What's your management style?

Do you always listen to your employees’ input before making decisions and assigning tasks? Or do you rely solely on your own judgement?

How you’ve answered this question goes a long way to determining what type of a leader you are. It can be very helpful to know this, since as Kimberlee Leonard points out in her article “Factors Influencing Leadership Styles” for Chron, your leadership style impacts how effectively you can get your team to deliver results. 

Management styles and their characteristics

According to Lou Dubois in his article “How to Change Your Management Style” for Inc., there are five different management styles:

1. Autocratic: This is also referred to as an authoritarian management style. These managers request little input from their team members and keep control over all decisions. While this leadership style facilitates decision making, it can make employees feel ignored.
2. Paternalistic: Paternalistic managers care about the needs of their employees, but they’re in the best position to make decisions due to their experience.
3. Democratic: Democratic leaders allow employees to have equal say in the decision-making process. This often promotes employee satisfaction and can result in better problem solving. On the downside, it can also lead to decisions that are not as informed as they should be.
4. Laissez-faire: The laissez-faire management style is very hands-off, with managers offering little guidance to their teams. Employees have a lot of freedom to make decisions, which can be a good thing when they’re highly experienced and motivated. However, when they’re less experienced, it can have subpar results.
5. Servant leadership: This embodies the manager who is focused on his or her employees and what they need to succeed. Oftentimes, this type of manager is highly adept at bringing out the best in his or her people.

Keep in mind that no matter what your primary leadership style is, the situation or task at hand may influence the management style needed. For example, if an employee needs to be reprimanded, it isn’t very constructive to only demonstrate traits of a laissez-faire manager. That’s why it’s advisable to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of all the different leadership styles and adapt yours when necessary to get the best possible results.

Source:

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/factors-influencing-leadership-styles-45181.html

https://www.inc.com/guides/201105/how-to-change-your-management-style.html