Being a leaderLeadership is extremely diverse, and many different definitions of it exist. The one that I am going to use is “influencing the actions of a group to achieve a desired outcome”. When this is broken down there are three key components 1) the influencer/leader 2) the group and 3) the desired outcome. Effective leadership requires understanding of all three, with knowledge of the outcome being the least important factor.
Before I leap into that, I’m going to give some information about my experiences so that where I am coming from is better understood. My first introduction to leadership was in my primary school’s junior school council and this year my leadership experiences have included being chairman of a venturer scout unit, being youth mayor of my local youth council, being vice school captain, and attending Rotary Youth Leadership Award (Highly recommend btw). The highlights in between those times include Alpine School and Venturer Scout leadership courses. Through my experiences I have developed ways of thinking and responding that can be used as a guide or example, but there are certainly other ways of thinking and acting in regard to leadership. Take from this series what works and is relevant to you and don’t worry about the rest.
The first installment in the series will focus on The Leader – Leadership Styles
(If there is anything that someone really wants covered, please suggest it and I'll focus on addressing that next. Feedback is also appreciated)
The leaderUnderstanding of self is highly important for leadership. Not only does learning about how you operate aid understanding of others, it also allows you to confidently draw on your areas of strength and deliberately build areas of weakness. If you become consciously aware of your biases (we ALL have them) and learn what your key values are you will make better decisions as a result.
Leadership stylesLeadership is often broken into three styles: relaxed (“you will determine what you do”), democratic (“The group/majority should will determine what we do”), and autocratic (“I’m going to determine what you do”).
This may be the point at which some of you ask “Is a relaxed style even leadership? And why would you pick it?” Yes, it is still leadership. Firstly, these styles work on a continuum so while members may be largely autonomous major decisions might be made by group consensus or the leader. Secondly, you can be a leader without telling people what to do – being a role model can be effective leadership. Because the leader isn’t busy micromanaging everyone, things can get done faster and often more creatively than in the other styles. Relaxed leadership is suited for when you have an experienced team that knows what they are doing and can be trusted to get the job done. It is not suited for a team with low motivation and poor understanding of requirements, unless you want them to struggle as a learning experience. Even then, caution is recommended.
Democratic leadership is what many people think of first and are comfortable with; I know it’s my favourite. It encourages emotional investment by having everyone contribute to discussions and collaboration can produce great ideas as everyone’s experiences and strengths combine. It is also usually seen as fair; however, resentment may build if people feel that their ideas aren’t being listened to and/or they are being dismissed. A weakness of this style is that it can involve back and forth discussions and votes that seem to drag on forever – which is especially likely if the group is large and there is any pre-existing antagonism between members. This style works best with small, diverse groups. If you need to work with a large group, strongly consider breaking it up into smaller ones ASAP.
Authoritative leadership may be criticised for the lack of group input and/or being overbearing. However, there are situations in which it is clearly the best choice. For example, if someone breaks their arm it might not be the best idea to call for a group meeting or let everyone run around in a panic. In that case, giving clear instructions such as “call the ambulance” or “run and get the first aider” will lead to the best outcome. This shows some of the strengths of authoritative leadership - it is highly time efficient and can inspire faith by displaying confidence. This style works best when there is time pressure, and/or the leader is already respected by the group. If team members do not respect the leader and do not understand why this style has been used, they may rebel against it and sharply reduce the leader’s effectiveness. This becomes increasingly likely the longer that the style is used.
As I hope has become apparent, they key to these styles is to adapt and choose them based on the group and the situation that the group is in. Consciously think about which one is being used and why - will it truly lead to the best outcome?
The best way to build up strength in these areas is to find yourself in diverse situations and practice.