Leadership style

A leadership style is a leader's method of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.[1] Various authors have proposed identifying many different leadership styles as exhibited by leaders in the political, business or other fields. Studies on leadership style are conducted[2] in the military field, expressing an approach that stresses a holistic view of leadership, including how a leader's physical presence determines how others perceive that leader. The factors of physical presence in this context include military bearing, physical fitness, confidence, and resilience. A leader's conceptual abilities include agility, judgment, innovation, interpersonal tact, and domain knowledge. Leaders are characterized as individuals who have differential influence over the setting of goals, logistics for coordination, monitoring of effort, and rewards and punishment of group members.[3] Domain knowledge encompasses tactical and technical knowledge as well as cultural and geopolitical awareness.[4][need quotation to verify]

One of the key reasons why certain leadership styles are blocked with positive outcomes for employees and organizations is the extent to which they build follower trust in leaders.[5] Trust in the leader has been linked to a range of leadership styles and evidence suggests that when followers trust their leaders they are more willing and able to go the extra mile to help their colleagues and organization. Trust also enables them to feel safe to speak up and share their ideas. In contrast, when a leader does not inspire trust, a follower’s performance may suffer as they must spend time and energy watching their backs.

Daniel Goleman, in his 2000 article "Leadership that Gets Results", talks about six styles of leadership.[6]

  1. ^ Kotter, John P., 1947- (2001). What leaders really do. Harvard Business School Pub. Corp. ISBN 1-57851-382-0. OCLC 57299317.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Lindsay, Douglas. "Shared Leadership in the Military: Reality, Possibility, or Pipedream?". ResearchGate.
  3. ^ Stanik-Hutt, Julie (2008-07-01). "Developing Leadership". The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. 4 (7): 493. doi:10.1016/j.nurpra.2008.05.011.
  4. ^ Army Leadership. Competent, Confident, and Agile. Washington, D.C.: Headquarters, Department of the Army. 12 October 2006. p. 18. Publication available at Army Knowledge Online (www.us.army.mil) and General Dennis J. Reimer Training and Doctrine Digital Library at (www.train.army.mil), FM 6–22.
  5. ^ Legood, A., van der Werff, L., Lee, A., & Den Hartog, D. (2021). A meta-analysis of the role of trust in the leadership-performance relationship. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 30(1), 1-22.
  6. ^ Goleman, Daniel (March 2000). "Leadership that Gets Results". Harvard Business Review. Retrieved June 24, 2016.