The type of leader you are has a significant impact on the success of your team. As a leader, it’s your duty to inspire loyalty, hard work, and high levels of morale among your employees. A poor leader, on the other hand, can lead to frequent turnover, loss of productivity, and unmotivated employees. Therefore, it’s important to understand the types of management styles that will inspire your team to do their best work. In this article, we will discuss some of the most effective management styles and how you can implement them to create a successful team.

1. Visionary Management Style

The visionary leader is the person who articulates a high-level, strategic direction for the company and mobilizes the team towards this goal. The team uses this roadmap to pave the way forward. However, the visionary management style doesn’t encourage authoritarian decision making. The vision is shaped based on what’s best for both the organization and its employees. Visionary leaders need to be open-minded and absorb feedback from employees to make changes when obstacles arise.

One of the benefits of this type of management style is that it inspires trust between the leader and the employees. Being a visionary leader is a productive way to build a strong relationship with your employees, especially since 39% of workers said being a micromanager was the worst trait a boss could have.

Another benefit is that this management style is extremely flexible. There’s more than one “right” way to reach a vision which gives companies the ability to test out different paths and methods.

The characteristics needed to master this management style include high emotional intelligence, flexibility when obstacles arise, being open-minded to feedback, the ability to inspire, motivate, and mobilize groups, and strategic and long-term thinking skills.

What the Visionary Management Style looks like in action: A startup is launching a new product. The CEO sits down with her leadership team and comes up with a high-level strategy for the release. She hosts an all-hands meeting to share the vision with the whole company and have a discussion around it. From there, she empowers her staff to come up with next steps.

2. Democratic Management Style

A leader who follows the democratic management style collects the perspectives and feedback of their employees to inform decisions. This is done with the intention of building consensus among key stakeholders. Unlike top-down management styles, where decisions are made only by the leadership team, the democratic management style is transparent, encourages participation from employees, and is relatively objective.

This management style ensures that the whole organization is aligned or, at the very least, understands how a major decision was made. This is important because employees can feel left out when decisions are made without their input. A democratic management style is also effective because it gives everyone at the company a voice, which can lead to more diversity of thought.

The characteristics needed to master this management style include being a good listener, strong communication skills, being able to build consensus among teams, and having a deep understanding of the company’s goals.

What the Democratic Management Style looks like in action: A manager has to decide whether or not their team should scrap a project that’s producing ambiguous results. Instead of making the decision on his own, he has one-on-one meetings with everyone involved in the project, puts out an anonymous survey, and gathers additional data. After collecting all the feedback, he decides to cancel the project because most of the feedback suggested that it wasn’t a productive use of time.

3. Coaching Management Style

This management style puts the emphasis on the professional and personal growth of employees. Leaders who follow this style are deeply invested in the needs of their team and take on more of a mentor role versus a traditional “boss” role. This means they’re available to share advice and guidance, willing to serve as an advocate, and always looking for opportunities to help their employees thrive.

The coaching management style demonstrates to employees that their leaders care about their success and wellbeing. This inspires employees to produce high-quality work and makes it more likely that they’ll feel safe confiding in their managers about any issues that arise in their jobs. This is a much better alternative to having an employee who doesn’t trust their manager and leaves the company without warning.

The characteristics needed to master this management style include a strong desire to help employees grow personally and professionally, strong listening and feedback skills, empathy and the ability to connect with others, problem-solving skills, and the ability to build trust and meaningful relationships.

What the Coaching Management Style looks like in action: A manager has a struggling employee named Tim. She recognizes that Tim is a smart person and a hard worker but is going through a slump, so she uses an upcoming performance review as an opportunity to see how she can better support him. The manager uses strategic performance review phrases to deliver feedback in a clear but empathetic way, and this opens up a productive dialogue around the challenges Tim is facing at work.

Conclusion

As a leader, your management style has a direct impact on your employees’ engagement and productivity. Understanding and implementing the most effective management styles can help you build a successful team. The three management styles discussed in this article include the visionary management style, democratic management style, and coaching management style. Each of these styles has its own unique advantages and characteristics, allowing leaders to choose the one that fits best with their goals and management philosophy. By mastering these styles, you can create a work environment that inspires and motivates your employees to do their best work.