Utilising and Altering / Varying Leadership Styles

Flexible Leadership Styles
Jose Luis Roces, Professor, Argentina, Premium Member
In our center for developing leadership (CDL) of ITBA (private university), we have done a lot of training and experience with executive groups using Goleman-Boyatzis model. The most frequent issue is that managers react using their own temperament & traits and they forget the need of flexibility and awareness according to the situation. Our solution is train them on the basis of a tutoring program in their own context. They don´t need a lot of theory, they react better when somebody shows them their mistakes and the way to be more effective.

Changing Leadership Styles
Peeters, Director, Belgium, Member
Maybe that's the difference between a born or well trained leader and a starter. To immediately feel and act intuitively instead of thinking how to act first.
I compare it with learning to drive a car. After training and especially lots of driving you create automatism. Still these leaders probably reflect afterwards and evaluate to learn for next time.

Learning Leadership Styles
Jose Luis Roces, Professor, Argentina, Premium Member
Effectively we can learn to be a better leader by training in the Goleman-Boyatzis model, but we need assistance of somebody (also trained) in a role of tutoring. Frequently is a person who knows the context and the situations where the leader makes decisions, but he doesn't occupy a formal position in the organizational structure. His role is to develop interpersonal skills and competences.

Utilising Leadership Styles
Gabriel Dirlau, Manager, Romania, Member
Dear all, I believe that most leaders are passing through different styles, being influenced by the context.
For sure there also exists a dominant style behaviour. Kind regards.

Behavior Patterns
Jaap de Jonge, Editor, Netherlands
Not that the word "style" in leadership style is already suggesting there is a pattern in the behavior of the leader.
This behavior pattern is normally caused by a natural inclination from a person to certain task behavior, relationship behavior or change behavior (irrespective of the circumstances or the follower).
Jose Luis Roces' experience that not many executives are capable of adapting their behavior according to the situation supports this view.
However it is possible for leaders to adapt their behavioral pattern according to the situation or to the follower. Such adaptation can be either intuitive (natural, automatic) or conscious (learned, managed).

Applying Our Own Leadeship Style
Bruno Perboni, Consultant, Italy, Member
I found very few leaders able to adapt their leadership style to the situation. In a company, usually every leader is automatically focused on his own style. The market pressure also doesn't give him much time to consider the style.

Leadership Styles and Context
Joscelin Trouwborst, Management Consultant, Curacao, Member
Only those who thoroughly understand the context can lead in that context. This is where there is a flaw in appointed leadership in power positions. Many in power positions have too much ego to allow others to lead in cases where others are more knowledgeable and/or skilled.

Skill to Apply Leadership Styles Can be Learnt
Roy Fitzgerald, Business Consultant, Australia, Member
The experience I have is that most people discussing or participating in a course for leaders are unaware of leadership styles.
Many appointed leaders do not understand that another person in the group (non-appointed) may be the leader of the group. Despite the fact that one person is given a leadership / management position (in an employment situation) people may still refer to another for leadership / guidance.
It is essential there is no confusion to the styles. The skill to apply various characteristics from the different styles in leadership can be learnt but practice is essential. Knowing the different characteristics can only assist in the application.

Leadership Styles
Sylvia Grant, Consultant, Australia, Member
Drazen has raised a very interesting question.
Also, before anyone can effectively implement any leadership style, that person must first of all be a leader. It begs the question: should those in a position of authority first of all determine whether or not he/she is a leader before selecting which leadership style to adopt?
There are many managers, but only very few real leaders...

Leadership Styles Not Easy to Change
Dr Ray Chatwin, Lecturer, United Kingdom, Member
Leadership 'styles' are related to personality characteristics that change little over one's lifetime, so they can't be picked of the supermarket shelf. Though there is room for some sensitivity training and some 360 degree feedback to modify behaviours.
I suggest that the venerable work of Blake and Mouton is probably correct - most managers most of the time try to balance a concern for getting the job done with a concern to keep everyone onside. Workplaces aren't country clubs, but neither are they punitive institutions.

Not Thinking about Appropriate Leadership Style
isaiah, Accountant, Kenya, Member
Many a times people re/act to a situation apparently without thinking about the situation, level of skill, motivation or willingness -to cooperate -of the subjects.

Molding of a Leadership Style
CHIEDU UDE, CEO, Nigeria, Member
Leadership style? Pattern? Experience, mentors, learned behaviour, bottom line and operating environment all combine to mold style.

Resonance is Mandatory in any Style
jorge anibal hoyos hoyos, Manager, Colombia, Member
Depending on the cases to be faced up, the challenges to tackle the effects of the styles will be different if you take a particular style as a template.
Hence from my experience creating resonance as mentioned in the summary above is mandatory for any style to succeed but not the style in itself is the rule.

Leadership Style Practice
desu rama mohan, Professor, India, Member
First an understanding of the nature of different styles is needed, as well as the range one can vary within the situation. It then depends on the personality. Trying to practice further in the day to day work will definitely enhance your skills.

Wise Leadership is Rare
narelle kelvin, Australia, Member
My reaction to this is to contemplate the various types of leadership I have worked under over the years and also consider how I have been as a leader myself. The commanding style was definitely the most damaging to companies I was in, however it still has its place given emergency situations etc.
But a wise leader doesn't dwell on one style but moves throughout the others to bring stability and a workable relationship to achieve the goals. But seriously: how many wise, strong leaders do you really see despite all the "training" available?

The Skills to Apply Leadership Styles
Roy Fitzgerald, Business Consultant, Australia, Member
Both management and leadership can be learned, either by training, knowledge and experience... These tend to be the factors of competence. To be a competent manager a person needs to experience different situations (situational awareness) and a person must know what to do... (functional awareness) and of course a person will need what to be (quality awareness). That is to be a participant, mentor, coach, performer, reviewer, facilitator, guide, assistant, inspector, investigator, broker and many other roles a leader has to perform.

Interactive Leadership Training
kvssiyer, Consultant, India, Member
When leaders lead they do not think in terms of style they were taught and trained. It is a natural phenomenon. No doubt trained leaders are more effective than others when they merge into the subject of leadership. That is why training sessions are participative.
When you participate by interactive training and experimentations you play in the game of leadership and refine the skills of leadership. Followers decide the quality of leadership. Knowledge of the subject is critical to leadership. When combined by integrity and commitment leadership evolves as a model of excellence for others to follow.

Leadership Variables
Mahmoud Al-Fayyad, Career Consultant, Jordan, Member
Many of the writers indicated worthy points of view. Leader's practices reveal that - in addition to situation - morale, experience, intuition, training, and/or consciousness are all intervening variables.

Utilising Leadership Styles
Bezeck Kwanisayi, Analyst, Zimbabwe, Member
Personally, I think leaders/managers don't restrict themselves to certain leadership styles. My opinion is that they use the contingent or situational approach (managing matters as they arise depending on the situations). This, I believe, is the most effective way.

Leaders Create Resonance
alberto ardila, Student (University), Colombia, Member
In the communitary work I know, leadership is always any combination of visionary, coaching and affiliative and democratic styles. I am not to consider leadership depends exclusively on leader person's personality. But, indeed, it affects the process.
In my personal experience, when you have different persons, with different histories and interests to share, and when their job is a voluntary one, you got to act principally as a democratic leader.

Blending Leadership Styles
Benjamin Ocansey, Manager, Ghana, Member
I don't think that most leaders consciously follow any of the six leadership styles. They tend to blend all in varying degrees to suit the situation. It is the proportion of each in the blend that determines the degree of success.

Self-awareness of Leader
Barrett W. Horne, Consultant, Canada, Member
A range of helpful points have been made. I would add the critical importance of a high level of self-awareness needed to reflect on what are appropriate leadership 'styles' in various contexts.
Only to the extent that I am self-aware can I be intentional about how my exercise of 'leadership' (which may or may not be connected to a formal position) can be most effective in any given context.
Significant self-awareness is also a prerequisite to being able to reflect upon and learn from my leader experiences.
For me personally, the NTL human interaction laboratory experience was a transformational eye-opener.

Situational Awareness / Leadership and Natural Abilities
David Esko, Management Consultant, United States, Member
The leadership "style" used, should always depend on the nature of the project you're managing, situational factors on that project, your experience, the politics, culture, chemistry (personalities of all members interacting on the project) and your natural skills. We all need to traverse Goleman's matrix at different times. From "whip 'n' chain" (authoritarian style) to more of a "Zen" style, it depends on the aforementioned factors.

I in Now - Presencing
Melnyk
Leadership style definitely must relate to self-awareness and the inner and outer dialogue of the leader. A leader should be attuned to what she is seeing in the system, and what others are experiencing, validate this and then lead intuitively with the style required to bring the most effectiveness and efficiency of those being lead.
Truly listening and being in tune - requires great knowledge of self and reactions in situations. Thank you all for the dialogue.

Formation and Removing Pathways In Our Brain
robert trowhill, Consultant, Canada, Member
As we gain experience in managing our basic responses are shaped by our ego. Over time our previous responses form pathways in our brain that I refer to as a matrix. These responses eventually become unconscious and are the basis of our leadership style.
In order to alter our reaction we must first become aware of our matrix patterns and then intervene to remove our ego from the transaction, substituting a conscious response for the conditioned response. This takes both self awareness and self discipline.

Situational Awareness and Leadership
David Esko, Management Consultant, United States, Member
In the process of both becoming and being a leader, there are factors that are very difficult to learn to handle and many people put in leadership positions never learn them! They consist partly of: organizational politics, organizational culture (including multi-cultural dimensions), how one interfaces with peers in term of personality and chemistry and how one deals with the social and group dynamics in an organization.

Leadership Styles & Effective Leaders
Chau Hansotia, Student (MBA), India, Member
In reality, we can not tell exactly what style a particular leader adopts. A leader may have 2 or more leadership styles in which one is dominant. In normal conditions, leaders usually use their dominant style.
Effective leaders are proactive and thoughtful persons. They are extremely aware of their inner-self and the surroundings. They have ability to adopt the suitable leadership style for different situations. Effective leaders don't often react to a situation rather than they remain calm to choose their own response.

Adapting Leadership Styles
Whitehead, Consultant, United Kingdom, Member
The best leaders can recognize any given situation and easily adapt between all the styles of leadership. One size fits all does not make the grade. If you are a parent just think of how your children have been brought up. Leading, coaching, supervising, democratic and even visionary parenting (leadership) styles are needed before the children leave home. It's not so different.