Leadership Styles A Good Leader - 3757 Words

To be a leader, you need a style. Not fancy clothes, a slick haircut, or a fast car, instead, a true leader’s style comes from within the individual. In individual’s style is something you are born with, something that is nurtured over time, something that is developed. True leadership is a process where an elected or appointed person is able to influence groups of people to achieve a common objective (Northouse, 2013). While some leaders find great success in leading a team towards a common goal, others are not quite as fortunate. Whether this is due to the person in the leadership position, their particular style of leadership, or insufficient resources to complete the job, all leadership styles can be directly tied to team development.†¦show more content†¦Not everyone is born to conquer the world from day one. As one finds himself/herself growing into the role of a leader, he/she must, in a sense, continue to learn and find the most appropriate way to connect with the team. Blanchard, Zigarmi and Zigarmi (refered to in Farmer, 2005) report situational leaders to have three major competencies: 1) the ability to read a situation, 2) the ability to be flexible, and 3) the ability to work with followers to achieve overall success. One of the most important parts in building relationships for a leader, lined with respect and trust, is to maintain an equal balance of directive and supportive behaviors based on the context of the situation. Combining the ability to be an assertive leader (directive) and friend, role model, or mentor (supportive) is the key to situational leadership. By playing both sides of the field, essentially this style of leadership allows teammates to build the bond of friendship with their leader while instilling in their teammates the understanding that someone must take on the necessary responsibilities of a leader. The team members will support the leader as best as possible because of the inherit care for the overall well-being of the group. As an effective leader in the situational approach, one must have the ability to connect with others and truly understand their competencies, skills, deficits, and how they interact with the situation at hand. By recognizing what employees