Leadership Styles
Management: By Sunil Gupta
The author is Sr. Vice President, ITC Infotech
that Deliver Results
I
n the past couple of years, special-
ists in the field of management have
undergone a remarkable attitudinal
change in how they identify and define
leadership. They have moved from an
extremely classical autocratic approach
to innovative, participative leadership
styles. Somewhere along the line, it has
become evident that not everything old
is bad and not everything new is good.
Rather, diverse styles are needed for di-
verse situations and leaders must be
aware when to exhibit a particular ap-
proach.
Having stated upfront that there is
no best or ideal leadership style and
there are so many leadership styles and
theories on it that it more or less seems
like a "flavor of the month" type of
thing, let’s first get started by introduc-
ing the six most distinctive styles of
leadership, commonly known and ac-
cepted.
There is no doubt that the climate within
6 Classic Leadership Styles
an organization is dictated by its leader-
ship style—in the manner in which
managers encourage direct reports, col-
lect and utilize information, make deci-
sions, control change initiative, and take
care of crisis situations. It has been com-
monly accepted that there are six basic
leadership styles, each of which have
unique impact on the working atmos-
siliconindia
|34|
July 2011
phere of an organization, its overall per-
formance and success. Each style, is
drawn from diverse emotional intelli-
gence competencies, works finest in
particular situations, and affects organi-
zational climate in numerous ways.
i. Coercive style. This “Do what I say”
approach is extremely helpful in a situ-
ation that needs rapid turnaround, say a
natural calamity, or when functioning
with a problematic workforce. But in
most circumstances, coercive leadership
curtails an organization’s flexibility and
dampens employees’ enthusiasm.
ii. Authoritative style. An authoritative
leader uses a “Come with me” ap-
proach. It is great for carrying out
process oriented responsibilities. Man-
ager put forward the overall goal but
gives employees the liberty to pick their
own ways of achieving it. This style
works particularly well when a business
is adrift. It is least successful when a
leader is functioning with a team of ex-
perts who are more knowledgeable than
he is.
iii. Affiliative style. The trademark of the offer guidance, which frequently leaves
affiliative leader is a “People come first”
outlook. This style is especially helpful
in developing team harmony or increas-
ing morale. But its limited focus on praise
can permit poor performance to go un-
Leadership lessons
from the armed forces
Armed forces are deemed to be
amongst the most well managed or-
ganizations, and not without reason.
Does the military have good leaders
– Yes. Armies have great leaders;
thousands of young men and
women would readily lay down
their lives at the command of their
leader. No questions asked. They are
trained to follow orders and do as
directed. Should a manager in a
company dream of having a simi-
larly dedicated team – maybe, or
maybe not.
Do soldiers share a common vision
– Yes. Do they believe in their mis-
sion statement– Yes. Do they respect
their unit’s core values – Yes. But
does that leave room for innovation?
The answer is no. When the re-
quirement is creativity and innova-
tion, leaders need to take a
pragmatic approach.
corrected. Also, affiliative leaders seldom
employees in a sticky situation.
iv. Democratic style. By giving em-
ployees a say in decision making, dem-
ocratic leaders develop organizational
flexibility and accountability and help
introduce fresh ideas. But occasionally
the penalty is never-ending meetings
and perplexed employees that feel lead-
erless.
v. Pacesetting style. A leader who lays
down high performance principles and
demonstrates them himself has a very
encouraging impact on employees who
are self-motivated and exceedingly pro-
ficient. But the remaining taskforce
tends to feel overwhelmed by such a
leader’s constant demand for excel-
lence—and begin to dislike his predis-
position to take over a situation.
vi. Coaching style. This style centers
more around personal development than
focusing on important work-related re-
sponsibilities. It works fine when work-
ers are previously aware of their weak
spots and are inclined towards improv-
ing, but not when they are opposed to
altering their habits.
Apart from the six classic leadership
Other Leadership Styles
styles, there are other leadership styles
that are popular in a number of fields,
or have been popular in the past.
i. Situational leadership. Here, leaders
utilize their leadership skills in numer-
ous methods depending on if the situa-
tion calls for task or relationship
oriented decisions.
ii. Transactional leadership. This style
has you getting tasks accomplished
within the recent techniques acknowl-
edged by the industry. This is essentially
what you would call a "by the book"
management style.
iii. Transformational leadership. The
opposite of transactional, transforma-
tional leadership deals with propagating
change in as many ways as possible.
iv. Strategic leadership. Numerous well stead of picking the one style that goes
established corporations, as well as the
armed forces, use this leadership style –
basically working to outsmart the rival
at each step.
Going through the list of leadership
styles you would have undoubtedly con-
cluded that no single style can be held
up as the best, and no good leader de-
ploys just one leadership style. Rather,
great leaders deploy a combination of
styles depending on the scenario and the
person or team they are interacting with,
not forgetting their expected outcome
from that person or team.
Turning the Art of
We all have a favored or default style of
Leadership into Science
leading, and that is closely linked to our
beliefs, values and personality prefer-
ences. In addition, the culture of an or-
ganization in which the leader operates,
tends to reward and praise certain styles,
while others are perceived as negative.
However, research indicates that
leaders who get the best results do not
rely on just one leadership style; they use
most of the styles in any given week.
The more styles a leader has mastered,
the better. In particular, being able to
switch amongst four or more leadership
styles especially – authoritative, demo-
cratic, affiliate, and coaching – as the sit-
uation dictates creates the very best
organizational climate and business per-
formance. The most appropriate leader-
ship style arises out of the situation,
incorporating the characteristics of the
followers and the task or challenge at
hand. Most effective leaders switch flex-
ibility among the leadership styles ac-
cording to the people they lead and the
work that needs to be done. With prac-
tice, leaders can lever the appropriate
leadership style to produce powerful re-
sults, thus turning the art of leadership
into a science.
Leadership style is a function of strate-
Growing Your Repertoire
gic choice rather than personality. In-
with your disposition, managers must
ask themselves which style best ad-
dresses the demands of a particular sit-
uation. Not many leaders, of course,
have all leadership styles in their reper-
tory, and an even smaller number can
discern when and how to use them.
However, the antidote to this situation
is fairly simple - the leader can put to-
gether a team with members who em-
ploy styles he lacks.
There's no single "accurate"
way to lead or manage that is
appropriate for all situations. To
choose the most efficient ap-
proach for yourself, consider the
following:
•You taskforce’s level of
skill and experience of your
team.
•The job involved (everyday,
or new and innovative).
•The environment within
your organization (unwaver-
ing or drastically
•Your own preferred or nat-
ural style.
Establish trust – that's key to
this process – and keep in mind
to balance the requirements of
the organization alongside the
requirements of your team.
An alternative approach can be to
develop your own style repertoire. To
do so, leaders must first recognize
which leadership aptitude/competen-
cies: self awareness, self-regulation,
motivation, empathy, and social skill -
lie beneath the leadership styles that
they are missing. They can then work
diligently to increase their quotient of
them.
Such advice about adding capabil-
ities may seem simplistic—“Go
change yourself”—but competencies
are completely achievable with prac-
tice. si
siliconindia
|35|
July 2011
Leadership Styles
Management: By Sunil Gupta
The author is Sr. Vice President, ITC Infotech
that Deliver Results
I
n the past couple of years, special-
ists in the field of management have
undergone a remarkable attitudinal
change in how they identify and define
leadership. They have moved from an
extremely classical autocratic approach
to innovative, participative leadership
styles. Somewhere along the line, it has
become evident that not everything old
is bad and not everything new is good.
Rather, diverse styles are needed for di-
verse situations and leaders must be
aware when to exhibit a particular ap-
proach.
Having stated upfront that there is
no best or ideal leadership style and
there are so many leadership styles and
theories on it that it more or less seems
like a "flavor of the month" type of
thing, let’s first get started by introduc-
ing the six most distinctive styles of
leadership, commonly known and ac-
cepted.
There is no doubt that the climate within
6 Classic Leadership Styles
an organization is dictated by its leader-
ship style—in the manner in which
managers encourage direct reports, col-
lect and utilize information, make deci-
sions, control change initiative, and take
care of crisis situations. It has been com-
monly accepted that there are six basic
leadership styles, each of which have
unique impact on the working atmos-
siliconindia
|34|
July 2011
phere of an organization, its overall per-
formance and success. Each style, is
drawn from diverse emotional intelli-
gence competencies, works finest in
particular situations, and affects organi-
zational climate in numerous ways.
i. Coercive style. This “Do what I say”
approach is extremely helpful in a situ-
ation that needs rapid turnaround, say a
natural calamity, or when functioning
with a problematic workforce. But in
most circumstances, coercive leadership
curtails an organization’s flexibility and
dampens employees’ enthusiasm.
ii. Authoritative style. An authoritative
leader uses a “Come with me” ap-
proach. It is great for carrying out
process oriented responsibilities. Man-
ager put forward the overall goal but
gives employees the liberty to pick their
own ways of achieving it. This style
works particularly well when a business
is adrift. It is least successful when a
leader is functioning with a team of ex-
perts who are more knowledgeable than
he is.
iii. Affiliative style. The trademark of the offer guidance, which frequently leaves
affiliative leader is a “People come first”
outlook. This style is especially helpful
in developing team harmony or increas-
ing morale. But its limited focus on praise
can permit poor performance to go un-
Leadership lessons
from the armed forces
Armed forces are deemed to be
amongst the most well managed or-
ganizations, and not without reason.
Does the military have good leaders
– Yes. Armies have great leaders;
thousands of young men and
women would readily lay down
their lives at the command of their
leader. No questions asked. They are
trained to follow orders and do as
directed. Should a manager in a
company dream of having a simi-
larly dedicated team – maybe, or
maybe not.
Do soldiers share a common vision
– Yes. Do they believe in their mis-
sion statement– Yes. Do they respect
their unit’s core values – Yes. But
does that leave room for innovation?
The answer is no. When the re-
quirement is creativity and innova-
tion, leaders need to take a
pragmatic approach.
corrected. Also, affiliative leaders seldom
employees in a sticky situation.
iv. Democratic style. By giving em-
ployees a say in decision making, dem-
ocratic leaders develop organizational
flexibility and accountability and help
introduce fresh ideas. But occasionally
the penalty is never-ending meetings
and perplexed employees that feel lead-
erless.
v. Pacesetting style. A leader who lays
down high performance principles and
demonstrates them himself has a very
encouraging impact on employees who
are self-motivated and exceedingly pro-
ficient. But the remaining taskforce
tends to feel overwhelmed by such a
leader’s constant demand for excel-
lence—and begin to dislike his predis-
position to take over a situation.
vi. Coaching style. This style centers
more around personal development than
focusing on important work-related re-
sponsibilities. It works fine when work-
ers are previously aware of their weak
spots and are inclined towards improv-
ing, but not when they are opposed to
altering their habits.
Apart from the six classic leadership
Other Leadership Styles
styles, there are other leadership styles
that are popular in a number of fields,
or have been popular in the past.
i. Situational leadership. Here, leaders
utilize their leadership skills in numer-
ous methods depending on if the situa-
tion calls for task or relationship
oriented decisions.
ii. Transactional leadership. This style
has you getting tasks accomplished
within the recent techniques acknowl-
edged by the industry. This is essentially
what you would call a "by the book"
management style.
iii. Transformational leadership. The
opposite of transactional, transforma-
tional leadership deals with propagating
change in as many ways as possible.
iv. Strategic leadership. Numerous well stead of picking the one style that goes
established corporations, as well as the
armed forces, use this leadership style –
basically working to outsmart the rival
at each step.
Going through the list of leadership
styles you would have undoubtedly con-
cluded that no single style can be held
up as the best, and no good leader de-
ploys just one leadership style. Rather,
great leaders deploy a combination of
styles depending on the scenario and the
person or team they are interacting with,
not forgetting their expected outcome
from that person or team.
Turning the Art of
We all have a favored or default style of
Leadership into Science
leading, and that is closely linked to our
beliefs, values and personality prefer-
ences. In addition, the culture of an or-
ganization in which the leader operates,
tends to reward and praise certain styles,
while others are perceived as negative.
However, research indicates that
leaders who get the best results do not
rely on just one leadership style; they use
most of the styles in any given week.
The more styles a leader has mastered,
the better. In particular, being able to
switch amongst four or more leadership
styles especially – authoritative, demo-
cratic, affiliate, and coaching – as the sit-
uation dictates creates the very best
organizational climate and business per-
formance. The most appropriate leader-
ship style arises out of the situation,
incorporating the characteristics of the
followers and the task or challenge at
hand. Most effective leaders switch flex-
ibility among the leadership styles ac-
cording to the people they lead and the
work that needs to be done. With prac-
tice, leaders can lever the appropriate
leadership style to produce powerful re-
sults, thus turning the art of leadership
into a science.
Leadership style is a function of strate-
Growing Your Repertoire
gic choice rather than personality. In-
with your disposition, managers must
ask themselves which style best ad-
dresses the demands of a particular sit-
uation. Not many leaders, of course,
have all leadership styles in their reper-
tory, and an even smaller number can
discern when and how to use them.
However, the antidote to this situation
is fairly simple - the leader can put to-
gether a team with members who em-
ploy styles he lacks.
There's no single "accurate"
way to lead or manage that is
appropriate for all situations. To
choose the most efficient ap-
proach for yourself, consider the
following:
•You taskforce’s level of
skill and experience of your
team.
•The job involved (everyday,
or new and innovative).
•The environment within
your organization (unwaver-
ing or drastically
•Your own preferred or nat-
ural style.
Establish trust – that's key to
this process – and keep in mind
to balance the requirements of
the organization alongside the
requirements of your team.
An alternative approach can be to
develop your own style repertoire. To
do so, leaders must first recognize
which leadership aptitude/competen-
cies: self awareness, self-regulation,
motivation, empathy, and social skill -
lie beneath the leadership styles that
they are missing. They can then work
diligently to increase their quotient of
them.
Such advice about adding capabil-
ities may seem simplistic—“Go
change yourself”—but competencies
are completely achievable with prac-
tice. si
siliconindia
|35|
July 2011
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