Leaders and managers should always be prepared for change. Change has become a constant factor within any organisation, and communication is critical to reducing the negative impact of change. Therefore, leaders must buy into the change, engage with it, and effectively communicate the change to their managers and employees.
Failure of leaders to buy into the change and positively participate in the change will drop employee morale. Employees seek guidance and leadership from their leaders. They will not engage with organisational change, nor will they have a positive mindset toward the change if leaders do not buy into and communicate it.
Leadership styles
You may be surprised to learn that leadership is within everyone. However, I will quantify that by saying there is a difference between a leader and an effective leader, and it is determined by leadership style. Many variables come to play in determining leadership style. It will vary from person to person and can change within a manager or leader depending upon their current emotional state or health. A manager can usually offer good leadership to employees, but their leadership style may suffer if the leader or manager is suffering from health issues or negative emotional feelings. Also, a person’s leadership style must be flexible to accommodate changes in the organisation’s short, mid and long-term goals.
Understanding your leadership style will help you overcome the pitfalls of that particular leadership style. Let’s briefly look at the four most common leadership styles as described in the below table:
Leadership Style | Advantages | Disadvantages |
Autocratic | · faster decision-making · performance can be improved | · the presence of fear and resentment · if the leader is not present, the organisation can be paralysed |
Democratic | · employees at all levels are involved in the decision-making · happier working environment | · decision making is slower · leaders can become too dependent upon the employees and not be able to make their own decisions |
Transformational | · growth in trust in the leader from the employees · improved balancing of short and long-term goals | · the implementation of change may not be strongly detailed for employees to follow |
Laissez-faire (The team self-directs the change) | · improves employee retention · improves accountability · employees can react to changes quickly | · the increased stress levels for employees as they have to make decisions · less accountability for their actions |
Other leadership styles include (i) strategic, (ii) transactional, (iii) bureaucratic and (iv) coach-style.
What is your leadership style?
Do you want to see what type of leadership style you own? I have compiled some questions below to help you decide.
- If you find serious conflict within your team, what action do you take? Do you…
- Give your team a subtle reminder that there are goals that have to be met
- Call a team meeting to discuss the conflict
- Do nothing, hoping that the conflict will go away
- Do you trust your team members?
- I have total trust in my team members
- An average level of trust
- Nope! I do not trust them at all
Noting that some of your team members are highly skilled and motivated, what do you do?
- Be flexible and let them utilise their skills
- Do nothing
- Tell the team members that they have to follow the organisation’s processes and procedures
- How do you ensure that your team members achieve the organisation’s goals?
- Be a leader and lead from the front
- Encourage all members to participate in achieving the goals
- Delegate tasks and not follow up with team members
Once you have answered all the above questions, take a moment to see how you can improve your leadership to best fit your employees and the organisation’s culture.
To find out more