Business Management & Leadership

What are the main causes of teen stress in our society nowadays? Why has becoming a teenager become so stressful?

The causes of teen stress? There are many causes but there is one main underlying cause that I see at the moment.

Society is more stressed. There is more pressure to succeed, to be a 'good' child, teenager, human.

And this is reflected back on our children.

They feel the pressure. Of course they do. They are even more sensitive than we are!

When society is stressed this rubs off on our kids.

When we bring our problems home every day, they feel them. They don't necessarily understand what is going on, but they feel there is something wrong.

When we have huge expectations put on us as adults, some of these expectations fall onto our children.

And a lot of adults are really tough on themselves and they are therefore overly tough on their children.

The Causes of Teen Stress

The following is a list of the main causes of teen stress that I feel are big in society today:

1. Society is more stressed out

As mentioned above, due to the fact that society is more stressed out, so our teenagers become more stressed out as well.

They feel the pressure to succeed just as we do.

Teenagers have to decide earlier and earlier what career path they have to take.

Exam results become even more important.

And parents' expectations on top of all this can lead to a lot of stress.

2. Peer Pressure

I remember from my time as a teenager that there was a huge pressure to conform.

You had to wear the right clothes, do the right sports, be with the right people.

And if you weren't... We all know what happens to 'those' people because most of us were in that category at one point or another.

If we are really honest with ourselves most of us didn't really 'fit' in. Even the 'cool' people didn't feel like they were fitting in because they were conforming as well.

The amazing illusion of modern society is that we all have to be popular, liked, or cool but most of the population is not like that.

It's advertising's way of making us feel we should buy the latest product or do the latest 'thing'.

Modern media and advertising have a lot to answer for by the way it makes us feel.

I lived with a man who studied media psychology. He said that he gave up the course when he realized that companies were actually targeting adverts at babies and young children.

So the 'us and them' syndrome is hammered into us from a very young age.

And as a teenager when we feel 'apart' from the 'in' crowd, it hurts. It creates stress. We all want to be liked and be happy. That is a basic human desire.

So as a cause of teen stress, peer pressure and the need to conform ranks up there highly.

3. Puberty

Puberty is another one of the big causes of teen stress. The body, mind and emotions change. Sometimes overnight.

And in a lot of cases we have no idea as teenagers how to cope with them.

I remember hitting puberty and nearly exploding emotionally. I fell in love with older girls who were flirting with me, and I could hardly think!

I hurt like I'd never hurt before in my life and I had no idea what was going on! No one pointed this out to me!

I remember the Saturday nights sitting crying outside the school disco after being rejected by another girl. Screaming and crying, 'What the hell is wrong with me! I hate this!'

And no one had warned me about this. Okay, the body will change, I got that bit, but the emotions and the mind... I was not ready and not prepared for that.

So puberty is a huge shock for teenagers and is a huge cause of teen stress.

These are some of the main causes of teen stress in society at the moment.

Being stressed in not something that is limited to just adults. Our children are also affected by stress.

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How to Coach for Creativity in Workplace ?

There was a CEO of a large company who had an interesting object on his desk. Over the course of many years the object had been the topic of numerous conversations by most employees and visitors who found themselves in his office.

When I heard the story about the CEO and the strange object, I knew it had to be the topic of an article, because of how moved I was by the message.

The object on his desk was a hand-carved automobile made from wood that was similar to what you might see at a Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. The car was about eight inches long and although quite detailed in design, obviously wasn't professionally made. Someone had constructed this car for a specific purpose. The unique part of the car was that its wheels were not round, but rather square! That's why it became the object of conversations: people were awestruck by the design and construction.

When asked about the unusual wheels, the CEO would say that the answer required an explanation. He said he actually looked forward to giving the explanation, because it gave him an opportunity to promote a message he believed was critical to being successful in today's business world.

The CEO explained that one of the deadliest problems an organization can have is what he called "traditional", "conventional", or "habitual" thinking. The symptoms, he said, were when people in an organization applied a traditional way of thinking to solve problems, or even answer questions. He explained that individuals and teams cannot achieve more than they have in the past if they only apply the paradigm that got them where they are in the first place. "In order to move to the next level it's necessary", he said, "to apply a different set of rules and a different method of thinking." Then he gave an example of what he meant. In a team meeting, for example, when a "crazy" or "off the wall" idea is made its common for other team members to put down, dismiss, or even ridicule the suggestion. This is because they are using the traditional set of rules and thinking they have always used. And if this thinking process is allowed to continue, the net solution will likely be limited and possibly even ineffective.

By contrast, what is needed, the CEO explained, is divergent and sometimes "off the wall" thinking. He believed that even "crazy" ideas can sometimes lead to the best solutions. So, if a manager or team leader over-controls or puts down seemingly "off-the-wall" ideas, it not only stifles the coaching and communication process, but it also can limit the value of potential solutions.

The CEO had a favorite story he used to illustrate his point. It seems a manufacturing company had suffered high turnover for several years. The Director of Human Resources had calculated the cost of the unusually high turnover and presented it at a senior staff meeting. Although everyone in the meeting was aware of the problem, when confronted with the real cost of turnover, they immediately became concerned. One member of the senior staff asked, "So what can we do? These people don't like our working conditions so they quit after a month or two. We can't change the fact that we do repetitive assembly work. So we are stuck, unless we find a legal way to chain new employees to their table."

Everyone got a good laugh from the comment. But it followed by an "off the wall" add-on by another person who said, "If new employees are walking off the job, then we need to hire people who can't walk." There was silence in the room for a full minute while the senior staff members considered if that last comment was relevant, or spoke of discrimination.

The silence was broken by still another executive who said, "If the people we currently hire end up not liking our working conditions and walk away, then maybe we ought to consider hiring people who are physically challenged in some way."

There was one member of the senior staff who often tried to use his sense of humor to reduce tension in difficult situations. He must have felt the tension was too high because at this point he said, "Hiring people with physical challenges to work on our assembly line would be like trying to sell cars with square wheels."

Once again there was silence in the room, which was followed by the Director of Human Resources who ignoring the previous comment said, "Right now we don't have any active system in place to seek out physically challenged people. What do you think? Should we give it a try?"

The president of the manufacturing firm, who had remained quiet for this discussion, then spoke up. "I'm alarmed at these reoccurring costs of recruiting, replacing and training new employees. There is no doubt in my mind that these costs are a serious impact to our bottom line. If changing our hiring practices will help even in a small way, I'm in favor of it."

With that comment, the HR director got a mandate to modify her methods of seeking applicants for the assembly line. Over the course of a year by making reasonable accommodation for physically challenged people, the HR director successfully hired and trained a number of employees.

Once again, a little less than two years later, the Director of Human Resources made a presentation at a senior staff meeting concerning employee turnover costs in the plant. This presentation, however, generated a much different response from the senior staff members. Her report first centered on how her department had actively recruited potential employees who were physically challenged. Then, she shocked everyone with the results of her efforts: employee turnover had been reduced from 40 percent per year to less than 5 percent in less than two years!

This is merely one of many examples the CEO used to help his visitors understand the importance of not restraining thinking during brainstorming. If the president of the manufacturing company had over-controlled his subordinates, or had criticized "crazy" ideas, then the discussion that led to a great solution would probably have never happened. That's why the CEO had someone make an automobile with square wheels as a reminder to him and all his visitors that it is critical to create an organizational culture that not only listens to, but also rewards the volunteering of seemingly "crazy" ideas.

Leaders must understand that one of their most important responsibilities is to create an organizational climate wherein followers feel empowered to speak up and "dream the impossible dream." Without that type of coaching and leadership, problems can only be solved with traditional or conventional beliefs. Issues can only be addressed with old or even worn out thinking.

That's why the CEO treasured the hand-carved automobile with the square wheels on his desk. It was his reminder that coaching for creativity is an art that can drive profit and empowerment.

About the Author:
Richard L. Williams is a business consultant specializing in performance coaching, quality improvement, team development, and leadership development. To learn more about coaching for creativity and how it can help your organization, please contact Dr. Williams and the CMOE team toll free at (888)262-2499.

Article Source: businessperform.com

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Saturday, July 17, 2010

اهم عشر أمور للقادة والمدربين

من الممارسة الفعلية للقيادة والتدريب، وعصارة الكتب وضع لنا (كيث روزين) قائمة: اكثر 10 امور أهمية في ممارسة القيادة، ولاهمية هذه القائمة رايت حتمية تعريبها وتقديمها لك. لثقتي انها يمكن أن تساعد الكثيرين منا في معرفة الخطوة الاهم التي يحتاج كل منا للنمو فيها.

1. هل ادفع الناس للقيام بالاعمال بالطريقة التي افضلها انا، أم أشجعهم للقيام بها بطريقتهم ؟

2. هل أعزز السلوك الجيد من خلال الاشادة والتشجيع علنا، وأصحح السلوك السيئ واقدم النقد بصورة فردية؟

3. هل أطرح الأسئلة الجيدة التي تقود الموظفين لاستخلاص الاستنتاجات والقرارات الصحيحة بانفسهم، أم اخبرهم أنا بكيف العمل وحلول مشاكلهم؟

4. هل لدينا دورات تدريب منتظمة تشجع العاملين على تحسين أدائهم، أم نقدم الدورات التدريبية بطريقة مرتجلة عند وجود مشكلة أو مسألة تحتاج إلى معالجة؟

5. هل مازلت أسير في حلقة مفرغة من التركيز دائما على نفس المهارات المطلوبة، أم أقوم بالبناء على النجاحات السابقة وانتقل إلى مهارات أخرى؟

6. هل أحدد أهداف واضحة، واقعية، يمكن قياسها بالطريقة التي تجعل العاملين يستطيعوا قياس ادائهم بأنفسهم في المهام المطلوبة منهم؟

7. هل يريد ويثق العاملين في قيادتي، أم أنهم يخشون الاجتماعات معي؟

8. هل اخصص وقت لمقابلة كل عضو بفريقي على حدة، ام اخصص وقت للقاء الحالات الحرجة فقط؟

9. هل يمكنني اتباع طريق مختلف مع كل شخص حسب شخصيته واحتياجاته؟

10. هل ارد بقسوة على الكلمات والمواقف السلبية، أم استطيع الرد بالطريقة التي تشجع اللاستماع والتجاوب؟

نقطة تطبيق:
لتحقيق اقصى استفادة يمكنك أن تحدد الان اكبر نقطة قوة، واكبر نقطة ضعف لديك في ال10 امور الاكثر أهمية. ثم تحدد الحد الادنى الذي تحتاج ان تقوم به، وكيف ستقوم به.

تعريب / بيتر عوض - بتصرف. عن المصدر الاصلي:
“ Is My Team Uncoachable? ” by Keith Rosen, Small Business Solutions
المصدر العربي / ادوات النجاح - بيتر عوض

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Friday, July 16, 2010

Mission Statements & Vision Statements

Unleashing the power of purpose

Vision Statements and Mission Statements are the inspiring words chosen by successful leaders to clearly and concisely convey the direction of the organization. By crafting a clear mission statement and vision statement, you can powerfully communicate your intentions and motivate your team or organization to realize an attractive and inspiring common vision of the future.

“Mission Statements” and “Vision Statements” do two distinctly different jobs.

A Mission Statement defines the organization's purpose and primary objectives. Its prime function is internal – to define the key measure or measures of the organization’s success – and its prime audience is the leadership team and stockholders.

Vision Statements also define the organizations purpose, but this time they do so in terms of the organization’s values rather than bottom line measures (values are guiding beliefs about how things should be done.) The vision statement communicates both the purpose and values of the organization. For employees, it gives direction about how they are expected to behave and inspires them to give their best. Shared with customers, it shapes customers’ understanding of why they should work with the organization.

Tip:
Mission Statements and Vision Statements usually refer to an organization or an organizational unit. Team Charters can have a similar role when briefing teams.

First we look at creating mission statements. Then we create vision statements.

Mission Statement Creation

To create your mission statement, first identify your organization’s “winning idea”.

This is the idea or approach that will make your organization stand out from its competitors, and is the reason that customers will come to you and not your competitors (see tip below).
Next identify the key measures of your success. Make sure you choose the most important measures (and not too many of them!)
Combine your winning idea and success measures into a tangible and measurable goal.
Refine the words until you have a concise and precise statement of your mission, which expresses your ideas, measures and desired result.

Tip:
OK, so we’re a bit glib here talking about the “winning idea” – this is a prime subject of the discipline of business strategy, and it can take a lot of effort to find, shape and test. See our articles on USP Analysis, SWOT Analysis and Core Competence Analysis for starting points, and make sure you do the homework needed!

Example:
Take the example of a produce store whose winning idea is “farm freshness”. The owner identifies two keys measures of her success: freshness and customer satisfaction. She creates her mission statement – which is the action goal that combines the winning idea and measures of success.

The mission statement of Farm Fresh Produce is:

“To become the number one produce store in Main Street by selling the highest quality, freshest farm produce, from farm to customer in under 24 hours on 75% of our range and with 98% customer satisfaction.”

Vision Statement Creation

Once you’ve created your mission statement, move on to create your vision statement:

First identify your organization’s mission. Then uncover the real, human value in that mission.
Next, identify what you, your customers and other stakeholders will value most about how your organization will achieve this mission. Distil these into the values that your organization has or should have.
Combine your mission and values, and polish the words until you have a vision statement inspiring enough to energize and motivate people inside and outside your organization.

Using the example mission statement developed for Farm Fresh Produce, the owner examines what she, her customers and her employees value about her mission.

The four most important things she identifies are: freshness, healthiness, tastiness and “local-ness” of the produce. Here’s the Vision Statement she creates and shares with employees, customers and farmers alike:

“We help the families of Main Town live happier and healthier lives by providing the freshest, tastiest and most nutritious local produce: From local farms to your table in under 24 hours.”

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Emotional Intelligence - Developing Strong People Skills

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We probably all know people, either at work or in our personal lives, who are really good listeners. No matter what kind of situation we're in, they always seem to know just what to say - and how to say it - so that we're not offended or upset. They're caring and considerate, and even if we don't find a solution to our problem, we usually leave feeling more hopeful and optimistic.

We probably also know people who are masters at managing their emotions. They don't get angry in stressful situations. Instead, they have the ability to look at a problem and calmly find a solution. They're excellent decision makers, and they know when to trust their intuition. Regardless of their strengths, however, they're usually willing to look at themselves honestly. They take criticism well, and they know when to use it to improve their performance.

People like this have a high degree of emotional intelligence, or EI. They know themselves very well, and they're also able to sense the emotional needs of others.

Would you like to be more like this?

As more and more people accept that emotional intelligence is just as important to professional success as technical ability, organizations are increasingly using EI when they hire and promote.

For example, one large cosmetics company recently revised their hiring process for salespeople to choose candidates based on emotional intelligence. The result? Salespeople hired with the new system have sold, on average, $91,000 more than salespeople selected under the old system. There has also been significantly lower staff turnover among the group chosen for their emotional intelligence.

So, what exactly is emotional intelligence, and what can you do to improve yours?

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

We all have different personalities, different wants and needs, and different ways of showing our emotions. Navigating through this all takes tact and cleverness - especially if we hope to succeed in life. This is where emotional intelligence becomes important.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize your emotions, understand what they're telling you, and realize how your emotions affect people around you. Emotional intelligence also involves your perception of others: when you understand how they feel, this allows you to manage relationships more effectively.

People with high emotional intelligence are usually successful in most things they do. Why? Because they're the ones that others want on their team. When people with high EI send an email, it gets answered. When they need help, they get it. Because they make others feel good, they go through life much more easily than people who are easily angered or upset.

Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist, developed a framework of five elements that define emotional intelligence:

Self-Awareness: People with high emotional intelligence are usually very self-aware. They understand their emotions, and because of this, they don't let their feelings rule them. They're confident – because they trust their intuition and don't let their emotions get out of control.

They're also willing to take an honest look at themselves. They know their strengths and weaknesses, and they work on these areas so they can perform better. Many people believe that this self-awareness is the most important part of emotional intelligence.
Self-Regulation: This is the ability to control emotions and impulses. People who self-regulate typically don't allow themselves to become too angry or jealous, and they don't make impulsive, careless decisions. They think before they act. Characteristics of self-regulation are thoughtfulness, comfort with change, integrity, and the ability to say no.
Motivation: People with a high degree of emotional intelligence are usually motivated. They're willing to defer immediate results for long-term success. They're highly productive, love a challenge, and are very effective in whatever they do.
Empathy: This is perhaps the second-most important element of emotional intelligence. Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand the wants, needs, and viewpoints of those around you. People with empathy are good at recognizing the feelings of others, even when those feelings may not be obvious. As a result, empathetic people are usually excellent at managing relationships, listening, and relating to others. They avoid stereotyping and judging too quickly, and they live their lives in a very open, honest way.
Social Skills: It's usually easy to talk to and like people with good social skills, another sign of high emotional intelligence. Those with strong social skills are typically team players. Rather than focus on their own success first, they help others develop and shine. They can manage disputes, are excellent communicators, and are masters at building and maintaining relationships.

As you've probably determined, emotional intelligence can be a key to success in your life – especially in your career. The ability to manage people and relationships is very important in all leaders, so developing and using youremotional intelligence can be a good way to show others the leader inside of you.

How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

The good news is that emotional intelligence CAN be taught and developed. Many books and tests are available to help you determine your current EI, and identify where you may need to do some work. You can also use these tips:

Observe how you react to people. Do you rush to judgment before you know all of the facts? Do you stereotype? Look honestly at how you think and interact with other people. Try to put yourself in their place, and be more open and accepting of their perspectives and needs.
Look at your work environment. Do you seek attention for your accomplishments? Humility can be a wonderful quality, and it doesn't mean that you're shy or lack self-confidence. When you practice humility, you say that you know what you did, and you can be quietly confident about it. Give others a chance to shine - put the focus on them, and don't worry too much about getting praise for yourself.
Do a self-evaluation. What are your weaknesses? Are you willing to accept that you're not perfect and that you could work on some areas to make yourself a better person? Have the courage to look at yourself honestly - it can change your life.
Examine how you react to stressful situations. Do you become upset every time there's a delay or something doesn't happen the way you want? Do you blame others or become angry at them, even when it's not their fault? The ability to stay calm and in control in difficult situations is highly valued - in the business world and outside it. Keep your emotions under control when things go wrong.
Take responsibility for your actions. If you hurt someone's feelings, apologize directly – don't ignore what you did or avoid the person. People are usually more willing to forgive and forget if you make an honest attempt to make things right.
Examine how your actions will affect others – before you take those actions. If your decision will impact others, put yourself in their place. How will they feel if you do this? Would you want that experience? If you must take the action, how can you help others deal with the effects?

Key Points

Although "regular" intelligence is important to success in life, emotional intelligence is key to relating well to others and achieving your goals. Many people believe that emotional intelligence is at least as important as regular intelligence, and many companies now use EI testing to hire new staff.

Emotional intelligence is an awareness of your actions and feelings – and how they affect those around you. It also means that you value others, listen to their wants and needs, and are able to empathize or identify with them on many different levels.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Using Different Leadership styles in Different Situations

Using the right one for your situation

From Mahatma Gandhi to Winston Churchill to Martin Luther King to Rudolph Giuliani, there are as many leadership styles as there are leaders. Fortunately, businesspeople and psychologists have developed useful and simple ways to describe the main styles of leadership, and these can help aspiring leaders understand which styles they should use.

So, whether you manage a team at work, captain a sports team, or lead a major corporation, which approach is best? Consciously, or subconsciously, you'll probably use some of the leadership styles in this article at some point. Understanding these styles and their impact can help you develop your own, personal leadership style – and help you become a more effective leader.
With this in mind, there are many different frameworks that have shaped our current understanding of leadership, and many of these have their place, just as long as they're used appropriately. This article looks at some of the most common frameworks, and then looks at popular styles of leadership.

Leadership Theories

Researchers have developed a number of leadership theories over the years. These can be categorized into four main types:
1. Trait theories – What type of person makes a good leader?
Trait theories argue that leaders share a number of common personality traits and characteristics, and that leadership emerges from these traits. Early trait theories promoted the idea that leadership is an innate, instinctive quality that you either have or don't have. Thankfully, we've moved on from this approach, and we're learning more about what we can do as individuals to develop leadership qualities within ourselves and others.
What's more, traits are external behaviors that emerge from things going on within the leader's mind – and it's these internal beliefs and processes that are important for effective leadership.
Trait theory does, however, help us identify some qualities that are helpful when leading others and, together, these emerge as a generalized leadership style. Examples include empathy, assertiveness, good decision-making, and likability. In our article Building Tomorrow's Leaders, we discuss a series of attributes that are important for all types of leaders to develop. However, none of these traits, nor any combination of them, will guarantee success as a leader. You need more than that.
2. Behavioral theories – What does a good leader do?
Behavioral theories focus on how leaders behave. Do they dictate what needs to be done and expect cooperation? Or do they involve the team in decisions to encourage acceptance and support?
In the 1930s, Kurt Lewin developed a leadership framework based on a leader's decision-making behavior. Lewin argued that there are three types of leaders:

Autocratic leaders make decisions without consulting their teams. This is considered appropriate when decisions genuinely need to be taken quickly, when there's no need for input, and when team agreement isn't necessary for a successful outcome.
Democratic leaders allow the team to provide input before making a decision, although the degree of input can vary from leader to leader. This type of style is important when team agreement matters, but it can be quite difficult to manage when there are lots of different perspectives and ideas.
Laissez-faire leaders don't interfere; they allow the team to make many of the decisions. Typically this happens when the team is highly capable and motivated, and it doesn't need close monitoring or supervision.

Similar to Lewin's model, the Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid helps you decide how best to lead, depending on your concern for people versus your concern for production. The model describes five different leadership styles: impoverished, country club, team leader, produce or perish, or middle of the road. The descriptions of these will help you understand your own leadership habits and adapt them to meet your team's needs.
John Adair's Action-Centered Leadership model is another framework that's consistent with behavioral theories of leadership. Using this model, the "best" leadership style is determined by balancing task, team, and individual responsibilities. Leaders who spend time managing each of these elements will likely be more successful than those who focus mostly on only one element.
Clearly, then, how leaders behave impacts on their effectiveness. Researchers have realized, though, that many of these leadership behaviors are appropriate at different times. So, the best leaders are those who can use many different behavioral styles and use the right style for each situation.
3. Contingency theories – How does the situation influence good leadership?
The realization that there isn't one correct type of leader led to theories that the best leadership style is contingent on, or depends on, the situation. These theories try to predict which leadership style is best in which circumstance.
When a decision is needed fast, which style is preferred? When the leader needs the full support of the team, is there a better way to lead? Should a leader be more people oriented or task oriented? These are all examples of questions that contingency leadership theories try to address.
A popular contingency-based framework is the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, which links leadership style with the maturity of individual members of the leader's team.
4. Power and influence theories – What is the source of the leader's power?
These theories of leadership take an entirely different approach. They're based on the different ways in which leaders use power and influence to get things done, and the leadership styles that emerge as a result. Perhaps the most well known of these theories is French and Raven's Five Forms of Power. This model distinguishes between using your position to exert power, and using your personal attributes to be powerful.
French and Raven identified three types of positional power – legitimate, reward, and coercive – and two sources of personal power – expert and referent (your personal appeal and charm). The model suggests that using personal power is the better alternative and, because Expert Power (the power that comes with being a real expert in the job) is the most legitimate of these, that you should actively work on building this. Similarly, leading by example is another highly effective way to establish and sustain a positive influence with your team.
Another valid leadership style that's supported by power and influence theories is Transactional Leadership. This approach assumes that work is done only because it is rewarded, and for no other reason, and it therefore focuses on designing tasks and reward structures. While it may not be the most appealing leadership strategy in terms of building relationships and developing a long-term motivating work environment, it does work, and it's used in most organizations on a daily basis to get things done.

An Up-to-Date Understanding of Leadership

Within all of these theories, frameworks, and approaches to leadership, there's an underlying message that leaders need to have a variety of factors working in their favor. Effective leadership is not simply based on a set of attributes, behaviors, or influences. You must have a wide range of abilities and approaches that you can draw upon.
Having said this, however, there's one leadership style that is appropriate in very many corporate situations – that of Transformational Leadership. A leader using this style:

Has integrity.
Sets clear goals.
Clearly communicates a vision.
Sets a good example.
Expects the best from the team.
Encourages.
Supports.
Recognizes good work and people.
Provides stimulating work.
Helps people see beyond their self-interests and focus more on team interests and needs.
Inspires.

In short, transformational leaders are exceptionally motivating, and they're trusted. When your team trusts you, and is really "fired up" by the way you lead, you can achieve great things!

The transformational leadership style is the dominant leadership style taught in our How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You program, although we do recommend that other styles are brought in as the situation demands.

Having said that Transformational Leadership suits very many circumstances in business, we need to remember that there may be situations where it's not the best style. This is why it's worth knowing about the other styles shown below so that you have a greater chance of finding the right combination for the situation you find yourself in.

Popular Leadership Styles – A Glossary

The leadership theories and styles discussed so far are based on research. However, many more terms are used to describe approaches to leadership, even if these don't fit within a particular theoretical system. It's worth understanding these!

1. Autocratic leadership
Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where leaders have absolute power over their workers or team. Staff and team members have little opportunity to make suggestions, even if these would be in the team's or the organization's best interest.
Most people tend to resent being treated like this. Therefore, autocratic leadership usually leads to high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover. For some routine and unskilled jobs, the style can remain effective because the advantages of control may outweigh the disadvantages.
2. Bureaucratic leadership
Bureaucratic leaders work "by the book." They follow rules rigorously, and ensure that their staff follows procedures precisely. This is a very appropriate style for work involving serious safety risks (such as working with machinery, with toxic substances, or at dangerous heights) or where large sums of money are involved (such as handling cash).
3. Charismatic leadership
A charismatic leadership style can seem similar to transformational leadership, because these leaders inspire lots of enthusiasm in their teams and are very energetic in driving others forward. However, charismatic leaders can tend to believe more in themselves than in their teams, and this creates a risk that a project, or even an entire organization, might collapse if the leader leaves. In the eyes of the followers, success is directly connected to the presence of the charismatic leader. As such, charismatic leadership carries great responsibility, and it needs a long-term commitment from the leader.
4. Democratic leadership or participative leadership
Although democratic leaders make the final decisions, they invite other members of the team to contribute to the decision-making process. This not only increases job satisfaction by involving team members, but it also helps to develop people's skills. Team members feel in control of their own destiny, so they're motivated to work hard by more than just a financial reward.
Because participation takes time, this approach can take more time, but often the end result is better. The approach can be most suitable when working as a team is essential, and when quality is more important than speed to market or productivity.
5. Laissez-faire leadership
This French phrase means "leave it be," and it's used to describe leaders who leave their team members to work on their own. It can be effective if the leader monitors what's being achieved and communicates this back to the team regularly. Most often, laissez-faire leadership is effective when individual team members are very experienced and skilled self-starters. Unfortunately, this type of leadership can also occur when managers don't apply sufficient control.
6. People-oriented leadership or relations-oriented leadership
This is the opposite of task-oriented leadership. With people-oriented leadership, leaders are totally focused on organizing, supporting, and developing the people in their teams. It's a participative style, and it tends to encourage good teamwork and creative collaboration.
In practice, most leaders use both task-oriented and people-oriented styles of leadership.
7. Servant leadership
This term, created by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, describes a leader who is often not formally recognized as such. When someone, at any level within an organization, leads simply by meeting the needs of the team, he or she is described as a "servant leader."
In many ways, servant leadership is a form of democratic leadership, because the whole team tends to be involved in decision making.
Supporters of the servant leadership model suggest that it's an important way to move ahead in a world where values are increasingly important, and where servant leaders achieve power on the basis of their values and ideals. Others believe that in competitive leadership situations, people who practice servant leadership can find themselves left behind by leaders using other leadership styles.
8. Task-Oriented leadership
Highly task-oriented leaders focus only on getting the job done, and they can be quite autocratic. They actively define the work and the roles required, put structures in place, plan, organize, and monitor. However, because task-oriented leaders don't tend to think much about the well-being of their teams, this approach can suffer many of the flaws of autocratic leadership, with difficulties in motivating and retaining staff.
9. Transactional leadership
This style of leadership starts with the idea that team members agree to obey their leader totally when they accept a job. The "transaction" is usually the organization paying the team members in return for their effort and compliance. The leader has a right to "punish" team members if their work doesn't meet the pre-determined standard.
Team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction under transactional leadership. The leader could give team members some control of their income/reward by using incentives that encourage even higher standards or greater productivity. Alternatively, a transactional leader could practice "management by exception" – rather than rewarding better work, the leader could take corrective action if the required standards are not met.
Transactional leadership is really a type of management, not a true leadership style, because the focus is on short-term tasks. It has serious limitations for knowledge-based or creative work.
10. Transformational leadership
As we discussed earlier, people with this leadership style are true leaders who inspire their teams constantly with a shared vision of the future. While this leader's enthusiasm is often passed onto the team, he or she can need to be supported by "detail people." That's why, in many organizations, both transactional and transformational leadership are needed. The transactional leaders (or managers) ensure that routine work is done reliably, while the transformational leaders look after initiatives that add value.

Key Points

While the transformational leadership approach is often highly effective, there's no one "right" way to lead or manage that fits all situations. To choose the most effective approach for yourself, consider the following:

The skill levels and experience of your team.
The work involved (routine, or new and creative).
The organizational environment (stable or radically changing, conservative or adventurous).
You own preferred or natural style.

Good leaders often switch instinctively between styles, according to the people they lead and the work that needs to be done. Establish trust – that's key to this process – and remember to balance the needs of the organization against the needs of your team.

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Winning Expert Power in Group or Team Management

Leading from the Front

There are many different power bases that a leader can develop and use.

These include problematic ones such as the power of position, the power to give rewards, the power to punish and the power to control information. While these types of power do have some strength, they put the person being led in an unhealthy position of weakness, and can leave leaders using these power bases looking autocratic and out of touch.

More than this, society has changed hugely over the last 50 years. Citizens are individually more powerful, and employees are more able to shift jobs. Few of us enjoy having power exerted over us, and many will do what they can to undermine people who use these sorts of power.

However there are three types of positive power that effective leaders use: charismatic power, expert power and referent power.

This article teaches you how to build expert power.

How to Use the Tool:

Expert power is essential because as a leader, your team looks to you for direction and guidance. Team members need to believe in your ability to lead in a worthwhile direction, give sound guidance, and co-ordinate a good result.

If members of your team see you as a true expert, they will be much more receptive when you try to persuade them to do something, and when you want to inspire them to make more of an effort.

And if they see you as an expert, you'll find it much easier to motivate them:

If team members respect your expertise, they'll trust you to show them how to work effectively.
If team members respect your judgment, they'll trust you to guide their efforts in such a way that you'll make the most of their hard work.
If they can see your expertise, they'll believe that you have the wisdom to direct their efforts towards a goal that is genuinely worthwhile.

Taken together, if your team sees you as an expert, you'll find it much easier to motivate your people to perform at their best.

So how do you build expert power?

Gain expertise: The first step is fairly obvious (if time consuming) – gain expertise. And, if you are already using tools like the information gathering tool, the chances are that you have already progressed well ahead in this direction.

But just being an expert isn't enough, it is also necessary that your people recognize your expertise and see you as a credible source of information and advice. Gary A. Yukl, in his book "Leadership in Organizations," details some steps to build expert power. These are:

Promote an image of expertise: Since perceived expertise in many occupations is associated with a person's education and experience, a leader should (subtly) make sure that subordinates, peers, and superiors are aware of his or her formal education, relevant work experience, and significant accomplishments.

One common way of doing this is to display diplomas, licenses, awards, and other evidence of expertise in a prominent location in your office – after all, if you've worked hard to gain knowledge, it's fair that you get credit for it. Another tactic is to make subtle references to prior education or experience (for example, "When I was chief engineer at GE, we had a problem similar to this one"). Beware, however: this can easily be overdone.
Maintain credibility: Once established, you should carefully protect your image of expertise. Avoid making careless comments about subjects on which you are poorly informed, and avoid being associated with projects with a low likelihood of success.
Act confidently and decisively in a crisis: In a crisis or emergency, subordinates prefer a "take charge" leader who appears to know how to direct the group in coping with the problem. In this kind of situation, your people will associate confident, firm leadership with expert knowledge. Even if you're not sure how to deal with a crisis, you'll lose influence with members of your team if you appear confused.
Keep informed: Expert power is exercised through rational persuasion and demonstration of expertise. Rational persuasion depends on a firm grasp of up-to-date facts. It is therefore essential that you keep well-informed of developments within your team, within your organization, and in the outside world.
Recognize team member concerns: Use of rational persuasion should not be seen as a form of one-way communication from the leader to members of his or her team. Listen carefully to the concerns and uncertainties of your team members, and make sure that you address these.
Avoid threatening the self-esteem of subordinates: Expert power is based on a knowledge differential between the leader and team members. Unfortunately, the very existence of this differential can cause problems if you're not careful about the way in which you exercise expert power.

Team members can dislike unfavorable status comparisons where the gap is very large and obvious. And they are likely to be upset by a leader who acts in a superior way, and arrogantly flaunts his greater expertise.

In the process of arguing for what they want, some leaders lecture their team members in a condescending manner and convey the impression that the other team members are "ignorant." Guard against this.

This is one of the articles in Mind Tools’ “How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You” course. Not only does the course explain how to use the other "good" power bases, it teaches you how to use a range of honest influence tactics and powerful motivational techniques. Click here to find our more about “How to Lead".

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Score	Comment
15 - 34	Ouch. The good news is that you've got a great opportunity to improve the way you motivate others, and your and your team's long term success! However, to do this, you've got to fundamentally improve your motivation skills. Start below!
35 - 52	You're good at some aspects of motivating others, but there's room for improvement elsewhere. Focus on the serious issues below, and you'll most likely find that your team's performance will increase.
53 - 75	You're probably motivating your team very effectively! Still, check the sections below to see if there's anything you can tweak to make this even better.

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