Tap to Read ➤

10 Most Influential Types of Leadership

Aastha Dogra
Here are the characteristics of ten different types of leadership styles: autocratic, participative, bureaucratic, laissez-faire, transactional, charismatic, transformational situational, servant, and quiet.
If you look at modern organizations today, you will find managers adopting different kinds of leadership styles, in order to achieve their targets. These days, organizations are not like what they used to be.
Today, we have people from different countries, cultures, educational backgrounds, and skills working in the same team, together, to meet team targets.
That's why leaders, today, rely on various types of leadership skills as well as styles to get the best out of their subordinates. Here is the list of the most commonly observed types of leadership in the modern-day corporate world.

Autocratic Leadership

In autocratic style, decision-making is the sole prerogative of the leader. Everything, right from how things are to be done, what will be the individual and group targets, the structure of punishments and rewards, etc., is decided by the leader without any input. Such a style works well in emergencies and in need of quick decision making.

Bureaucratic Leadership

This corporate leadership style entails exactly following the policies and procedures which have been previously laid down. It is the leader's job to ensure that all rules are adhered to by the employees.
This leadership style is effective, if the employees perform routine tasks everyday. However, there is no room for creativity or innovative problem solving in this style of leadership.

Participative Leadership

The participative style leads to development of trust and loyalty among subordinates for the leader, as he takes them into full consideration, utilizes their skills and knowledge, and takes their inputs before arriving at a decision.
Participative style works really well wherein the leader has just joined the organization, or the department, and is completely new to how things operate.

Laissez-faire Leadership

This is the antithesis of the autocratic style. In this, the subordinates are given absolute freedom by the leader to determine their own goals and ways of reaching them. This style is based on the principle of least interference. It can be a great success if the subordinates are experienced and skilled, however, can backfire if they are not trustworthy.

Transactional Leadership

This works on the principle that when subordinates sign a contract to participate in a particular project, they take their manager as the ultimate authority. Also, there are set rules for rewards and punishments. If the subordinates perform well, they are rewarded and if their performance is below expectation, they are punished.

Transformational Leadership

The leader sells his vision to his subordinates, by bringing it forth in the most passionate and appealing way. The transformational leader motivates his subordinates to work for a given task with great enthusiasm. The leader genuinely cares for the welfare of his subordinates and wants them to learn new things and progress by working with him on his vision.

Servant Leadership

The leader acts as someone who is out there to help other people grow. By acting as a serving leader, he gives them freedom to grow, nurture their spirit, and in the process trusting him and giving him their whole and sole commitment. This leadership style goes a long way in aiding community building.

Charismatic Leadership

A charismatic leader, uses his charm and ability to make others feel important. His skill of gauging the concerns of people, and using clever words to address them, is able to garner many admirers. People are attracted towards him and thus, like to work for him.

Situational Leadership

This is adopted by a leader in accordance with the prevailing situation. Some determining factors can be, the ability of the subordinates, the kind of co-operation that exists among various team members, available resources, etc.

Quiet Leadership

This is the exact opposite of charismatic leadership style. In this, the leader motivates his team through his actions rather than words. This is all about being rational and people-oriented at the same time.
To be termed as a successful leader, a manager should know which leadership style to follow in any given situation, to get things done.