3 effective leadership styles used in contemporary businesses

If you’ve studied any course on management theory or leadership models, then you’ll know full well that there are many different approaches to leadership. Each style is designed for different scenarios or management hierarchies; however, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the following 3 methods are the most successful, regardless of circumstance.

Collaborative leading

Leading by collaborating with others is a handy leadership tool, one that allows you to extract the maximum value from your workers. It’s important for your workers to feel valued and appreciated. Collaborating with them directly in close-knit teams enables you to draw from meaningful insights and ideas they might have about the business’ strategic direction. The Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, Sherly Sandberg, is widely regarded as one of the most famous collaborative leaders.

Leading via consensus and democracy

The second leadership philosophy is referred to as “consensus leading”. Instead of the business leader (CEO, manager, etc.) making decisions with little input, consensus leading would see that same leader gather their teams and take a vote. Much like a democracy, the majority rules. This decision-making style is valid in terms of bolstering corporate culture and making everyone feel included; however, there are some noticeable drawbacks. What happens if you have a 51-49 split? It’s not exactly a substantial majority and moving forward with the decision could see a lot of workers distressed or disappointed.

Command, authoritative leadership

Sometimes known as an autocratic style, a commanding philosophy to leadership is the direct antithesis to the consensus style. In an authoritative management framework, teams are not consulted, and the top executives make the decisions. This can be quite toxic; however, it isn’t always negative. Some sectors and business styles require an authoritative mode of leadership. For example, military forces maintain their commitment to the chain of command, which sees a delegation of tasks and authority based on rank and posting.