There are many different types of leaders, and everyone has a leadership style that is a combination of experience, training, and personality.

We’re unpacking the 6 most common styles so you can find out what type of leader you are, how to hone your strengths and broaden your skill set.

THE PLANNER

Does this sound like you?

You are very efficient – like a German train schedule. More than that, you set high expectations for yourself and your team and expect them to follow your lead.

Benefits

You are motivated to achieve your goals, short and long term – and you expect to see results quickly.

Challenges

This can cause you to manage and worry about every little thing, which ultimately leads to frustration with you and anyone you’re working with.

Where you can improve

Work on your “people skills”. Listen and ask questions more. Also, try to loosen your grip on how things go. It may be hard at first, but it’ll improve your long-term growth.

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THE COMMANDER

Does this sound like you?

You’re comfortable giving orders and expect them to be carried out to the letter.

Benefits

Being direct allows you to deal with difficult situations and people. While other leadership styles struggle with crisis situations, Commanders do quite well in them.

Challenges

Most situations don’t need someone giving orders. In fact, this style hurts relationships and makes meeting targets more difficult than it needs to be.

How you can improve

Watch how you give orders. While you may think you’re not being harsh, some people may perceive it that way. Try asking more questions from your team about what they think. You’ll be surprised what they’ll share when you give them an opportunity.

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THE DREAMER

Does this sound like you?

You get inspired and can see past the day-to-day and visualize the bigger picture.

Benefits

We all need dreamers. You’re the ones who can inspire and motivate everyone towards a shared goal by showing how great the future can be.

Challenges

If your vision is too far fetched it may be hard to keep morale high and you may end up falling short of your goal as your team loses confidence.

Where you can improve

Make sure your plans are clear and everyone knows their role and that you know exactly how to bring your dream to fruition.

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THE LISTENER

Does this sound like you?

You like to include all parties in the decision-making process. This allows you to take all viewpoints into consideration.

Benefits

When a group works together and contributes their insights and perspective, you’re able to get a result that is beneficial for everyone.

Challenges

Getting started may be hard. You may have people contributing to matters they don’t entirely understand, or they may try pushing their own agenda. This can create tension in your team.

Where you can improve

Foster understanding, respect, and cooperation in your team. Make sure everyone understands each other’s role.

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THE CARE GIVER

Does this sound like you?

You believe that having great relationships with your team and clients is key to your success.

Benefits

You’re able to make the tough times better due to the connections you build with others. By understanding their struggles and strengths, you can guide them where they need to go.

Challenges

There comes a time when you’ll need to crack the whip, and if you’re too close to people it may be hard to do. To make matters worse, people may take advantage of your caring attitude.

Where you can improve

Communication skills are key here and will compliment your friendly attitude well. The more effectively you can describe what you need from your team, the better your team will be in terms of delivering results.

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THE COACH

Does this sound like you?

You challenge others to continuously improve themselves and have a knack for giving them guidance on how to progress.

Benefits

By constantly improving, those around you will get better, which translates to continued success.

Challenges

This is not a good strategy for short-term growth or deadlines. While encouraging others to improve is great, sometimes you just need to get things done.

Where you can improve

Take a page from your own playbook and expand your leadership skills. Use other styles listed here to get the results when you need to.

The #1 Lesson Here

Regardless of your style, there is one thing that all great leaders have in common: they set a positive example. It’s up to everyone on your team to work as a cohesive unit towards a shared goal. Your job as the leader is to make sure your team is operating at its best.

Resources:

Seven Transformations of Leadership, Harvard Business Review by David Rooke and William Torbert https://hbr.org/2005/04/seven-transformations-of-leadership

Marketing Leadership Styles, HubSpot https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/leadership-styles

12 Different Leadership types, WiseToast https://wisetoast.com/12-different-types-of-leadership-styles/

9 Common Leadership Styles, The Executive Connection https://tec.com.au/resource/9-common-leadership-styles-which-type-of-leader-are-you/