A leader is defined as: one who leads or guides and/or one who is in charge or in command of others. In the practical business environment, being a leader is this and much, much more. In fact, ask a group of business people the question, "What do effective leaders do?" and you'll hear a variety of answers including:

• Leaders set strategy

• Motivate

• Create a mission

• Build a culture, etc.

And when asked what a leader "should" do, the likely response is that a leader's job is to get results.

So, how do leaders get results? New research has found there are six distinct leadership styles. When taken individually, each style has a unique impact on the working atmosphere of a company, it's employees and ultimately, its financial performance. And, much like a craftsman choosing the correct tool for the job, so must a leader choose the correct leadership style for any given situation. Taking this one step further, to achieve the best results, successful leaders do not rely on only one leadership style, but employ all of them throughout the workweek in various situations.

Leadership Styles

1. Coercive Style
   Of all of the leadership styles, this style can be one of the least effective in most situations. The "Do what I say" approach, can be very helpful in a turn-around situation, a natural disaster, or when working with problem employees. But often, the coercive leadership style strongly affects the company's climate by inhibiting the organization’s flexibility and dampening employees' motivation. Employees feel disrespected and often think, "I won’t even bring my ideas up -- they’ll only be shot down." In addition, these employees, unable to act on their own initiative, lose their sense of ownership and feel little accountability for their performance.

2. Authoritative Style
   Of the six styles, the authoritative leader style, which takes a "Come with me" approach, is often the most effective. This type of leader states the overall goal but gives people the freedom to choose their own means of achieving it. The authoritative leader communicates to the employees how their work fits into the larger vision for the organization. Employees under this type of leader understand that their job matters and why. Because of its positive impact, this style works especially well in most business situations, but it works particularly well when a business is adrift. Although very successful, this style will fail when applied to situations where the leader is working for a team of experts who are more experienced then he or she is.

3. Affiliative Style
   The hallmark of the affiliative leader is a "people come first" attitude, putting value on an individual's emotion more than tasks and goals. This style is particularly useful for building team harmony or increasing morale and has a noticeably positive effect on communication. In addition, it gives employees the freedom to do their job in the way they feel is most effective. Regardless of its benefits, this style should not be used alone. Its exclusive focus on praise can allow poor performance to go uncorrected, allowing the perception that mediocrity is tolerated. Also, affiliative leaders rarely offer advice, which often leads employees to figure out how do so on their own.

4. Democratic Style
   This style's impact on a company's climate is not as high as you might imagine. By giving workers a voice in decisions, democratic leaders build organizational flexibility and responsibility and help generate fresh ideas. But sometimes the price is endless meetings and confused employees who feel they have no leader. This approach is ideal when a leader is himself or herself uncertain about the best direction to take and needs ideas and guidance from able employees.

5. Pacesetting Style
   Like the coercive style, pacesetting should be used sparingly. This leader sets high performance standards and exemplifies them too. They are obsessed with doing things better and faster and ask the same of everyone around them. A very structured approach, pacesetting tends to destroy company climate by evaporating flexibility and responsibility and making jobs seem so task-focused they become boring and routine. This style has a very positive impact on employees who are self-motivated and highly competent. But other employees tend to feel overwhelmed by such a leader's demands for excellence -- and to resent his tendency to take over a situation.

6. Coaching Style
   The least used of all, this style focuses more on personal development than on immediate work-related tasks. It works well when employees are already aware of their weaknesses and want to improve, but not when they are resistant to changing their ways.

Summary

The research done to determine these styles suggests that the more a leader utilizes, the better they lead. Leaders who have mastered four or more -- especially the authoritative, democratic, affiliative, and coaching styles -- have the very best climate and business performance. And the most effective leaders will flexibly switch among the leadership styles as needed and tailor it to individual employees.

Leadership will never be an exact science, but it is also not a mystery to those who practice it. With the business environment constantly changing, a leader must also change. Hourly, daily, weekly; executives must choose their leadership styles like a master craftsman -- using the right tool at the right time. In the end, the payoff shows itself in a work of art, or in the world of business; results.

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