Your Leadership Style: A Guide

Discovering Your Leadership Style

Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson has a hands-off leadership style. Instead of letting his dyslexia affect him as a young man, a condition he still deals with today, he let it guide how he decided to run his companies. By his own admission, he surrounds himself with people who are smarter and more capable than him.

It certainly works for the British billionaire. The Virgin Group employs 60,000 people and controls over 400 companies in disparate fields. The former convict and high school dropout at 15 has unique ideas on running businesses, to be sure. One thing you can take away from his success is this.

He does what works for him.  

The Our World in Data website reports that more than 8 billion people are wandering around on planet Earth. According to their data and supporting research, 109 billion humans have lived and died up to this point. That is a lot of different people with different ideas, lifetime experiences, and countless individual viewpoints.

What do Sir Richard Branson's enigmatic approach to business and a look into how many humans have ever lived have to do with developing your approach to leadership?

They remind you to embrace the idea that your leadership style might differ in some important ways from what others find reasonable or acceptable.

Let your experiences and values shape your vision. That's a given. You should also consider starting with one of the six common leadership styles many entrepreneurs and business people use to reach success. Then, you customise them to suit your unique situation.

Servant Leadership

Do you feel drawn to put the needs of others before your own? If so, this method of leading might suit you. It focuses on building strong relationships with team members. You make decisions based on what's best for everyone. It demands getting to know people intimately and then working to help them perform to the best of their abilities.

Transactional Leadership

Bill Gates practices transactional leadership. This is a method of leading which is based on punishments and rewards. Clear goals and responsibilities are laid out. Then, rewards and punishments are discussed as well.

These types of leaders prefer structure and established routines. It is important to note that in this system some employees may not work harder than necessary to achieve the incentives offered.

Delegative Leadership

Delegation and effective follow-up are the keys to this type of leader. It is seen as a hands-off method and requires exceptionally capable employees because they are given the reigns to work however they see fit to reach an intended result.

Participative Leadership

These leaders encourage their employees to speak up. They involve others in important decision-making processes. A participative leader is comfortable sharing responsibilities and power. This is Sir Richard Branson’s leadership style.

Authoritative Leadership

Have you ever heard a person described as a visionary? It could be that they are an authoritative leader. They see themselves as teachers for their employees. They are often motivational and inspirational, encouraging people to follow and buy into their ideologies with absolute dedication.

This style of guiding others can lead to positive and negative change. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was very authoritative and made wonderful strides in civil rights for all people. Adolf Hitler is an unfortunate example of authoritative leadership.

Transformational Leadership

This person is visionary in some ways as well. The focus is on change. These leaders often have a good idea of what the future holds in their field. They're always looking ahead and seeing the potential for positive change in their employees and staff. Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs are considered transformational leaders.

The key to becoming a great leader is to start with a foundational style and then customise it to suit your unique situation.

What might that be for you?  In the comments, let me know the style you relate to most.

Do you have a high-performing team?  Find out here with a short scorecard - you'll have your results in a few minutes.