5 Leadership Styles You Want to be Aware of

Leadership styles differ from person to person and from organization to organization. Ultimately, you want to develop your own, authentic way of leading people using your mind, heart, and intuition (holographic leadership, anyone?). And the thing is, your leadership style is affected by the way you see the world.

This is good news. Actually, it’s great news. By changing your mindset and worldview, you can change how you lead and manage people. So, keep on reading to find out what kind of leader do you want to be and how to improve your leadership style.

Why Leadership Styles Are Important

Before we review the 5 leadership styles you want to be aware of, let’s take a step back. While sipping warm tea from my Olaf mug (any other Frozen fans here?), I’m really pondering the question of why leadership styles matter. And what kind of leaders we all want to be.

It might be obvious, but how you lead is important because it determines whether people follow you or not. It also impacts your team’s engagement.

The truth is, different situations and times require different types and styles of leadership.

Think about it. Command and control leadership worked well at the beginning of the 20th century. Because the world was experiencing events that required it. And the best leaders of the time knew it.

We still face situations, even in our daily work and life, that might require this authoritative approach.

Yet, when we talk about leadership in general in the 21st century, command and control is rarely the answer. Changes in technology, culture, and the workplace demand a different approach. One that puts people first. One that taps into the heart.

So, ultimately, as a leader you need to adapt and know how to lead your people in various situations.

The Leader who Operates in Crisis Mode

Leaders who operate in crisis mode spend too much time in the past and worry about things. They view the world as hopeless and fearful and let others do things for them while they protect themselves. They avoid confrontations and focus on problems.

And while this leadership style can help leaders protect themselves by receiving attention and sympathy when things aren’t going well, and in a way provides an escape route from assuming responsibility for negative results, this is not a beneficial type of leadership approach in the long term.

Working on increasing self-worth and challenging some of the assumptions and interpretations c is helpful for leaders who want to shift their style. There is more than one way to see the world and lead.

“The world is missing what can be found in you.”

James Miller

Three Tips for Crisis Mode Leaders

If your leadership style is the crisis mode, read on. Here are three tips on what you can do to become a different type of leader.

1. Vent

Too much worry, doubt, and guilt. Whatever caused it for you, it’s normal to feel these feelings. Allow yourself to experience them, and then let go. Start venting and fighting for yourself.

Next, get angry at the situation and take action. Feeling the feelings can move you forward better than apathy and worry. Give it a try.

2. Be Present

The past is the past. Learn and grow from it, then let it go. Release whatever emotions are holding you back and focus on the now. This will allow you to start making conscious choices.

3. Increase your self-worth

There is only one of you in all the history. The world needs you at your best. You wouldn’t have been here if you didn’t deserve it and have a purpose. Remember this. You are worth it!

The Leader Who Focuses on Problems

The problem-focused leader is the next in line. This leadership style is characterized by excessive negative emotions that run the show. Getting angry helps sometimes, but it’s detrimental in the long-term. Although leaders can get a lot done in the short term by being proble-focused, this style leads to burn out, lack of engagement, and damage to the leader and their team.

Working on releasing emotions and reframing your assumptions and interpretations helps here as well. Success in leadership can be achieved by power, not just by force.

“Do I want to be right or do I want peace.”

Marianne Williamson

Three Tips for Problem-Focused Leaders

If you tend to be problem-focused, these tips are for you.

1. Identify and control emotions

Feeling emotions such as anger, frustration, pride, and resentment is normal. Emotions are part of the things that make us human. The next time you feel these intense emotions, pause for a second to build awareness. What are you feeling? Where do you feel it? How did it arise?

Next, get clear on how you really want to respond. Feelings are reactions. Your response does not have to be driven by them automatically. You have the control and power to pause, take a deep breath, and decide how to proceed. Give it a try.

2. Move beyond win-lose

How we see the world is a matter of perspective. What seems terrible for one person is a blessing for another. Life does not have to be a zero-sum game. Your winning does not mean someone needs to lose. Ponder on this and see how you can create more winning situations for yourself regardless of the result for others.

3. Understand the perspective of others

What others do makes sense for who they are. Just like what you do makes sense for who you currently are. The next time you have difficulty communicating with or understanding someone, pause and try to rationally figure out why they are behaving the way they do.

The Leader Who Cooperates

Next comes the cooperative leadership style. This type of leader rationalizes things too much and pushes on just to get things done. They are good teammates but might compromise just to move things forward. Yet, they don’t let others stand in the way of their goals. They can avoid or block negative emotions and can engage others and even get buy-in, eventually.

On the other hand, these leaders can be manipulative and give false promises. They make decisions from the head, not the heart.

While cooperative leadership can be beneficial, even in the long run, it can be helpful to tap more into care and service for others.

“Nothing is either good or bad. It’s thinking that makes it so.”

William Shakespeare

Three Tips for Cooperative Leaders

If you tend to operate more from your head, here are a few things you can do to tap into your heart and move closer to a holographic leadership style.

1. Serve others

Getting things done and progressing forward is excellent, even if it involves compromise and lacks concern. This is what brought you to your current success, after all. However, what brought you here won’t get you there.

How do you progress? Add service to others. Find ways you can collectively accomplish things.

The benefits of helping others are numerous. When you focus on others, you start taking little personally. Show genuine care to open your heart. Give it a try.

2. Move to the heart

Logic is powerful. Your smarts have helped you before and will keep on serving you in the future. However, the head is also the place where manipulation and letting go happen. These are mental processes that prevent you from achieving higher results. Move to the heart to elevate yourself. Feelings such as gratitude, caring, trust, and even love will open new perspectives for you as a leader.

3. Understand your values

What do you value? If you haven’t considered it, now is an excellent time to do so. And after you identify your values, see how they connect to your current situation. How can you align your leadership with your values? Does work look a bit more purposeful now?

The Leader who Nurtures

Some of you are probably rolling your eyes. Nurturing leaders? Really?

Here me out. Well… keep on reading with an open mind. You won’t regret it!

Nurturing or heart-centered leaders are concerned for others and try to fix them. They want to make the world better and take little personally. They foster a strong sense of loyalty in their teams and inspire others. Because they take truly caring and supportive approach to leadership.

However, these leaders could be overly sympathetic and compromise their own well-being. Sometimes, they tend to be more concerned with being liked, rather than pushing others to improve and reach their full potential.

While the nurturing leadership style is great, it can be improved by taking care of yourself and not judging others. If you serve without “fixing” others and see the opportunity in the challenge, your leadership and life will improve dramatically.

“A day away acts as a spring tonic. It can dispel rancor, transform indecision, and renew the spirit.”

Maya Angelou

Three Tips for Nurturing Leaders

And here are the three tips to make your nurturing leadership style even more impactful.

1. Care for yourself

You are already operating at a high leadership level. Being loyal, trusting, and nurturing others is lovely and helps you achieve a lot. However, don’t forget about yourself. How can you be at your best if you don’t care for yourself and your needs?

The benefits of setting healthy boundaries and understanding when it’s time to assist others are twofold. On the one hand, you elevate your own energy, power, and productivity. On the other hand, you allow people to grow without you jumping in to solve things for them. Build your healthy boundaries. Give it a try.

2. Challenge = Opportunity

Life is all about perspectives. We tend to label things as good and bad, right and wrong, warm and cold. The same principle applies to the situations you face as a leader. A simple shift of mind can change a challenge to an opportunity.

Think about it. What was the last “challenge” you faced? What came out of it?

Can you reframe it and see at least one opportunity in it? The next time you face a “challenge,” ask yourself: “What’s the opportunity here? What is possible now that this has happened?”

3. Create win-win situations

Creating win-win situations is something powerful leaders do. They find solutions that are extremely beneficial for all parties. The next time you are looking for a solution with your team, identify your goals, the goals of the team, and the goals of all others involved and brainstorm ideas on how to create a win-win solution. This approach will elevate you as a leader and the whole team to new heights.

The Leader who Empowers and Inspires

The perspective of this leadership style is that life is more than a sequence of events. Empowering leaders see the full potential in everyone and find opportunities in any situation. They are curious, future-focused, and … well… empowering. They have a strong sense of mission and purpose. This allows them to lead high-performing and engaged teams.

And while these are all fantastic characteristics of the type of leader we all want to be, there is a pitfall here as well. Seeing too many opportunities can lead to “paralysis by analysis” or taking too much risk. Work on viewing life as an opportunity and bringing in more love and care. It might sound paradoxical, but control is gained by not having to control and know. Trust the process of leadership.

“What an adventure we will have, living!”

Peter Pan

Three Tips for Inspiring Leaders

If you are an inspiring leader who wants to tap into the full potential of holographic leadership – leading with mind, heart, and intuition, these tips are for you.

1. See life as an opportunity

Your leadership is powerful and inspirational. The best leaders in the world possess your leadership characteristics. How can you grow from here?

One thing you can do is start viewing life itself as an opportunity. What if you believe we are all connected, and life is not just a series of events? Can you start seeing the purpose in everything? Give it a try.

2. Give up control

One of the paradoxes of life is that once we give up control, we gain the ultimate control. You don’t have to be in control and know everything. Stop trying it. You are a powerful leader. Trust the process and be confident that you are already equipped to handle whatever comes your way.

3. Overcome paralysis by analysis

One of the drawbacks of seeing opportunities in all challenges is that you can get stuck in overanalyzing the situation. Sounds familiar?

How can you overcome this? Relate your decisions with your values. Use your core and holographic thinking (mind, heart, and gut) to make conscious decisions.

What Kind of Leader do You Want to be?

Here they are. The five leadership styles you want to be aware of:

So, what type of leader do you want to be?

If you are curious about where exactly you fall right now, take the ELI Assessment. It will reveal your predominant leadership style and how you can shift to the one you want.