Chart Your Leadership Path With These 10 Management Styles

Growing up, I was only exposed to 1 type of guidance style. My shot coaches were immoderate of nan astir ruthless and demanding group I’ve ever met, pushing our squad to our beingness and affectional limits.

When I started doing internships successful college, I expected my managers to beryllium for illustration my coaches. Since nan stakes are higher successful a business, I was frightened to messiness up.

But to my surprise, my managers successful nan moving world were nan complete other of my coaches. For nan first time, I knowledgeable different guidance styles.

Your guidance style impacts nan squad you oversee and sets nan reside for your workplace environment.

Check retired this overview of nan apical guidance styles to study nan pros and cons of each and really each style impacts your team’s performance.

1. Visionary Management Style

A visionary head casts a imagination for a intent and guidance their labor tin judge in. They animate their squad to activity difficult to execute that vision.

I deliberation a visionary guidance style useful champion erstwhile nan leader has fantabulous connection and charisma to pass their semipermanent vision.

When they succeed, they’ll summation buy-in and intrinsic information from employees.

When they don’t, they consequence disengagement and underperformance.

Visionary leadership useful champion erstwhile managers springiness their labor autonomy and state successful executing nan vision.

If you want to employment this style, I urge you empower your squad to return risks and make decisions to activity toward your shared goal.

2. Autocratic Management Style

Autocratic guidance is nan astir top-down attack to guidance — labor astatine nan apical of nan level clasp nan powerfulness to make decisions.

Once a determination is made, autocratic leaders expect acceptance and execution from their team.

I deliberation nan benefits of an autocratic guidance style are accelerated decision-making and clear direction, some useful during a crisis aliases erstwhile training an inexperienced team. With clear directives and adjacent supervision, an autocratic style tin raise productivity quickly.

The consequence of an autocratic guidance style is that labor whitethorn acquisition debased morale if they don’t understand aliases person a chance to lend to nan vision.

Turnover is apt if labor don’t consciousness engaged and empowered. When implemented poorly, autocratic guidance tin limit invention and creativity.

Example of nan Autocratic Management Style successful Action: Satya Nadella, Microsoft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is known arsenic a clear and decisive leader who guided Microsoft from a struggling tech institution to a marketplace leader.

Nadella explains nan use of clear, nonstop guidance this way:

“The astir important property that immoderate leader needs to person — and it is often underestimated — is nan request to create clarity erstwhile nary exists. You don’t request a leader erstwhile everything is well-defined, and it’s easy.”

Being an autocratic leader doesn’t mean that Nadella doesn’t see employees’ points of view. He is besides known for his empathy and embracing a maturation mindset astatine Microsoft. But, erstwhile it comes to hard decisions, I respect that he takes afloat work and leads pinch transparency.

3. Democratic Management Style

In antiauthoritarian management, nan mostly rules. Managers fto their labor participate successful nan decision-making process because they worth their team’s diverseness of ideas and understand that group are nan cardinal to a team’s success.

Democratic managers yet o.k. decisions but let labor to style and power their decision-making.

I’ve recovered galore labor for illustration a antiauthoritarian guidance style because they person a larger liking successful and power connected nan activity they are doing.

But, erstwhile executed poorly, a antiauthoritarian guidance style tin beryllium inefficient.

Consulting an full squad astir a determination tin slow down progress. Favoritism of choosing 1 employee’s ideas complete different tin besides origin factions and frustrations.

If you want your labor to consciousness for illustration they’re each leaders of your team, I propose you make judge you are genuinely incorporating feedback and justifying your decisions.

Example of nan Democratic Management Style successful Action: Reed Hastings, Netflix

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One illustration of a antiauthoritarian guidance style is Reed Hastings, executive president and co-founder of Netflix.

During his 25 years arsenic CEO, Hastings empowered Netflix labor to stock innovative ideas from immoderate section aliases level, moreover encouraging labor to spell supra their boss’s caput erstwhile necessary.

In his book No Rules Rules, he shares really he built a civilization of state and work utilizing continuous betterment and transparent communications.

Hastings besides incorporates immoderate elements of a visionary guidance style.

Before streaming existed, he needed to person labor and investors that streaming would switch DVD rentals and led nan institution done that transformation.

4. Transformational Management Style

Transformational guidance is 1 of nan astir celebrated activity styles, embraced by business leaders from Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai to Proctor & Gamble’s Jon Moeller.

Transformational managers judge that alteration and maturation are nan only measurement to enactment up of nan curve, truthful they perpetually situation their labor to execute better. They motivate labor to support raising nan bar, starring to improved squad performance.

The best transformational leaders proceed to push labor while equipping them pinch nan support and resources they need.

These teams are innovative, truthful they tin accommodate to drastic manufacture changes. But they tin besides consequence moving excessively accelerated and spreading themselves excessively thin.

As a group manager, I judge it’s important to understand nan limits of really acold you tin push your labor earlier they commencement to pain out.

Example of nan Transformational Management Style successful Action: Pam Bump, HubSpot

Pam Bump is nan caput of contented innovation, research, and maturation astatine HubSpot. She oversees HubSpot Media’s Content Innovation and Research squad and identifies arsenic a transformational manager.

“Before I was a manager, I ever jumped astatine awesome problem-solving opportunities, ambiguous requests from leadership, and identifying large bets for my companies. Now, arsenic a manager, I promote my squad to do nan same,” Bump explains.

Bump’s attack follows a agelong contented of transformational guidance astatine HubSpot from founding leaders for illustration Dharmesh Shah.

One situation of transformational guidance is balancing individual and squad goals, but a successful head tin execute both.

“To equilibrium eager overall, transformative team-wide goals, and individual teammate needs, I cheque successful pinch my nonstop reports astir their growth, what they’re moving on, and activity that tin thief them turn their skills aliases visibility while besides supporting squad goals,” shares Bump.

Beyond play 1:1s, Bump besides holds semi-regular profession chats to talk their individual semipermanent goals and nan strategies they tin usage to get there.

5. Transactional Management Style

Transactional managers usage incentives and rewards — for illustration bonuses, banal options, aliases promotions — to motivate their labor to execute well. Their motto is “If you do this for me, I’ll do this for you.”

A transactional guidance style relies connected extrinsic motivation, wherever labor are motivated to scope a extremity by nan committedness of an outer reward.

Research shows that extrinsic information tin boost productivity and thief labor scope goals successful nan short term. However, studies show that a equilibrium of intrinsic and extrinsic information useful champion to motivate employees.

Potential pitfalls of transactional guidance see little productivity and labor becoming over-reliant connected extrinsic rewards. I deliberation it tin besides lead to a attraction connected short-term results complete semipermanent occurrence and loyalty.

6. Coaching Management Style

Just for illustration a sports coach, a coaching head strives to amended their employees’ semipermanent master development. I emotion really they person a passion for school and watching their labor grow.

They stay affirmative and diligent done short-term failure, arsenic agelong arsenic nan squad is learning and improving. The champion coaching managers whitethorn accommodate their attack according to an employee’s connection style and needs.

Leaders pinch a coaching style person 2 main focuses: overseeing employees’ individual improvement and bringing a squad together arsenic a collaborative force.

The champion teams are nan astir united, and an worker experiences nan astir master maturation erstwhile some their coach and teammates put successful their development.

Example of nan Coaching Management Style successful Action: Jamie Juviler, HubSpot

Jamie Juviler is simply a trading head for HubSpot’s Website Blog squad and strives to thief his squad nutrient their champion activity while besides pursuing their individual goals.

“I walk a batch of my clip reasoning astir really to thief my reports create successful their areas of liking and align their strengths pinch nan needs of nan team,” says Juviler.

“I want to negociate individuals who are happy pinch their profession growth, since they’ll beryllium much invested successful their activity and consenting to make a bigger effect than those who consciousness constricted by their day-to-day tasks.”

You tin study much astir Juviler’s guidance travel and attack here.

7. Servant Management Style

Servant managers put group first and capacity second. They prioritize their customers’ and employees’ well-being complete squad results.

One cardinal constituent of servant guidance is starring by example: Servant leaders show humility and aren’t acrophobic to rotation up their sleeves and activity alongside their teams.

I deliberation nan benefits of a servant guidance style are precocious spot successful and respect for nan leader. Teams pinch a servant activity style often triumph complete customers pinch a people-over-profits mentality.

One imaginable pitfall of servant activity is that a attraction connected work whitethorn undermine results. This could make labor complacent, starring to mean aliases moreover sub-par work.

Example of nan Servant Management Style successful Action: Joaquín Duato, Johnson & Johnson

Do Better Talks | Servant activity and nan builder mindset | A speech pinch Joaquín Duato

Joaquín Duato, president and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, identifies arsenic a servant leader.

“It’s very important to recognize that you are starring connected behalf of others. Servant activity is not astir you; it’s astir others,” he shares. “That’s a rule that we effort to instill successful each azygous leader astatine Johnson & Johnson.”

To successfully adopt a servant guidance style, Duato advises that each managers must perceive good and make an effort to link pinch employees.

8. Brave Management Style

A brave guidance style, defined by writer Brené Brown, is characterized by empathy, vulnerability, and trust.

The thought is that brave managers tin build spot and lead pinch courageousness by vulnerably sharing their ain struggles and failures amidst uncertainty.

“The number 1 consequence of a deficiency of brave activity and courageous civilization is we pat retired of nan difficult conversations that we need,” says Brown.

“When group are acrophobic of being put down aliases bullied for trying thing and failing, aliases moreover putting guardant a extremist caller idea, nan champion you tin dream for is simply a benignant of position quo.”

In her book Dare to Lead, Brown describes brave guidance pinch this acronym:

• Boundaries. Do I respect my ain boundaries and others?
• Reliability. Do I travel done connected what I said I was going to do?
• Accountability. Do I clasp myself accountable?
• Vault. Do I stock accusation that isn’t excavation to share, aliases do I support it successful a vault?
• Integrity. Do I enactment from a individual codification of integrity?
• Nonjudgment. Am I nonjudgmental erstwhile personification asks for help?
• Generosity. Am I generous toward myself and others?

By pursuing these principles, I’m assured brave managers tin build spot wrong their squad and activity toward shared goals, based connected shared values.

9. Laissez-Faire Management Style

Laissez-faire is French for “leave alone.” Laissez-faire managers show their team’s activities, but they stay hands-off. They expect their squad to do their jobs pinch wide autonomy and only activity guidance erstwhile they request help.

Laissez-faire guidance is nan other of micromanagement. Some labor thrive pinch autonomy and are happier and much motivated.

But, nan flip broadside of laissez-faire guidance is that labor tin suffer from a deficiency of guidance and vision. In turn, their activity capacity suffers, and underperforming labor could get distant pinch doing nan bare minimum work.

On nan positive side, pinch autonomy immoderate labor are happier and much motivated to succeed. It’s a double-edged sword, successful my opinion, and has to beryllium implemented successful nan correct situation pinch nan correct squad to beryllium successful.

Example of nan Laissez-Faire Management Style successful Action: Warren Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway

Legendary executive and investor Warren Buffet is 1 of nan champion examples of laissez-faire guidance successful caller history.

In his 2022 missive to shareholders, he wrote, “Our extremity successful ownership is to make meaningful investments successful businesses pinch some long-lasting favorable economical characteristics and trustworthy managers. When ample enterprises are being managed, some spot and rules are essential. Berkshire emphasizes nan erstwhile to an different — immoderate would opportunity utmost — degree.”

10. Situational Management Style

Finally, I learned that galore managers find that they don’t fresh precisely successful 1 guidance style. They whitethorn blend respective styles together and accommodate their attack for each worker and what that worker needs successful nan moment.

Since each squad personnel has different connection styles and needs, an individualized situational attack tin beryllium incredibly effective successful giving each personification precisely what they need.

Example of nan Situational Management Style successful Action: Kaitlin Milliken, HubSpot

Kaitlin Milliken, elder programme head astatine HubSpot, recovered that situational guidance useful champion to lead her team.

“Throughout my career, I’ve recovered myself changing really I lead based connected who I’m moving with. Some folks want hands-on management. Others run champion pinch tons of autonomy,” she explains.

Milliken says she likes situational activity because she tin activity pinch group who person varying acquisition levels.

“Someone caller to nan section whitethorn request much mentorship. An master whitethorn conscionable want to cognize astir our organizational quirks. Since I people accommodate to what different group need, this type of activity fits my style,” she says.

Effective Management Styles for a Thriving Team

Management is 1 of nan hardest jobs successful nan moving world.

But I deliberation my takeaway from penning this article tin connection immoderate comfort:

Management style is not one-size-fits-all. Different group will negociate their teams differently, and different teams want different activity styles.

The constituent is to find nan style that feels authentic to you and helps your squad succeed. The examples supra show really various types of guidance styles tin lead to thriving teams.

After sharing nan astir celebrated activity styles and nan pros and cons of each, I dream you consciousness amended equipped to lead your squad done some nan challenging and successful times.

Editor's note: This station was primitively published successful July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.