How to modify your leadership style

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something”.
Franklin D Roosevelt

Leadership style is the characteristic approach that individuals apply to their leadership role – it is shaped by the leader’s personality preferences as well as the context within which he or she is working. There is no one ‘right’ leadership style, and leaders often use a mixture of styles depending on who they are trying to influence and what the situation demands. Which style to use is very much down to the leader’s judgement – based on what outcomes are being sought and whether the choice of style will help or hinder those outcomes. Feedback from others plays an important part here in determining the best approach – if you don’t know how successful the approach is it is difficult to make positive adjustments.

There are a number of different models which help leaders to understand more about their leadership style, including Hersey & Blanchard's Situational Leadership, McGregor's theory x and theory y, and Hay McBer's research which identified six leadership styles linked to emotional intelligence. The excellent website http://www.businessballs.com/ has details of a number of these models. In a sense it doesn't matter which model you choose, as long as it tells you more about yourself and can stimulate a dialogue with your staff about the medium to long-term impact of your behaviours as a leader on their motivation, commitment and performance.

1. The first step in modifying your leadership style is to identify your current predominant, or preferred, style. For example, when decision-making if you usually involve staff in the process, by giving them an opportunity to have a say and debate different options this would be more democratic (theory y) style. If you make decisions in isolation and then tell staff afterwards about the impact, this would be more autocratic (theory x). Of course, all of this is dependent upon the situation you find yourself in (it would not be sensible to do a lot of consultation when trying to get staff out of a burning building!) - but consider the style that you most frequently tend to adopt.
2. Now consider your behaviours and actions related to this style. Think of situations in your experience as a leader when this style was very effective. Note down as many situations as you can think of.

3. Now consider when your style has been least effective – perhaps when people didn’t respond to you in a way you had hoped, or you didn’t achieve what you’d set out to do. Think about other approaches that might have been more effective. Alternatively think of a leader that you greatly admire – and how he/she might have approached the situation.

4. Think about the next time a similar situation might occur, and what leadership style and behaviours you could try to generate a successful outcome. It might be that you have identified your least preferred style – the one you are least comfortable with. This may be because it doesn’t fit with your own personality - for example, if you are very people rather than task-focused (and being liked as a leader is important to you), you may find it difficult to be more authoritative/autocratic.

5. Write down the skills/strengths you have already that will help you to develop the style you are least comfortable with. For example, this might be a good knowledge of your area – as the leader, you are qualified and have the experience necessary to be able to tell people in a more directive way what you expect of them.

6. Think of an opportunity coming up to try out the different leadership style. This could be a team meeting or briefing or a one to one with a member of staff. It doesn’t need to be a big, important event - in fact, using a fairly non-critical situation just to test out the style, is a good start. Remember – this is about adapting your style, not trying to be a different person. It may just be down to the language that you use. For example, to move from autocratic to democratic rather than saying ‘this is what I need you to do – any problems come back to me’, try ‘this is our goal, one way of achieving it would be x, do you have any other suggestions?’.

7. Review again your approach – did you achieve the outcome you desired? How did others respond to your modified leadership style? What could you try next time? Get feedback from the team and discuss your approach with your manager, mentor or coach, to talk through the situation and identify other approaches you could try again.

Getting the message across

I've been thinking a lot about leadership authenticity of late - how leaders inspire others by having a message that they clearly believe in, and which enables others to identify with their vision.

These reflections have been prompted by a couple of experiences I've had over the last two weeks. Firstly, I went to a lecture given by Rt Hon Tony Benn, entitled 'a letter to my grandchildren'. This interesting talk highlighted how much values have played a part in Tony Benn's life - while not always pursuing a popular agenda, he has nevertheless never swayed from his personal convictions of what he believes is right. This gives him an authenticity that is undoubtedly inspiring. During the talk, he suggested that leaders should never 'say things they don't believe in in order to get on'. He also quoted Lao-Tzu, philosopher and central figure in Taoism: 'the best leaders let people think they've done it for themselves'. The full Lao-Tzu quote is worth a look (and is of particular interest as it dates to 500BC and yet still sounds very relevant today).

I've also been reflecting not just on leadership but also my role as a staff developer - and how I deliver my message to others. Last week a session I was involved in was interrupted half-way through by a power cut. A moment after the powerpoint screen went blank and the lights went off, there was actually a collective sigh of relief in the room (even from us, the trainers!). Now this may have been because the participants thought they would get out early - but in actual fact I think it had something to do with suddenly having no technology in the room - no noisy air con, bullet points or glaring strip lights - just silence for a few moments. My colleague Marcus, being a consummate professional, acknowledged this and carried on the session in a less structured way, in the form of a very useful discussion. I wondered after the event whether we rely too much on technology to help us get out points across. I think we need to get back to basics and focus on what the people who we lead, either in a team or in a learning situation, really need from us, not just what we want to tell them.

Long-term leadership – reflections on the Apprentice

A tongue in cheek look at last night’s Apprentice.

As I watched the three candidates in the closing minutes of last night’s Apprentice fighting their corners in the boardroom, I tried to put myself in Sir Alan’s shoes and consider, if I was the chairman of Amstrad, which of the three I would be happy to employ to head up one of my businesses. Leading a business, particularly in tough times such as these, requires someone with the ability to maintain enthusiasm and keep a cool head, particularly in a crisis. Despite making an error (involving cedarwood, or was it sandalwood?), which ultimately cost her team last night’s prize, Empire team leader Paula quickly refocused and identified a new, high pricing strategy, inspiring the team to sell by focusing on the unique qualities of the product. Although ultimately this strategy was doomed because of the enormity of the earlier costing error, Paula proved herself to be a leader able to bring together a team by articulating a clear vision, making tough decisions, and showing great creative flair.

So when Sir Alan muttered the words – ‘Paula – you’re fired’ I felt an injustice had been done. Her two ‘friends’ in the boardroom had shown none of her leadership skills, and instead had used devious tactics to cover their own backs, one being particularly unprofessional, aggressive and offensive during the task and in the boardroom. But yet they remained to fight another day.

While the Apprentice is, ultimately, an entertainment programme and should not be used as any kind of barometer for business, it has made me consider whether, during tough economic times, it is tempting to invest resources in staff who will get quick, sharp, short-term results. Leaders who use aggressive, coercive tactics may get things done quickly but can they sustain those results in the long-term? The programme also seems to advocate low quality products – both in this task, and in the catering task a couple of weeks earlier, winning teams had used low-cost tactics to produce shoddy products which, while giving them a high short-term margin, would not lead to much repeat business.

So, business leaders, please do not follow Sir Alan’s example – to survive the current economic downturn we need leaders who are resilient, professional, and who can inspire trust and confidence through integrity and a strong vision. I am sure Paula has, by now, received many offers of employment from Amstrad’s competitors.