15 Types of Leadership
There are three main types of leadership, situational, transactional and transformational.
Situational Leadership
Situational leadership is a strategy that encourages leaders to think critically about their team members and their goals to develop a personalized approach to leading (The Ken Blanchard Companies, n.d.).
Characteristics of the Situational Leadership style:
- “Insight: The situational leader must be able to understand the needs of the followers, then adjust their management style to meet those needs
- Flexibility: Situational leaders must be able to move seamlessly from one type of leadership style to another
- Trust: The leader must be able to gain their followers’ trust and confidence
- Problem-solving: The situational leader must be able to solve problems, such as how to get a job done using the best leadership style available
- Coach: The situational leader must be able to evaluate the maturity and competence of the followers and then apply the right strategy to enhance the follower and their personal character”
(The Ken Blanchard Companies, n.d.) / (What Is Situational Leadership? How Flexibility Leads to Success, 2014, para 23)
Transactional Leadership
Transactional leadership focuses on results and adheres to the organization’s structure. It is responsible for maintaining a routine and ensuring that the group’s performance is consistent. This type of leader sets the expectations of their team members and uses performance reviews as a tool to evaluate their performance. Transactional leadership is focused on maintaining the status quo of an organization by rewarding its employees (What Is Transactional Leadership? How Structure Leads to Results, 2014).
Characteristics of transactional leaders:
- “Focused on short-term goals
- Favor structured policies and procedures
- Thrive on following rules and doing things correctly
- Revel in efficiency
- Tend to be inflexible
- Opposed to change”
(What Is Transactional Leadership? How Structure Leads to Results, 2014, para 25).
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is a type of leadership that inspires people to achieve remarkable results. It gives them the freedom to make their own decisions and develop their own talents. It also helps them improve their performance by motivating them to work harder and get results.
Characteristics of transformational leaders:
- “Very well-organized and expect their followers to be creative
- Team-oriented and expect that followers will work together to create the best possible results
- Respected, and in turn respects followers
- Acts as coach of the team. He or she provides training and motivation to reach the desired goals
- Responsible for their team, but also instill responsibility into team members
- Engenders respect through rapport and a personal influence”
(What Is Transformational Leadership? Ideas Produce Results, 2014, para 15)
Each of the three leadership styles possess characteristics that can be learned. What kind of leader do you want to be?
REFERENCES
The Ken Blanchard Companies. (n.d.). SLII® – A Situational Approach to Leadership. https://www.kenblanchard.com/Solutions/SLII
What is Situational Leadership? How Flexibility Leads to Success. (2014, November 25). St. Thomas University Online. https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-situational-leadership.aspx
What is Transactional Leadership? How Structure Leads to Results. (2014, November 25). St. Thomas University Online. https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-transactional-leadership.aspx
What is Transformational Leadership? Ideas Produce Results. (2014, November 25). St. Thomas University Online. https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-transformational-leadership.aspx
