While a manager plans and directs the tasks of their team, a leader inspires, motivates and shares a vision for the team’s overall goal. Managerial leadership is a combination of both management styles and leadership skills. There are several styles of managerial leadership, and learning which one is best for you can have a positive influence on your team’s productivity, performance and morale. In this article, we discuss ten different managerial leadership styles and their various benefits.
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Why is it important to develop a managerial leadership style?
Developing a managerial leadership style can significantly affect the way you and your team operate. Different kinds of groups need different managerial leadership styles to excel. Choosing your own managerial leadership style can help you have a greater influence on your employees, inspiring them in a way that results in successful outcomes.
When you choose a managerial leadership style that works well for you and your team, you may see these results:
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Higher productivity among team members
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Better work quality
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Less employee turnover
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Less absenteeism and improved employee interest
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Increased profit for the company
Benefits of developing a managerial leadership style
Here are some benefits of learning and developing your own managerial leadership style:
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Discovering your approach to leadership can help you adapt when work situations become challenging, such as when there are deadlines to meet or strategies that need reworked.
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Using a leadership style consistently can help you improve your professional skills, such as strategic thinking, team-building and conflict resolution.
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Building your leadership style often means you have a detailed understanding of how your team works and how you can help them perform at their best.
9 types of managerial leadership styles
Here are nine types of managerial leadership styles:
1. Democratic
In a democratic managerial leadership style, the leader believes everyone deserves to share their opinions regardless of their position or title. They encourage their staff to convey their ideas, thoughts and solutions when approaching a project. This can make employees feel valued and heard, as well as empower them to think creatively as they solve problems. It also encourages them to take more responsibility. By showing their team they trust them and respect their opinions, the leader displays confidence in their staff. The leader keeps the team moving in the right direction and makes final decisions as needed.
2. Servant leadership
Servant leadership managers see themselves as an advisor or coach rather than a rule enforcer and support their employees by spending their time coaching and mentoring them. This style of leadership is suitable for managers with strong interpersonal skills, as they can use those skills to relate to their team. The goal of this style is usually to help the employees build trust in each other. A servant leadership manager also helps their staff learn from their mistakes and improve their skills.
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3. Inspirational
Also known as visionary, charismatic or transformational, the inspirational managerial leadership style embodies the overall vision of the project, department or company. This type of leader persuades employees to work toward a common goal and develop creative solutions together. An inspirational leader trusts their team members to handle the details of a project while they focus on aligning the team to the goal. This style of leadership requires excellent people skills, empathy and compassion, as well as a desire to help their employees grow personally and professionally.
4. Strategic
A strategic managerial leadership style focuses on long-term success and leaves the details to assistant managers, shift leaders and other members of the team. This type of manager concentrates more on visualizing, developing and implementing successful strategies to accomplish the overall goal of the company. They lead primarily by relaying objectives to lower levels of management and allow them to determine how to carry out those objectives.
5. Affiliative
An affiliative managerial leader focuses on working on the same level as the team rather than being above them. With this style of leadership, an affiliative manager helps employees carry out their everyday duties. Employees may see them as an ally and respect their willingness to be part of the team. This leader places people first and works hard to create a harmonious working environment.
6. Transactional
The transactional managerial leadership style uses a positive reward system, like financial incentives or bonuses, to motivate employees to improve their performance. It can be effective for short periods of time when the manager needs to motivate their team quickly to meet a goal or complete a project. While this style of leadership can be effective, temporary rewards should not replace and be used in tandem with employee recognition.
7. Results-based
A results-based managerial leader focuses more on seeing results rather than how the team accomplishes the results. This leadership style encourages the staff to be innovative and creative to solve problems. These kinds of leaders expect team members to work together and discover how to accomplish the goal.
8. Pacesetting
Unlike results-based leadership, a pacesetting managerial leadership style provides instructions and sets a work pace or schedule for their employees to follow. This type of leader often sets high or harder-to-reach standards in an effort to drive their team to hit bigger goals. This style of leadership works best with teams who already work well together, and it can lead to greater productivity and a sense of accomplishment.
9. Laissez-faire
Managers who use the laissez-faire managerial style of leadership are usually more laid back and have confidence in their employees to get the work done. They don’t micromanage and interfere very little with their employees. This style gives a lot of freedom to the staff and works well in teams that operate best on their own. The only oversight that is typically offered by a laissez-faire manager occurs when the team asks for help.
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