The 8 Most Common Leadership Styles
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Strong leadership is vital to any organization's success, but recent numbers suggest that confidence in today’s leaders is waning. Only 40% of leaders rated their organization’s leadership quality as “very good” or “excellent”—down 8 percentage points since the pandemic, according to a poll by the leadership development and human resources consulting firm DDI.
The majority of the U.S. workforce (77%) is not engaged at their job, Gallup reports, and the connection between solid leadership and employee engagement is well-documented. In one study published with the National Library of Medicine, the authors found that “training and supporting leaders who inspire, strengthen and connect their subordinates could significantly improve employees’ motivation and involvement and enable teams to pursue their common goals successfully.”
And while 78% of leaders report taking the time to actively engage with their employees, another Gallup poll found that less than half of employees believe their organization’s leadership is “high quality.”
People need and want to connect to the mission, vision and direction of their employer, and good leadership helps make that happen. High-quality leadership may look different in different organizations, and leadership styles can vary but still be effective.
Gretchen Oltman, associate professor of interdisciplinary studies and program director of the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership at Creighton University, discusses the most common leadership styles and their characteristics.
Why is it important to know about varying leadership styles?
Anyone who aspires to lead can find meaning and purpose in understanding different leadership styles. When you understand your own leadership style, you gain self-awareness.
“It helps to understand why you behave the way that you do in moments of conflict or crisis,” Oltman says. “[When you understand your leadership style], you can manage differences in how you deal with people with other leadership styles more effectively. You are also able to navigate your own professional growth opportunities, strengths and challenges.
“Knowing your leadership style can help you make an impact.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that one leadership style is better than another.
“Leadership styles are not a one-size-fits-all situation,” says Oltman. “That is, most effective leaders actually navigate multiple styles depending on the situation. In moments of crisis, they may need to use a more authoritarian style, while in moments of decision-making, a more democratic approach might be effective.”
The more leaders learn and know about the variety of leadership styles in the world, the better informed they are to embrace differences, manage opportunities for growth and promote diverse workspaces.
Common leadership styles
According to Oltman, effective leaders need to understand that leadership approaches can and should change based on the situation.
Learn about the leadership styles she considers most common.
- Democratic leadership - Under democratic leadership, leaders welcome employee input and seek their participation in decision-making. This leadership style enables everyone to exchange ideas and have their opinions heard, but the leader still provides direction to ensure goals are being pursued and reached.
- Autocratic leadership - An autocratic leader makes decisions without the influence of others. Also known as authoritarian leadership, these types of leaders do not seek suggestions from their employees, although they may have a small group of trusted advisors. Instead, they rely on their own expertise to make business decisions.
- Laissez-faire leadership - From the French phrase meaning “allow to do,” this is a hands-off leadership style. It promotes decision-making by others with minimal input from the leader.
- Transformational leadership - A transformational leader is one who inspires positive change in individuals and situations. They aim to stimulate and motivate their employees by encouraging them to develop new skills, try a creative solution, or voice a contrasting opinion.
- Transactional leadership - This is a quid pro quo (Latin for “something for something”) type of leadership in which rewards or punishments are exchanged for meeting/failing to meet a particular goal. Transactional leadership values structure and supervision for employees to get their jobs done.
- Bureaucratic leadership - Bureaucratic leaders are rule followers. They value processes and procedures, and employees have defined roles and responsibilities.
- Servant leadership - This type of leader sees their role as a means to serve others and promote shared growth and accomplishments. Leaders don’t prioritize their own objectives; rather, they set aside their personal interests for the greater good of the organization.
- Adaptive leadership - As the name implies, this type of leadership adapts well to change. It is agile enough to experiment and innovate so that even as the environment changes and evolves, challenges are handled successfully.
There is no one leadership style that fits all situations
Change is inevitable in any organization, so leaders should aim to be adaptable and flexible enough to recognize when a particular leadership style is working and when a different approach would be more effective.
“Our best leaders can shift from style to style when circumstances demand it,” Oltman says. “This is called situational leadership—or the notion that a leader should adapt and change to best fit the situation and the people involved.”
The best leaders recognize their strengths and weaknesses and build teams around them that help fill in their gaps.
What is your leadership style?
According to Oltman, there are many ways to discover your leadership style; two good places to begin are the CliftonStrengths Assessment and VIA Character Strengths Profile. However, simply knowing your style doesn’t make you an effective leader.
“[It’s important to] analyze, understand and apply the results of these assessments,” says Oltman. “Do you begin to notice how and why you make the decisions you do? Is it consistent with what you know about your leadership style? Are you more aware of where conflicts arise and why? Does your leadership style influence when you collaborate and when you do not?”
Understanding others’ leadership styles as well as your own helps everyone be more effective.
“We need to find ways to continue to revisit our leadership styles, interact with others and understand their leadership styles. That’s how we can maximize having different styles while working together to achieve a common goal,” Oltman says.
Become a stronger leader with a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Creighton University
Creighton University offers an online MS in Organizational Leadership that’s devoted to developing moral and ethical leaders. This is a part-time, online program that enables you to continue working while earning your master’s degree.
Learn more about the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership or request more information today.
