Here is some more from my manuscript, Leadership for New Managers: Book Two.
5. People-Oriented/Relations-Oriented Leadership
People-oriented leaders are totally focused on organizing, supporting, and developing the people on their teams. This is a participatory style that encourages teamwork and creative collaboration.
People-oriented leaders treat everyone on the team equally. They're friendly and approachable, they pay attention to the welfare of everyone in the group, and they make themselves available whenever team members need help or advice.
People-oriented leaders create teams that everyone wants to be part of. Team members are often more productive and willing to take risks, because they know that the leader will provide support if they need it. However, associate leaders can take this approach too far; they may put the development of their team above tasks or goals. In practice, most leaders use both
task-oriented and people-oriented styles of leadership together.
This style of leadership can be appropriate in an environment where leader-associate relations are good, the task is unstructured, and position power is weak. This style works well when associates
need to work independently with minimal supervision such as researchers and inspectors.
6. Servant Leadership
This term, created by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, describes a leader often not formally recognized as such. A servant leader leads simply by meeting the needs of the team. They often lead by example. They have high integrity and generosity. In many ways, this style is a form of democratic leadership, because the whole team tends to be involved in decision making. Servant leaders often prefer to stay out of the limelight and let their team accept recognition for their hard work.
The servant leadership style may be appropriate way to move ahead in a world where values are increasingly important, and where servant leaders can achieve power because of their values, ideals, and ethics. This approach can create a positive corporate culture and lead to high morale among associates.
However, sometimes, people who practice servant leadership find themselves left behind by
leaders using other leadership styles. This leadership style is not suited in situations where quick decisions are needed or tight deadlines must be met. Servant leadership is often most practical in politics, or in positions where leaders are elected to serve a team, committee, organization, or community. In a recent survey published in the AARP Magazine, responders say they trusted their
mayors (21% for those over 50) and the president (34% for those over 50) much more than their CEOs (only 5% for those over 50). The percentages are lower for those under 49. It is a shame that all leaders are not elected to their position. I think we would have better leaders for the most part. Most leaders are hired into the position or promoted into leadership positions. A few, like Napoleon, assume the mantle of leadership.
7. Transformation Leadership
Transformation leadership is often used in business situations. Transformational leaders have integrity, they set clear goals, they communicate well with their team members, and they inspire people with a shared vision of the future. They are inspiring because they expect the best from everyone on their team as well as themselves. This leads to high productivity and engagement from everyone in their team.
The downside of transformational leadership is that while the leader's enthusiasm is passed onto the team, he or she can need to be supported by "detail-oriented” people. That's why, in many organizations, both transactional and transformational leadership styles are useful. Transactional leaders ensure that routine work is done reliably, while transformational leaders look after initiatives that add new value.
8. Situational Leadership
Paul Hersey, professor and author of the book, Situational Leader, and Ken Blanchard author of The One Minute Manager, while working on the first edition of Management of Organizational Behavior, developed the situational leadership theory. They suggest that there is no single best style of
leadership. This where an understanding of the different styles of leadership is useful. Effective leadership is task-relevant, and the most successful leaders are those that adapt their leadership style to the situation. Effective leadership varies with the person or group that is being influenced and the goal that needs to be accomplished.