October 7, 2024 • 12 mins
Today's episode is talking about what I believe is the most important first step in leadership - knowing your leadership style. Whether you're an aspiring leader, a new leader, someone who's been at it for a while or an absolute seasoned pro, you need to know what your natural leadership style is. So why is this important? Your leadership style is happening, whether you know about it or not. If you think about gravity, you do not need to know what gravity is to know that if you drop a pen, it will hit the ground. It's the same with your leadership style, whether you know what your leadership style is or not, it is happening. You have a natural style that you are doing in your leadership, whether you know about it or not. So best to know what it is.
In today's podcast episode, I'm talking about Goleman's six leadership styles, helping you to see your strengths and blind spots, and a free quiz to get some personalised feedback.
Find out your personal Leadership Style with the free quiz
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kate Peardon (00:00):
Most people work along their technical career
(00:02):
till they get to a point wherethey're really good at what they
do technically and then they getgiven a group of people to
manage.
Now leading people is acompletely different skillset to
what you technically do.
So if you were an engineer andyou're a really good engineer
often, then you get the job ofleading the engineers.
But that doesn't make you a goodleader.
Leadership is a skill that youneed to learn and train.
(00:24):
Leaders are not born.
They are made.
(00:59):
Today's episode is talking aboutwhat I believe is the most
important first step inleadership.
And that is knowing yourleadership style, whether you're
an aspiring leader, a newleader, someone who's been at it
for a while or an absoluteseasoned pro, you need to know
what your natural leadershipstyle is.
So why is this important?
(01:22):
Your leadership style ishappening, whether you know
about it or not.
If you think about gravity, youdo not need to know what gravity
is to know that if you drop apen, it will hit the ground.
It's the same with yourleadership style, whether you
know what your leadership styleis or not, it is happening.
You have a natural style thatyou are doing in your
leadership, whether you knowabout it or not.
(01:43):
So best to know what it is.
There are so many different waysthat you can understand the
leadership style and allprofiles and leadership tools
are great.
As long as they help you tounderstand about yourself.
And see where your pros are orwhere your strengths are and
perhaps where some of the blindspots are.
In today's podcast episode, I'mtalking about Goleman's six
(02:04):
leadership styles.
The reason I'm talking aboutthis particular one is it's one
that is easily accessible.
And it's one that I have a freequiz on the website.
So you don't need to fork out500 a thousand,$2,000 to do a
leadership profile.
You can find this free quiz on aZenith Journey dot com and along
the top banner, there is takethe leadership quiz.
(02:24):
You can also find it in theresources section under
leadership quiz.
Now this is five, 10 minutes itwill take you, so it's not going
to tell you your future or yourpast, but it's going to give you
a great insight On what yourpreferences are as a leader.
And if you haven't listened toone of my episodes called the
Leadership Ladder, which you cansearch in your podcast platform
Level at Leadership, TheLeadership Ladder.
(02:46):
And it explains that most peoplework along their technical
career till they get to a pointwhere they're really good at
what they do technically andthen they get given a group of
people to manage.
Now leading people is acompletely different skillset to
what you technically do.
So if you were an engineer andyou're a really good engineer
often, then you get the job ofleading the engineers.
(03:07):
But that doesn't make you a goodleader.
Leadership is a skill that youneed to learn and train.
Leaders are not born.
They are made.
Yes.
Some people have some naturaltraits that make it easier for
them, but it's something thatyou can learn.
Now.
Yes, you can learn leadershipand yes, you already have a
leadership style that ishappening, whether you know
about it or not.
So let's learn a little bitabout these six leadership
(03:29):
styles and see which of these,you might be able to see
yourself in, what some of thesestrengths are, and perhaps what
are some blind spots for yourleadership?
And by the end of the podcastepisode, I'd love it.
If you can take one thing andapply it into your day to day
leadership, And this is whetheryou have a leadership title or
not we all have a leadershipstyle.
So why is it so important toknow this leadership style?
(03:52):
And that's because your approachdirectly impacts your team's
performance, morale, success.
and when you're aware of yourstyle, You can flex into this
style or other stars and adaptas you need.
There's a saying if the onlytool you have is a hammer.
Every problem looks like a nailand it's the same for your
leadership style.
If you are a Visionary personand you're always looking at the
(04:14):
big picture and the future.
You think that is a solution forevery leadership situation,
where sometimes people need moredetail, they need more
management rather than"here'sthe goal, I'll see you at the
end".
So if you know your leadershippreference, you can also
understand the other LeadershipStyles And which ones you might
need to grab, like putting on adifferent hat or different tools
(04:34):
in the tool belt, depending onthe situation.
Let's get into the styles andsee if you can see it yourself
in one or two of these.
the first leadership style isknown as Commanding or Coercive
Leadership.
I'm going to refer to it asCommanding.
This particular style is aleader that is"do what I say".
This is a great crisis modeleadership, and often seen what
(04:55):
a company or team is in troubleand rapid decisions are
necessary.
One of the downsides of this isit can demoralize teams because
it can limit creativity andinput from others.
So people don't often feelempowered or trusted because the
leader makes all decisions.
They believe they have theanswer and they tell people what
to do.
a non-work example, if I'm doingsurf lifesaving, and we're onto
(05:17):
a rescue.
You want someone to take controlof the situation and tell people
what to do.
It can be really great in thesecrisis situations.
If you were using this styleevery day in your work
situation, the challenges arepeople don't think for
themselves.
They rely on you to tell themwhat to do.
And the challenge is peopledon't feel empowered or trusted.
(05:37):
So an example is a CEO steppinginto a failing company.
might immediately cut cost,layoff employees, centralise
decisions.
It's a really great short termto get everyone on the same
page, but long-term, it cancreate negative fear-driven
culture.
If it's overused.
If this is one of your go-to's.
My suggestion would be to thinkabout when to use this and when
(06:00):
to reach for a differentleadership style.
So, this is one of the stylesthat isn't great long-term just
for short term.
The second style is thevisionary leader.
This latest sounds like"comewith me".
They're very good at providing aclear direction and rallying
people around a long-term goal.
They're particularly motivatingand inspiring.
(06:20):
Especially when a team needs anew direction or a big picture
to work towards, often allowfreedom and long as the vision
is achieved.
The challenge with this style isopen the, don't give the details
of how to get there.
Sometimes they can work veryquickly.
They're so far into the future.
They forget to bring people withthem.
very popular example is Stevejobs.
When he returned to apple in thenineties, he had this bold
vision of simplifying productsAnd transforming user experience
(06:44):
this clear direction inspiredthe team to innovate and push
boundaries.
Now.
If they didn't have peoplewithin the company that could
make the plan of how to makethis happen, then it just
becomes a pie-in-the-sky dream.
So these particular style of aclear vision.
And the visionary leader isexcellent for setting direction.
And if this is something thatyou leaned on quite a bit.
(07:05):
One tip could be making surethat your team.
Knows what the plan is to getthere.
The third style is AffiliativeLeadership.
Now, this leader is all aboutharmony, their mantra is people
come first.
They really focus on buildingstrong emotional bonds within
the team.
One of the challenges with thisstyle is too much focus on
harmony can lead to a lack ofperformance or accountability.
(07:26):
And if leaders avoid difficultconversations and they don't set
clear goals, results can slipbecause they're focusing so much
on the people.
an example where this is great.
You might be a manager, acreative agency might use this
affiliative star to encouragecollaboration, creative freedom,
making sure people in the teamfeel safe to express their ideas
without fear of judgment.
(07:47):
If you're an Affiliative Leader,you'll probably have a wonderful
harmony in your team and greatfocus on people.
My tip for you would be to thinkabout the task side of your
leadership.
And what needs to be done tomake sure that the job is still
getting done while you have agreat people, first culture.
The fourth style is DemocraticLeadership.
Now this approach is what do youthink they're actively seeking
(08:09):
input for the team, fosteringcollaboration and ownership.
This style is great for gettingbuy-in and commitment from team
members.
It's also great for tapping intopeople's collective knowledge,
making people feel heard andvalued, but the downside is if
you were getting everybody'sopinion before making a
decision, it can slowdecision-making.
So anytime you need something tohappen quickly.
(08:32):
This can slow you down.
And now the challenge with thisis, are you looking for
everyone's opinion and you'rejust going to choose the most
popular one, or you gettingpeople's opinions and then you
make the decision as a leader,be really clear if you are
looking for your team to have aVoice or a Vote.
Uh, Voice means you want theiropinion.
(08:53):
A Vote means their opinion is anequal vote to everybody else's
and to yours.
And as a leader, you have tomake the tough decisions.
You can't just make the populardecisions.
All right.
The fifth style is PacesettingLeader.
These leaders are so quick,their motto is"do as I do, now"
they lead by example, they takeon tasks themselves and they set
(09:15):
the bar high.
One of my first managers was aPacesetting leader.
And one of the challenges waspeople found her hard to work
with because she worked so fast.
I personally loved it.
And I learned so much because Ifound it a challenge.
That's not always the case.
One of the challenges with it isit can also burn people out if
(09:35):
you are working so fast, sooften, people feel like they can
never keep up.
One of the great things aboutthis style is.
It's great.
When the team is highly skilledand self-motivated, it drives
excellence and faster results.
A lot of people that start theirown business Have a Pacesetting
style because you need to beworking long hours, setting high
expectations for the team.
(09:56):
You start doing everythingyourself before you pass off to
other people.
it can create a culture ofexcellence and burnout that can
become a real risk if everyonefeels I can't match the latest
pace, which is often.
I've had people that arePacesetting leaders and they say
that no one can do it as well asI can do it, or as fast as I can
do it.
(10:17):
And sometimes it is an issuewith how they're going about
delegating or who they've hired.
And sometimes it's just aPacesetting that they have a
Pacesetting style and it mightnot be realistic to consider
that everyone's going to work attheir pace.
So when I'm working withPacesetting leaders, we look at,
okay, what structure andframework can we put in place?
So we are not burning out theteam and we're still getting
(10:40):
results.
And the final style is aCoaching Leadership style.
This is one that I personallymore naturally go to and it's
focused on personal development,helping individuals improve for
the future and their approaches.
Try this.
It's definitely a long-termcapabilities build.
So people that work with me,it's always about longterm
(11:01):
learning and growth anddeveloping talent.
And whether you're developingthe talent with my business or
the business I'm working with,or you then grow enough that you
go and move somebody somewhereelse as a coaching leader, I
still see both of those assuccess.
The challenges are.
It requires patience, it takestime for results to show.
(11:21):
And if you're in an immediatecrisis, this approach is not the
best fit.
one of the other challenges isnot everybody wants to learn and
grow all the time.
Some people will say to me likeKate, I'm tired.
I just want to know the answer.
I don't want to be coachedthrough it.
So knowing when to use it andhow to use it is quite key for
this.
So they're the six styles.
(11:43):
I'll run you through them againas a bit of a refresher.
So there was coercive orcommanding style.
I refer to it as commanding.
There's the Visionary Leader.
There's the affiliative leader.
There's the Democratic Leader,Pacesetting and Coaching.
Now, which is the best one.
Everyone always wants theanswer.
I can tell you there's no onebest answer.
(12:04):
What this is a differentleadership styles that you can
pick and choose what is going tobe most effective.
So now is the time to jump ontothe website, ZenithJourney.Com
or ZenithJourney.Com.
along the top, you'll find a barthat says, take the leadership
styles quiz.
it will take you about fiveminutes and then you'll receive
a personalized email with yourLeadership Style and a few tips
(12:26):
on how you can make the most ofyour style and also how you can
use some of the other styles tobecome a more balanced leader.
I hope you found today's episodevaluable and make sure you hit
subscribe or the plus button soyou get new episodes as soon as
they drop And you can also sharethis episode with a friend or a
colleague that would also findthis concept of Leadership
Styles interesting andbeneficial to their leadership
(12:48):
journey.
Thanks for taking the time todayto learn about your leadership
style and level up yourleadership.
Most people work along their technical career
(00:02):
till they get to a point wherethey're really good at what they
do technically and then they getgiven a group of people to
manage.
Now leading people is acompletely different skillset to
what you technically do.
So if you were an engineer andyou're a really good engineer
often, then you get the job ofleading the engineers.
But that doesn't make you a goodleader.
Leadership is a skill that youneed to learn and train.
(00:24):
Leaders are not born.
They are made.
(00:59):
Today's episode is talking aboutwhat I believe is the most
important first step inleadership.
And that is knowing yourleadership style, whether you're
an aspiring leader, a newleader, someone who's been at it
for a while or an absoluteseasoned pro, you need to know
what your natural leadershipstyle is.
So why is this important?
(01:22):
Your leadership style ishappening, whether you know
about it or not.
If you think about gravity, youdo not need to know what gravity
is to know that if you drop apen, it will hit the ground.
It's the same with yourleadership style, whether you
know what your leadership styleis or not, it is happening.
You have a natural style thatyou are doing in your
leadership, whether you knowabout it or not.
(01:43):
So best to know what it is.
There are so many different waysthat you can understand the
leadership style and allprofiles and leadership tools
are great.
As long as they help you tounderstand about yourself.
And see where your pros are orwhere your strengths are and
perhaps where some of the blindspots are.
In today's podcast episode, I'mtalking about Goleman's six
(02:04):
leadership styles.
The reason I'm talking aboutthis particular one is it's one
that is easily accessible.
And it's one that I have a freequiz on the website.
So you don't need to fork out500 a thousand,$2,000 to do a
leadership profile.
You can find this free quiz on aZenith Journey dot com and along
the top banner, there is takethe leadership quiz.
(02:24):
You can also find it in theresources section under
leadership quiz.
Now this is five, 10 minutes itwill take you, so it's not going
to tell you your future or yourpast, but it's going to give you
a great insight On what yourpreferences are as a leader.
And if you haven't listened toone of my episodes called the
Leadership Ladder, which you cansearch in your podcast platform
Level at Leadership, TheLeadership Ladder.
(02:46):
And it explains that most peoplework along their technical
career till they get to a pointwhere they're really good at
what they do technically andthen they get given a group of
people to manage.
Now leading people is acompletely different skillset to
what you technically do.
So if you were an engineer andyou're a really good engineer
often, then you get the job ofleading the engineers.
(03:07):
But that doesn't make you a goodleader.
Leadership is a skill that youneed to learn and train.
Leaders are not born.
They are made.
Yes.
Some people have some naturaltraits that make it easier for
them, but it's something thatyou can learn.
Now.
Yes, you can learn leadershipand yes, you already have a
leadership style that ishappening, whether you know
about it or not.
So let's learn a little bitabout these six leadership
(03:29):
styles and see which of these,you might be able to see
yourself in, what some of thesestrengths are, and perhaps what
are some blind spots for yourleadership?
And by the end of the podcastepisode, I'd love it.
If you can take one thing andapply it into your day to day
leadership, And this is whetheryou have a leadership title or
not we all have a leadershipstyle.
So why is it so important toknow this leadership style?
(03:52):
And that's because your approachdirectly impacts your team's
performance, morale, success.
and when you're aware of yourstyle, You can flex into this
style or other stars and adaptas you need.
There's a saying if the onlytool you have is a hammer.
Every problem looks like a nailand it's the same for your
leadership style.
If you are a Visionary personand you're always looking at the
(04:14):
big picture and the future.
You think that is a solution forevery leadership situation,
where sometimes people need moredetail, they need more
management rather than"here'sthe goal, I'll see you at the
end".
So if you know your leadershippreference, you can also
understand the other LeadershipStyles And which ones you might
need to grab, like putting on adifferent hat or different tools
(04:34):
in the tool belt, depending onthe situation.
Let's get into the styles andsee if you can see it yourself
in one or two of these.
the first leadership style isknown as Commanding or Coercive
Leadership.
I'm going to refer to it asCommanding.
This particular style is aleader that is"do what I say".
This is a great crisis modeleadership, and often seen what
(04:55):
a company or team is in troubleand rapid decisions are
necessary.
One of the downsides of this isit can demoralize teams because
it can limit creativity andinput from others.
So people don't often feelempowered or trusted because the
leader makes all decisions.
They believe they have theanswer and they tell people what
to do.
a non-work example, if I'm doingsurf lifesaving, and we're onto
(05:17):
a rescue.
You want someone to take controlof the situation and tell people
what to do.
It can be really great in thesecrisis situations.
If you were using this styleevery day in your work
situation, the challenges arepeople don't think for
themselves.
They rely on you to tell themwhat to do.
And the challenge is peopledon't feel empowered or trusted.
(05:37):
So an example is a CEO steppinginto a failing company.
might immediately cut cost,layoff employees, centralise
decisions.
It's a really great short termto get everyone on the same
page, but long-term, it cancreate negative fear-driven
culture.
If it's overused.
If this is one of your go-to's.
My suggestion would be to thinkabout when to use this and when
(06:00):
to reach for a differentleadership style.
So, this is one of the stylesthat isn't great long-term just
for short term.
The second style is thevisionary leader.
This latest sounds like"comewith me".
They're very good at providing aclear direction and rallying
people around a long-term goal.
They're particularly motivatingand inspiring.
(06:20):
Especially when a team needs anew direction or a big picture
to work towards, often allowfreedom and long as the vision
is achieved.
The challenge with this style isopen the, don't give the details
of how to get there.
Sometimes they can work veryquickly.
They're so far into the future.
They forget to bring people withthem.
very popular example is Stevejobs.
When he returned to apple in thenineties, he had this bold
vision of simplifying productsAnd transforming user experience
(06:44):
this clear direction inspiredthe team to innovate and push
boundaries.
Now.
If they didn't have peoplewithin the company that could
make the plan of how to makethis happen, then it just
becomes a pie-in-the-sky dream.
So these particular style of aclear vision.
And the visionary leader isexcellent for setting direction.
And if this is something thatyou leaned on quite a bit.
(07:05):
One tip could be making surethat your team.
Knows what the plan is to getthere.
The third style is AffiliativeLeadership.
Now, this leader is all aboutharmony, their mantra is people
come first.
They really focus on buildingstrong emotional bonds within
the team.
One of the challenges with thisstyle is too much focus on
harmony can lead to a lack ofperformance or accountability.
(07:26):
And if leaders avoid difficultconversations and they don't set
clear goals, results can slipbecause they're focusing so much
on the people.
an example where this is great.
You might be a manager, acreative agency might use this
affiliative star to encouragecollaboration, creative freedom,
making sure people in the teamfeel safe to express their ideas
without fear of judgment.
(07:47):
If you're an Affiliative Leader,you'll probably have a wonderful
harmony in your team and greatfocus on people.
My tip for you would be to thinkabout the task side of your
leadership.
And what needs to be done tomake sure that the job is still
getting done while you have agreat people, first culture.
The fourth style is DemocraticLeadership.
Now this approach is what do youthink they're actively seeking
(08:09):
input for the team, fosteringcollaboration and ownership.
This style is great for gettingbuy-in and commitment from team
members.
It's also great for tapping intopeople's collective knowledge,
making people feel heard andvalued, but the downside is if
you were getting everybody'sopinion before making a
decision, it can slowdecision-making.
So anytime you need something tohappen quickly.
(08:32):
This can slow you down.
And now the challenge with thisis, are you looking for
everyone's opinion and you'rejust going to choose the most
popular one, or you gettingpeople's opinions and then you
make the decision as a leader,be really clear if you are
looking for your team to have aVoice or a Vote.
Uh, Voice means you want theiropinion.
(08:53):
A Vote means their opinion is anequal vote to everybody else's
and to yours.
And as a leader, you have tomake the tough decisions.
You can't just make the populardecisions.
All right.
The fifth style is PacesettingLeader.
These leaders are so quick,their motto is"do as I do, now"
they lead by example, they takeon tasks themselves and they set
(09:15):
the bar high.
One of my first managers was aPacesetting leader.
And one of the challenges waspeople found her hard to work
with because she worked so fast.
I personally loved it.
And I learned so much because Ifound it a challenge.
That's not always the case.
One of the challenges with it isit can also burn people out if
(09:35):
you are working so fast, sooften, people feel like they can
never keep up.
One of the great things aboutthis style is.
It's great.
When the team is highly skilledand self-motivated, it drives
excellence and faster results.
A lot of people that start theirown business Have a Pacesetting
style because you need to beworking long hours, setting high
expectations for the team.
(09:56):
You start doing everythingyourself before you pass off to
other people.
it can create a culture ofexcellence and burnout that can
become a real risk if everyonefeels I can't match the latest
pace, which is often.
I've had people that arePacesetting leaders and they say
that no one can do it as well asI can do it, or as fast as I can
do it.
(10:17):
And sometimes it is an issuewith how they're going about
delegating or who they've hired.
And sometimes it's just aPacesetting that they have a
Pacesetting style and it mightnot be realistic to consider
that everyone's going to work attheir pace.
So when I'm working withPacesetting leaders, we look at,
okay, what structure andframework can we put in place?
So we are not burning out theteam and we're still getting
(10:40):
results.
And the final style is aCoaching Leadership style.
This is one that I personallymore naturally go to and it's
focused on personal development,helping individuals improve for
the future and their approaches.
Try this.
It's definitely a long-termcapabilities build.
So people that work with me,it's always about longterm
(11:01):
learning and growth anddeveloping talent.
And whether you're developingthe talent with my business or
the business I'm working with,or you then grow enough that you
go and move somebody somewhereelse as a coaching leader, I
still see both of those assuccess.
The challenges are.
It requires patience, it takestime for results to show.
(11:21):
And if you're in an immediatecrisis, this approach is not the
best fit.
one of the other challenges isnot everybody wants to learn and
grow all the time.
Some people will say to me likeKate, I'm tired.
I just want to know the answer.
I don't want to be coachedthrough it.
So knowing when to use it andhow to use it is quite key for
this.
So they're the six styles.
(11:43):
I'll run you through them againas a bit of a refresher.
So there was coercive orcommanding style.
I refer to it as commanding.
There's the Visionary Leader.
There's the affiliative leader.
There's the Democratic Leader,Pacesetting and Coaching.
Now, which is the best one.
Everyone always wants theanswer.
I can tell you there's no onebest answer.
(12:04):
What this is a differentleadership styles that you can
pick and choose what is going tobe most effective.
So now is the time to jump ontothe website, ZenithJourney.Com
or ZenithJourney.Com.
along the top, you'll find a barthat says, take the leadership
styles quiz.
it will take you about fiveminutes and then you'll receive
a personalized email with yourLeadership Style and a few tips
(12:26):
on how you can make the most ofyour style and also how you can
use some of the other styles tobecome a more balanced leader.
I hope you found today's episodevaluable and make sure you hit
subscribe or the plus button soyou get new episodes as soon as
they drop And you can also sharethis episode with a friend or a
colleague that would also findthis concept of Leadership
Styles interesting andbeneficial to their leadership
(12:48):
journey.
Thanks for taking the time todayto learn about your leadership
style and level up yourleadership.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com