Leadership Styles: Four Common Types in Business

Every organization needs to have successful leaders. There are four main leadership styles, and it is important to understand each of these so you can figure out which style of leadership is best suited to each individual case. 

Read on for more information on the four common types of leadership styles in business!

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What Is A Leader? 

A leader, also known as a manager, is someone in a powerful position within a company or organization. Leaders usually are placed in charge of a group of people and they hold a vision or set of tasks that they need to lead people through to complete. 

Leadership styles are very important in the success of a business, and organizations who want to move forward need effective and strong leaders. 

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Leadership Style Depends On These Factors

The best style of leadership for a company is dependent on various different factors. These include: 

• The position of the company within the market 

• The way the business is run (the business model)

• The trends of other companies in this environment

• The specific task being navigated

Choice of leadership style is very important because it can lead to the success or failure of an organization. Read on for more information on the most common leadership styles.

The Four Styles 

There are many different styles of leadership, however, the most popular four are: 

1. Support leadership

2. Direct leadership

3. Coach leadership 

4. Delegate leadership 

Let’s have a closer look at these styles of leadership so that you know what you are considering when you enter the role. 

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1. Support Leadership 

Support leadership focuses on working together as a team to get your work done. It is about collaborating ideas within the group of people, discussing and unpicking them together to decide if it is the best option. As the leader, your role would then be to make the final decision. 

This is a great style of leadership and it gives everyone the opportunity to contribute and feel considered in the decisions. If you can successfully use this method of leadership, it is a great one. However, it can prove quite difficult to navigate as there are quite a few different opinions to gel together. 

When Is This Useful?

The support style of leadership is useful when there doesn’t need to be an immediate decision made, as this gives you time to float ideas as a group and then allows the leader time to make the final decision.

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2. Direct Leadership

Direct leadership is when the leader of the team tells everyone else what to do, when to do it and how to do it. This isn’t the best choice for an overall leadership style, however, it can be used well as a tool to help alongside other styles. If you are managing a team of people, this is not a great style as it will leave people feeling as if they don’t have any input in their teams decisions.

When Is This Useful?

The direct leadership style is useful when it comes to working with contractors or freelancers. This is when they need little support, they just need detailed and direct guidance on what needs to be done.

3. Coach Leadership

Leaders who adopt the style of coach leadership indicate to their team what needs to be done while motivating and exciting the team. This will mean that the group will fully divulge themselves in the task, which will mean that they will put lots of effort into bringing the results.

This leadership style is important to use when the tasks you are introducing to the team are new and different to what you have been completing previously. In order for the team to feel motivated to achieve the new goal, you need to make them feel as though they are invested in the vision. 

When Is This Useful? 

This is a great style of leadership to use when you are working with a closely knit team who will need to put a lot of work in to make what you need to happen, happen. You need them to feel motivated and agree with the task they are trying to complete.

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4. Delegate Leadership 

Delegate leadership is a good way to manage if you are leading a team that is made up of other leaders or managers. Using this method,you pass tasks on to others that need completing, taking them away from yourself. If you use this style of leadership, you will take each task and pass them on to the others, allowing them to have full control over that task. That means that they are now the ones who have the final say in the decision on that particular task.

When Is This Useful?

If you completely trust the judgment and capabilities of the team, this style is a great one to go for. It means that things get done at a much quicker pace than if you were leading all of the tasks yourself. This is mainly used by CEO’s who trust in their junior’s abilities to complete the tasks to the ability needed.

Skills Needed To Be A Successful Leader 

It is a difficult role to encompass and being a leader comes with many responsibilities and challenges. Successful leaders have attributes of trustworthiness, very strong communication skills and skills in showing support and being supportive. It is also essential that managers are organized as they have to stay on top of their own, and a whole team's work-load. It is also a very valuable skill for leaders to have the ability to decide which method of leadership is most effective for the task at hand and the certain groups that they are managing. 

Final Thoughts 

There are many different styles of leadership, and these four seem to be the most common and effective. Each style is useful for different circumstances and situations, so it is most effective if you, as a leader, can chop and change the method you use depending on the situation. 

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