Basic Leadership Theory
Daniel Goleman [1] (1946 - ) is an American author, psychologist and science journalist. He is responsible for the 6 Leadership Styles [2] described in his book “Primal Leadership”. A leader needs to have different leadership styles in different situations. Leaders who have mastered four or more leadership styles have the very best climate and business performance. And the most effective leader will switch flexibly among the leadership styles as needed. Daniel Goleman also introduces the concept of Emotional Intelligence [3] which is the ability to manage ourselves and our relationships effectively. Just as you have your IQ, you also have your Emotional Intelligence IQ. It consists of 4 fundamental capabilities:
1. Self-awareness: being aware of your own emotions. Being able to have an accurate self-assessment. Self-confidence is also a big part of it.
2. Self-management: having self-control and keeping your emotions in check. Adaptability, achievement orientation and taking initiative.
3. Social awareness: being aware not of your own feelings but of the feelings of others, and to take an active interest in their concerns.
4. Social skills: involves things like visionary leadership, which is the ability to take charge and to inspire with compelling vision. Managing conflict, managing change, building trust and building bonds.
Goleman then proposes his 6 leadership styles, as described before, which are situational:
1. Coercive: it demands immediate obedience. Reward and punishment is used as motivator. The positive side is a drive to achieve (initiative, self-control). This leadership style applies best to crisis, when the leader is confident as to what is the best action to take for the leader to get out of a crisis, or to kick start a turnaround.
2. Authoritative: the leader mobilizes people towards a vision. This style works best when change is required (self-confidence, empathy, change catalyst). When changes require a new vision, or when a clear direction is needed. The style can come from the position, or also from the expertise, which leads to confidence.
3. Affiliative: creates harmony and builds emotional bonds. It is good to bring people together (empathy, building relationships, communication). It is best used to heal rifts in a team or to motivate people during stressful circumstances. It builds on shared values, strengthening the culture and the climate of the team.
4. Democratic: prefers to force consensus through participation. Democratic leaders are driven more by ideals than common values (collaboration, team leadership, communication). It works best when you want to build consensus, or to get input from valuable employees.
5. Pace-setting: sets high standards for performance. It relies on conscientiousness, drive to achieve and initiative. If the team is high motivated and competent, they will be able to run behind the leader. It becomes negative if the team is not highly motivated or lacks competencies. The leader will run ahead of the pack, leaving people behind.
6. Coaching: develops people for the future. empathy and self-awar performance or develop long-term strenghts.
Situational leadership allows us to understand that leadership must change to meet different circumstances and demands. It is not the same leading an already established organization than one that is undergoing a period of transformation. It is not the same taking the ropes of an already established team than building a team from scratch. Cultural differences also play a big role when referring to international teams, but I will get back to that later. Leadership is about influence; it is about effectiveness. People want leaders they can relate to, they want to be motivated, they want to feel good about themselves.
Having a position does not make you a leader. Leadership is influence. Leaders must put themselves in the heads of their followers. They must understand them; they must be sympathetic. In order to lead people, they must sympathize with their team. It is about relationship skills, but also about Emotional IQ. It’s a mindset, it’s a culture. Effective leaders get the most out of their team, by giving the example in how to produce and achieve maximum performance. Don’t forget that people are the most valuable resources, and you want to get the most of them. Leaders drive change and innovation but, most importantly, know how to get the best out of their people.
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/six_emotional_styles.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence
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