The Myth of One-Size-Fits-All Leadership: Navigating the Complexities of Modern Management
Exploring Situational Awareness and the Spectrum of Leadership Styles for Today’s Challenges.
It is headlines and articles like this, "A company replaced all of its managers with coaches. Employees became 20% more productive–and much happier", that makes me want to faceplant onto my desk.
The reality is that everything isn't always awesome. Inevitably, people make mistakes, poor decisions are made, the market turns against you, or your large clients leave you, etc.
Sometimes, a good old command and control style of leadership is acceptable. For example, if your house is on fire, barking orders to get people safely out of the structure is the most effective way. Coaching people out of the house will lead to casualties.
Context is crucial.
Situational awareness is critical.
Leadership is a team sport and is complex and evolving, so one size (of leadership) most definitely does not fit all problems.
We all need more than one tool in our leadership toolkit.
🥇 - How to motivate and get the best results from your team
At its foundation, to lead is to be effective at motivating and influencing others, and the good news is that leadership is universally accepted as essential and a growth industry; consequently, we should all be encouraged to excel. And yet there are routinely examples where good leadership is sadly lacking or missing altogether. We need only look at the state of politics. Yet, unfortunately, our politicians don't have a monopoly on poor leadership. There are many examples, even originating from the most lauded and successful businesses.
The good news is that leaders aren't born great leaders; we can all learn how to become them.
Situational awareness and leadership
Rapid changes to business models and disruption to jobs and organisations from events and trends such as COVID-19, Artificial Intelligence and automation are our reality. The impact business has on their communities, and the environment means leaders have a much more challenging job than at any time in recent memory. Leaders need to learn faster and better, and organisations need to adapt and innovate in new, faster ways.
There is a continuum of leadership styles. I like Daniel Goleman's model described in "Leadership That Gets Results". Goleman says that professionals should ask which method best addresses the demands of a particular situation.
Situational awareness and context are crucial for getting the best results.
Each works best in particular circumstances, and like any over-used strength, some have severe negative implications for team and organisational culture.
Is your business performing or lagging behind competitors?
Is the market for your product or service growing or shrinking?
Are your investors happy or adopting activist tendencies?
Are your customers happy or unsatisfied?
Is your team full of motivated professionals or social loafers?
Is your project on track to finish on time or over budget and suffering from endless delays?
Is there a crisis that needs urgently addressing, or are things relatively calm?
Your answers to questions like these will inform which leadership style you should emphasise at that moment.
1 - The Coercive Style
A "do what I say" approach can be potent in a turnaround situation, to jump-start fast-paced change, during a crisis, or when working with a problem employee. The coercive style is an extreme version of command and control leadership.
"Do what I say."
In most situations, coercive leadership inhibits the team and organisation; it reduces flexibility and adaptability and hurts employee motivation. It is easily misused, so be cautious, as it is the least effective in most situations.
2 - The Pacesetting style
This leader sets high-performance standards, focusing on performance and achieving goals. Obsessive about doing things better and faster, this leader leads by example and asks the same of everyone around them. Use the pacesetting style to get high-quality results from a self-motivated, competent team quickly.
"Do as I do, now."
While this can be a successful style, the adverse effects on teams can include burnout, exhaustion and high staff turnover. Many employees will feel overwhelmed by the pacesetter's demands for excellence, and morale and motivation will fall. Like the coercive approach, it can be helpful but should be used sparingly. Overusing this style can lead you along the path to becoming a micromanager.
3 - The Democratic Style
A democratic leader builds trust, respect and commitment by spending time getting people's ideas and buy-in. They aim to forge consensus through participation.
"What do you think?"
This style is best used when you need to get your team on board with an idea or you need your team's input. The democratic leadership style shouldn't be used with inexperienced people who lack competence or aren't well informed about the situation. This style has drawbacks and risks, including endless meetings where ideas are ruminated. The consensus is often impossible to achieve, and democratic leaders may use this approach to put off making crucial decisions.
4 - The Visionary Style
This type of leader takes a "come with me" approach by stating the overall goal but allowing people the freedom to choose their means. Vibrant enthusiasm and clear and inspirational visions are the hallmarks of this style.
"Come with me."
The visionary leader helps motivate people by clarifying how they and their work fit into the broader organisation and increasing commitment to the goals and strategy. It works best when a business is adrift. This style is likely to have less impact when a leader is working with a team of experts or peers who are more experienced, as it may bring out their cynical side, leading to the leader being viewed as out-of-touch with their clients, their teams and their reality.
5 - The Affiliative Style
This leadership style revolves around people, "people come first." This style connects people and encourages inclusion and resolving conflict. The affiliative leader strives to keep their teams happy and to create harmony among them. To use this approach, you must value the emotions of others and put a high value on their emotional needs.
"People come first."
Affiliative leadership is broadly effective and an excellent all-weather approach. Still, it is particularly impactful to increase team harmony, reduce internal conflict between teams, improve communication, or repair broken trust.
6 - The Coaching Style
Coaching is about creating change, often to help individuals, groups, or teams improve their performance. The coaching leader uses communication skills, reflective learning, and structured problem-solving to help bring about the desired changes. Leaders can't be expected to have all the answers in the face of rapid, disruptive change.
"Try this."
This style facilitates problem-solving and encourages personal and team development aligned with the organisation's goals. Coaching leaders excel at empowering; they give employees challenging tasks, even if that means the task won't be accomplished quickly. In other words, these leaders are willing to put up with short-term difficulties to invest in the future. The coaching style works well in many business situations, but a prerequisite is that people are aware of the need to change and willing to invest. This approach will make less headway when employees, for whatever reason, are resistant to learning and changing their ways.
To achieve the best results, seamlessly move between the different leadership styles depending on your opportunities and challenges. Use the right tool to increase your impact as a leader and get the most from your team.
🏋️ Challenge: Adaptive Leadership for Complex Challenges
Reflect on your default leadership style. Which of the six styles (Coercive, Pacesetting, Democratic, Visionary, Affiliative, Coaching) do you predominantly use?
Think of a recent challenging situation at work - the context, your response, and the outcome. Revisit the problematic situation you described. Could a different leadership style have led to a better outcome? Why or why not?
Now, consider the six leadership styles mentioned in the article. Identify a situation from your experience where each style could be the most effective. Based on your reflections, choose one leadership style you underutilise or have found challenging to apply. Develop an action plan to integrate this style into your leadership approach. Consider specific actions, situations where you could use this style, and metrics for success.
Plan a small, controlled situation where you can experiment with this leadership style in the coming weeks. Seek feedback from your team or a trusted colleague about the impact of your leadership style after trying out the new approach. Reflect on the feedback. What worked well? What could be improved? Adjust your strategy based on these insights and iterate.
📫 - A quote that I am currently pondering
"The first level of your career is hard skills, the second level is soft skills, and the third level is the most challenging level: how you show up emotionally, how you keep being champion and make everything possible."
Dongping Zhao, President of Anker Innovations
🧾 - An absorbing and insightful (short) read
An oldie from 2006 - The Peanut Butter Manifesto.
"We lack a focused, cohesive vision for our company. We want to do everything and be everything -- to everyone…
…I've heard our strategy described as spreading peanut butter across the myriad opportunities that continue to evolve... The result: a thin layer of investment spread across everything we do, and thus, we focus on nothing in particular.
I hate peanut butter. We all should."
🤔 - If you did have the answer to this question, what would it be?
What is your role uniquely positioned to deliver?