Transformational

Often considered the gold standard of leadership styles, transformational leadership focuses on inspiring your team members and providing them with the coaching they need to excel without a lot of supervision or micromanaging. These are particularly good qualities of a leader in any field that relies on innovation.

Transactional

Transactional leaders are all about incentives and disincentives. If your people perform well, you reward them (with bonuses, better offices, awards, etc.). If they perform poorly, you punish them (with the withholding of bonuses, demotions, privilege revocations, etc.). While many leaders, especially in the sales world, are transactional, this leadership style tends to be ineffective in less competitive settings.

Autocratic

Autocratic leaders make all the decisions and expect obedience. They tend to be micromanagers and don’t like to be questioned. Under this leadership style, team members’ creative solutions to problems may be overlooked and team morale can be impaired. These managers tend to have poor leadership skills.

Democratic

Leaders who are democratic prefer to lead by consensus. They often listen carefully to the ideas of team members and use that input when making decisions. If you have a talented team, a democratic leadership style can help ensure you don’t miss the best ideas.

Laissez-Faire

Best described as “hands-off,” the laissez-faire leadership style lets team members more or less do as they please. It’s a style that can lead to a lot of problems unless you have a unique kind of team capable of staying motivated and making good decisions with little oversight or coaching.

Charismatic

Leaders who adopt a charismatic leadership style rely on the force of their personality to motivate their team. Charismatic leaders are charming, and people often want to work for them and impress them. If you have natural charisma, this style can be useful. But it can also leave teams under-coached and incapable of performing well without your presence.

Situational

Leaders who are situational change up their style to fit current needs. Only professionals with excellent leadership skills can successfully change styles without creating complications, but situational leadership can be a good way to lead, especially if you’re overseeing a large team or a wide variety of projects in multiple locations.