I mentioned yesterday that a good portion of individuals who either are in leadership roles, or who want to be, don’t pay attention to the type of leadership style they want to portray. I’m not sure many know that there are leadership models to adopt and follow, that lead to leadership effectiveness, which include:
- Trait Approach –
- Skills Approach – this relates to
- Style Approach
- Situational Approach
- Contingency Approach
- Path-Goal Theory
- Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX)
- Transactional Leadership
- Transformational Leadership
- Authentic Leadership
- Servant Leadership
While these are models to pattern after, there still is work to be done on deciding the type of leader you want to be; authentic leaders are genuine, original, work from their values, and lead with conviction, while situational leaders change their style, and adapt, to the issues or situations they face (Northouse, 2010).
Here are some suggestions to determine the type of leadership style you want to model after:
- Assess your skills, talents, and experiences to see what you used in a leadership situation and how you used them; you may not realize it, but you use leadership skills daily so write down how you are leading and what is carrying you through
- Look at leaders who inspire you, or who you look up to, and write down what it is you admire; what are their traits and qualities you liked and what attracted you to them in this role so you can see how you relate, or can work to be like
- Assess your current role and how you’ve acted – are you clear in your communication, do you listen well, are you open to others, or closed off, are you confident in your abilities, how do you deal with conflict and work to resolve it, and the like; knowing these can help you to see your strengths and weaknesses in these areas of which you can either build on or work to improve
- Identify your personality style: are you directive, strategic, analytical, creative or a people- person; again, knowing these will give you an idea of how you think and plan goals and for how they get done. Working off of your highest strengths makes you more effective
- Identify how you are perceived by others, as our self-opinions are not always correct; do your own 360 feedback and ask others how they view you and your effectiveness when leading either situations or others. You might be surprised at the results (pleasantly) to which you will know what to keep doing and what to not do and then can work on turning those around
Once you make your list, then you can list them and see which ones stand out as your best traits and characteristics that equate to a good leader, and then see which you need to strengthen. You now can stand in your leader ‘shoes’ but have some basis to back your actions up. Now, you will become the leader you desire to be who is in full awareness and confident in their abilities.
If you’d like to learn more about leadershipand how to get the most out of yourself, and your people, we’re here to serve. We have our Fableader program where we will:
- Look at your goals, challenges you are facing, and opportunities you might be missing.
- Uncover any hidden problems that may be sabotaging your desired results
- Create an action plan and implement it together so that you finally get the results you have been looking for but were unable to find.
- Address challenges that come up along the way, leaving you feeling renewed, re-energized, and inspired to take action and get faster results
If you’re ready to get started, contact us today to schedule your Fableader Breakthrough Strategy Session. barbara@cyscoaching.com Visit our website at http://cyscoaching.com and our blog at https://allaboutcareerssite.com.
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