The “Course Topics” series from Manage Train Learn and Slide Topics is a collection of over 4000 slides that will help you master a wide range of management and personal development skills. The 202 PowerPoints in this series offer you a complete and in-depth study of each topic. This presentation is on "Leadership Style".

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Leadership Style
Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Leadership Style

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Leadership Style
Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
The Course Topics series from Manage Train Learn is a large collection of topics that will help you as a learner
to quickly and easily master a range of skills in your everyday working life and life outside work. If you are a
trainer, they are perfect for adding to your classroom courses and online learning plans.
COURSE TOPICS FROM MTL
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Leadership Style
Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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Leadership Style
Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
Leadership style is the way a leader chooses to deal with the
issues facing him or her in the team. Whereas managers
may respond to the team from a limited range of options,
perhaps dictated by personal preferences, organisational
policy or lack of skills, leaders make choices about what
style to use. They may lead from the front in barricade-
storming style; they may hold back and hear what the team
has to say; they may even withdraw entirely from view and
work unseen. To the versatile leader, all options are possible
if it builds the team, motivates individuals and gets the
result.

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Leadership Style
Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
LEADERSHIP STYLES
There are four main leadership styles. They are determined
by the amount of attention the leader pays to the task that
is set and how much to the needs of the team.
These four main styles are:
1. The Directive Style: low concern for the team and high
concern for the task
2. The Consultative Style: high concern for the team and
low concern for the task
3. The Delegating Style: low concern for the team and low
concern for the task
4. The Problem-solving Style: high concern for the team and
high concern for the task.
Within each category, there are innumerable shades of
style. So, a consultative style can be either a discussion with
the aim of finding a solution to a problem or a discussion to
help the team sort itself out.

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LEADING THE PROJECT
Philip was in overall charge of the new marketing project.
Jenny was his number two.
"OK, Jenny. I'm quite happy for you and the team to get on
with the job. I know you know what's needed. If you need
me, I'll be around". (Delegated)
By the end of week three, the project started to stall. Jenny
and Philip decided to hold a group meeting to thrash out
some of the team's worries. (Consultative)
The project was back on course by week five. In week seven,
Jenny decided she needed more money for the campaign
and put together a strong case to present to Philip.
(Problem-solving)
With only two weeks to go for completion, the project fell
behind. The team were tired and de-motivated. Philip
decided it was time to show clear support for Jenny and
dropped everything else to get involved. (Directive)

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DIRECTING
Directive leadership is the style most people equate with
"strong" leadership. When people say they want more
leadership, they usually mean more direction.
Directive leaders appear strong and confident. They know
what they want and where they're going. They are decisive.
In military terms, this is leading from the front.
Situations which may call for directive leaders are:
1. new and unfamiliar situations
2. crises and emergencies
3. deadlines
4. when morale is low
5. when teams are facing change
6. when teams face outside threats
7. when teams want a clear challenge.

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THE DIRECTIVE STYLE
Use the following techniques to improve your use of the
directive style of leadership.
1. put more effort into planning
2. look the part: dress confidently; make every move count;
avoid hesitation
3. rehearse your performance so that you look authoritative
in front of the team
4. master assertive language: talk clearly and a little louder
than normal
5. keep your communication short and to the point; cut out
the use of descriptive adjectives.
6. get active; look busy; be a good time manager
7. be decisive; make up your mind and go with it.
It is easier to start with a hard impression and soften it later
than to start with a soft impression and harden it later.

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Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
CONSULTING
There comes a time in the life of all groups when the action
has to be put on hold and attention has to be paid to what's
happening in the team.
This may be because the team has important issues to raise
or because the team have ideas on how to do the task
better.
Leaders must be sensitive to "atmospheres" in teams. Often
views and feelings go underground if the team doesn’t get
the chance to talk or if they don't trust their leaders.
A consultative approach to dealing with team issues
invariably means calling a meeting and a lot of listening on
the part of the leader.

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Leadership Skills
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THE CONSULTATIVE STYLE
Use the following ideas to improve your use of the
consultative style of leadership.
1. get the team together, if necessary, off site
2. avoid too many meetings with individual team members
or you will create mistrust and suspicion
3. involve the team in the planning of meetings
4. be prepared to hear things you don't like, about you and
your management style
5. decide where on the scale you want to be: at one end,
the purely consultative in which you listen and then decide
to the other end, the consensual where you and the team
decide together
6. practise concentrated listening
7. give everyone a chance to talk. Notice who doesn't speak
readily. Find a balance. Seek contrary views to the loudest.

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PROBLEM-SOLVING
The problem-solving leadership style is also known as the
win-win style, the participative style or the negotiated style
of leading.
It is the style used when the needs of the team are just as
important as the needs of the task (which are the leader's
needs, usually). Unlike the top-down communicating of the
directive and the bottom-up communicating of the
consultative, the problem-solving style requires sideways
communication.
This style is a way of resolving conflict. For example, the
team may disapprove of how things are moving forward and
want you to consider their views. Unlike the consultative
style, in which you listen with an open mind, the problem-
solving style acknowledges different points of view and aims
to find a solution that meets everyone's needs.

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THE NEGOTIATING STYLE
Use the following ideas to improve your use of the problem-
solving style of leadership.
1. believe that in every conflict with the team, there is a
solution in which both sides (you and the team) can get
what you want
2. state your own position clearly and consistently. Listen
carefully to theirs.
3. focus on issues not personalities
4. find the emotional blocks such as their fears and
anxieties. These often result in people playing games. Knock
these down by building trust.
5. seek common ground
6. battle on to find a creative solution based on principles
7. summarise frequently.

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DELEGATING
Delegated leadership, which is low concern for the task and
low concern for the team, looks at first sight like an
abdication of leadership: a running away; laissez-faire; do-
what-you-like-style of leading.
In reality, it is one of the hardest management styles. The
low concern for both task and team is a deliberate letting go
so that others can own the task and make their own
decisions. In reality, of course, you, the leader, still have
overall responsibility for how the team performs. Delegating
responsibility is an act of empowerment, but it is still a
deliberate act of leadership.
Paradoxically, the effective use of delegation results in
stronger leadership because it builds trust and skills.

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Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
THE DELEGATING STYLE
Use the following ideas to improve your use of the
delegated style of leadership.
1. keep in close touch with the team. Make it safe for them
to try things out.
2. focus on them: "What would you do?" "What do you
think?" "What do you feel we should do?"
3. resist the temptation to jump in and rescue them when
things go wrong; they can learn so much more by sorting it
out themselves.
4. move gradually. If people aren't used to this style, they
may suspect your intentions.
5. praise every success
6. find the right distance: not too close that you are seen to
be checking them, not too far away that they feel
abandoned.
7. check back regularly that things are OK.

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WHICH STYLE?
The leadership style you decide to use with the team
depends on your overall strategy and aims. Being able to
change your style if you are getting nowhere, is the hallmark
of successful leadership.
These are the five steps to achieving something we want
with a team of people:
1. know what you want
2. weigh up the situation
3. apply the most appropriate style
4. see what results
5. learn and adapt.
There are different views about whether leaders should use
the same style consistently or vary their styles according to
the needs of the situation; in other words: is it better to be
consistent or contingent?

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SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Hersey and Blanchard have developed a model of
management styles which they call "situational leadership".
This model is based on applying different styles of
leadership according to the maturity of the team to
perform, ie can they? and the willingness of the team to
perform, ie do they want to?
The four styles are:
1. Telling: the telling style is appropriate when the team is
immature (can't and won’t)
2. Selling: the selling style is appropriate when the team has
some motivation and competence
3. Participating: the participating style is appropriate when
the team have more ability and drive
4. Delegating: the delegating style is appropriate when the
team have high levels of self-direction and self-confidence.

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READ SITUATIONS, READ PEOPLE
To operate effectively, leaders need to be able to move
easily across all styles, according to the needs of the
situation.
However, if you treat everyone in the team the same
regardless of their competence, maturity, and commitment
levels, mis-matches will occur.
For example, if you give a new starter tasks way beyond
them or an experienced person tasks way below them. Or if
you micro-manage a team that is experienced and self-
motivated or under-manage a new team that desperately
needs some hand-holding. When mis-matches occur, the
team members will either feel out-of-their-depth or
frustrated and either blame themselves or you.
That's why it's essential to read situations and know your
people.

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CONTINGENCY THEORY
The contingency theory of leadership argues that the style
you use is contingent, or dependent, on the situation.
There are five variables which determine the choice you
make:
1. The Organisation's Style. This is the organisation's
favoured style, often represented by those who succeed
in the organisation.
2. Your Style. You will probably favour one style yourself
which comes naturally to you.
3. The Needs Of The Task. The task which the team are
working on will affect your leader style; eg is it a high
quality piece of work which needs to be performed
accurately?
4. The Needs Of The Team. The needs of the team are
their level of dependence on you, the leader.
5. Previous History. What style are people used to and
expect you to use in the future?

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PARENTS AS LEADERS
Parenthood is a valuable way of showing how the four
leadership styles can be successfully applied at different
stages of a child's maturity.
1. In infancy when the child looks to the parent for most of
its needs, the directive style of parenthood works best.
2. In childhood when the child wants to be included in
decision-taking, the consultative style of parenthood works
best.
3. In the teenage years when the child regards itself as an
equal to the parent, the problem-solving style of
parenthood works best.
4. When the child has become a young adult and no longer
needs the parent around all the time, the delegated style of
parenthood works best.

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MTL Course Topics
MOTHER, FATHER, GUIDE
Team leaders need to move between the roles of nurturing
mother, challenging father and mature guide in their
relations with the team.
1. Nurturing: the nurturing style of team leadership is
appropriate when team members are new to the team
or need support, as when they are facing a risk or
undergoing change. They are dependent on the team
leader.
2. Challenging: the challenging style of team leadership is
needed when team members are settled in and need to
stand on their own two feet. The team leader needs to
give them the confidence, power and freedom to be
independent.
3. Mature: the mature style of team leadership is needed
when team members have reached a level of
responsibility and can relate to the team leader on
equal terms. The relationship then becomes an
interdependent one.

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LEADERS AND FOLLOWERS
There are three categories of followers in a team:
individualists; dependents and co-operatives.
1. Individualists are those with high personal standards
who don't require the leader to tell them what to do.
They may see themselves as strong enough not to need
close supervision and do their best work on their own.
Individualists need various levels of laissez-faire
leadership.
2. Dependents are those who need the leader to make
things clear for them, who need reassurance and
answers and who like to be kept busy. Dependents need
strong directive leadership.
3. Co-operatives are those who enjoy being part of a
team, want to be popular and noticed by their peers.
Co-operative people need warm, democratic leadership.

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WHEN STYLES ARE EFFECTIVE
The four leadership styles, based on concerns for the team
and concerns for the task, can be applied in either effective
ways or ineffective ways. They are effective when they are
appropriate for the situation and lead to agreed goals. They
are ineffective when they are applied inappropriately and fail
to achieve desired goals.
Directive style: when effective, the directive leader is a
Benevolent Dictator; when ineffective, an Overriding Dictator
Consultative style: when effective, the consultative leader is
a Listening Developer; when ineffective, a Hesitating Un-
decider
Delegating style: when effective, the delegating leader is an
Empowering Facilitator; when ineffective, a Dumper and
Deserter
Problem-solving style: when effective, the problem-solving
leader is a Winning Executive; when ineffective, a Weak
Compromiser.

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ARE YOU A WOLF OR SHEEPDOG?
Dave Francis and Mike Woodcock describe two leadership
styles in the following anecdote.
On a green field high up on a distant mountain, there was a
flock of sheep. One day a wolf came along. He was sleek and
powerful and had big sharp teeth. The wolf liked to show his
strength and, seeing the sheep, descended on them. He
snapped at them and terrorised them. The wolf was the
most powerful animal in the field and every creature knew
it.
Finally the wolf tired of his rampage and loped off in search
of new excitement. A sheepdog came along, saw the
frightened and damaged sheep and with typical sheepdog
skills gathered up the strays, encouraged the wounded to
stand and soon had the flock organised and ready to take
down the mountain to safety.
Is your leadership style wolf or sheepdog?

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Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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Leadership Skills
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn