The 10 most common styles of leadership in organizations

Leadership is a single word, but there are several approaches to it. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular styles of leadership, not only in theory, but also in practice in today’s companies.

1. Autocratic leadership

Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where leaders have complete power over their workers or teams. Staff members have a small opportunity to give suggestions, even if they are for the good of the team or organization. Many people feel resentful when treated this way. More often than not, the autocratic leadership has high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover. For some tasks and jobs without qualification, the autocratic style can be effective because the advantages of control outweigh its disadvantages.

2. Bureaucratic leadership

Bureaucratic leaders do everything by “the book”. They strictly follow the rules and make sure that everything their employees do is as precise as possible. It is a very appropriate leadership style to work when there are serious security risks (such as operating machinery, working with toxic substances or dangerous, heavy equipment) or when large sums of money are at stake.

3. Charismatic leadership

A charismatic leadership style is similar to that of transformational leadership, because these leaders inspire a lot of enthusiasm in their teams and they’re very energetic when leading others. Anyway, charismatic leaders usually believe in themselves more than in their teams, and this creates problems, and the entire project or organization could collapse when the leader leaves the company. To the eyes of the followers, success is tied to the presence of a charismatic leader.

4. Participatory or democratic leadership

Even though the democratic leader is the one who makes the definitive decisions, participatory or democratic leaders invite other team members to contribute to the decision-making process. Not only does this increase job satisfaction, but it also helps develop skills. Coworkers feel in control of their own fate, so they are motivated to work hard, for reasons that go beyond a financial reward. Since democratic participation takes time, this approach can be long lasting, but often, a good result is achieved. This leadership style can be adopted when teamwork is essential and when quality is more important than productivity or speed.

5. Laissez-faire leadership

This French phrase means “let (it/them) do” or “let go” and it’s used to describe leaders who leave their team members work on their own. It can be effective if leaders monitor what is being achieved and communicate it to the team regularly. Often, the laissez-faire leadership is effective when individuals have a lot of experience and initiative. Unfortunately, this kind of leadership can occur only when the leaders don’t exert enough control.

6. People-oriented leadership or relationship-oriented leadership

This one is  the opposite of task-oriented leadership. In the case of people-oriented leadership, leaders are fully oriented to organize, support and develop their teams. It is a participative style, and tends to empower the team and foster creative collaboration. In practice, most leaders use both styles: task-oriented and people-oriented.

7. Natural leadership

This term describes a leader who is not formally recognized as such. When someone at any level of an organization simply leads to meet the needs of a team, he’s described as a natural leader. Some call it “servant leadership”. In many ways, this kind of leadership is a democratic form of leadership because the whole team participates in the decision-making process. Supporters of this model claim it’s a good way to work in a world where values are increasingly important. Others believe that in situations of tight competition, natural leaders can lose weight due to other leaders using other styles.

8. Task-oriented leadership

Leaders who are highly task-oriented focus only in that the work is accomplished and they can be a bit autocratic. These leaders are very good at defining the work and the necessary roles, order structures, plan, organize and control. But they tend not to think much about the welfare of their team, so they have trouble motivating and retaining their employees.

9. Transactional leadership

This style of leadership was born with the idea that team members agree to completely obey their leader when they accept the job. The transaction is a payment in exchange for the effort and acceptance towards the tasks that their leader gives them. The leader has the right to punish those whose work did not turn out as expected. Transactional leadership is a type of management, not a true leadership style, because the focus is towards the implementation of short-term tasks.

10. Transformational leadership

Transformational leaders are considered the true leaders by most theorists. They inspire their teams permanently and transmit their enthusiasm to the rest. In turn, these leaders need to feel supported only by certain employees. It’s an emotional rollercoaster. That is why many organizations have to function with transformational leadership as well as with transactional leadership. The transactional leaders ensure that routine is carried forward properly, while the transformational ones seek new initiatives and add value.