Empowering leaders

A leader is somebody with power and influence over other people – and whether officially appointed or not, all of us lead in our everyday lives. If we’re all leading, then it’s important we learn how to do it well. 

Leading well involves rallying a team of people and leveraging their individual strengths to achieve a common goal. Most goals can only be reached with the combined efforts of many, and it takes a good leader to coordinate, communicate, influence, and provide the right resources for teams to reach their goals. 

In this guide, we’ll look at what good leadership is, the different styles of leadership, and how to choose which one to use when.  

A good leader knows how to bring out the best efforts of their team through influence rather than coercion. The latter might work in the short term, but it’s not sustainable. Leading by coercion is called transactional leadership, where rewards and punishments are the main incentives driving people. Transformational leadership, on the other hand, is where people are encouraged, motivated, and inspired to go above and beyond.  

The best leader isn’t necessarily the most qualified person: it’s emotional intelligence that matters most. Good leaders can relate to and empathise with all kinds of people. That’s why soft skills are so important, along with qualities like honesty and humility. Transformational leaders often have a few things in common: charisma, self-confidence, communication skills, a clear vision, and the ability to build trust. 

If you want to be a good leader, you can start by making sure that you clearly communicate your values and a compelling vision for your team. Don’t be afraid to allow others to challenge the status quo. Make sure you’re building a safe environment for people to question ideas and trust one another – and whatever you do, don’t micromanage. Give your people the resources they need to complete their tasks, and make sure to recognize and reward them when they do.

There are lots of different types of people and – surprise – lots of different leadership styles too. Harvard Business Review published research identifying six main ones¹:

1. Visionary – This approach is based on a clear vision that team members are inspired to pursue together. Leaders encourage goal-setting, transparency, communication, and full participation in all aspects, which works best when the goal is more complex and longer-term.

2. Coaching – Leaders who employ this approach focus on helping their team develop and improve over time. This style is more commonly practised in sports, where the leader doesn’t stand to directly benefit from a positive outcome. 

3. Affiliative – People and relationships are the main focus here, and the leader's aim is to ensure harmony within the team. This can be a useful style with a new team, or when an existing team has intrapersonal issues to work through.

4. Democratic – Leaders using this approach empower people to fully participate in the decision-making process. It works well when employees are highly skilled and experienced, but not so well when a quick decision needs to be made. 

5. Pacesetting – The leader takes center stage in this approach, modelling and setting the pace for others to follow. It's best for getting quick results from a highly competent team, but it can also result in boredom and indifference.

6. Commanding – Unlike the democratic approach, the leader makes all the decisions here. It's not a popular approach, but it works well in low-skilled teams or when quick decisions need to be made. 

Good leadership doesn’t come from memorizing formulas: it’s more of an art than a science, which can make good leaders hard to find. No one style is better than the rest – rather, different situations call for different approaches. Your personal strengths, your organizational goals, the composition of your team, your organizational structure, and the type of decisions you need to make are a few of the factors you’ll need to consider when choosing how to lead. 

You’ll also need to balance adaptability with authenticity – good leaders are true to themselves. Inauthentic leaders struggle to build trusting environments because people can usually see through them. As for how to be authentic, you’ll need to be self-aware and know what your strengths, weaknesses, and values are. You should be able to clearly define your boundaries and communicate them effectively. This sort of self-understanding is a great place to start inspiring other people towards your collective goals.    

Just like everything else in life, being a good leader takes practice: making mistakes is all part of the process. The longer you lead, the more you learn – and that’s why it’s good to seek advice from more experienced leaders in all walks of life. 

When you’re leading a team towards a goal, it's important to realize that change takes time – things don’t always go according to plan, and progress isn’t linear.  When things are going well, chances are they won’t always stay that way. So it’s important to set up a system where you can get feedback on your leadership. Humility is a key trait of a good leader and taking on feedback is a big part of that.