- You are an Affiliative Leader.

If you like to pay attention and support the emotional needs of your team members, this is your leadership style. It is particularly helpful when leaders want to smooth conflicts amongst team members. It is an excellent way of reassuring people during times of stress.

• Do you believe in the “Least amount of oversight”- You are a Laissez-Faire Leader.

If you like to go with the flow and want to trust people or seem aloof in certain situations, this is your leadership style. Such leaders give room to members to run and do things, but they make sure that no one sets away from the critical goals. This leadership style is the most effective if you are working with highly-skilled professionals.

Choosing Leadership Styles For Yourself: How to begin?

Awareness is the key to becoming a good leader. This is why you must have a signature style that can help improve the effectiveness of your leadership. This is how you can get started!

• Start by knowing what your current leadership style is. You can ask your juniors or peers or take a leadership style assessment.
• Familiarize yourself with different types of leadership styles. And find out what style works best for your situation. And develop skills to acquire that style.
• Make sure that you are genuine in any style you adopt. Moving from one style to another might seem a bit challenging at first. Start practicing it until it becomes a part of your personality. Remember, authenticity rules if you want to evolve as a particular leadership style.
• Make sure that your leadership style is relevant to your current workplace. It will be easier to lead talent that way.

So, if you wish to adopt fluid leadership, here’s what you must do!

1. Be a value creator that engages with everyone on board to create maximum value.
2. Exhibit skills beyond your primary domain and invest your time in acquiring new skills so that you stay updated to the technical advancements.
3. Understand the difference between KPIs, language, and culture.
4. Employ networks for strategic purposes. You must cultivate networking and relationships to lead innovation.
5. Focus on your milestones and have a clear purpose in mind to develop and nurture empowered teams.
6. Have an optimistic nature and have an eye for possibilities and opportunities rather than relentlessly mitigate risks.