The Visionary Leadership Style
The major objective of the visionary style of leadership is to provide individuals with long-vision. This type of leadership moves employees, and teams alike, toward shared dreams as you may read from >>Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002, p. 55).
By utilizing this style, you are taking the angle of developing and articulating a clear vision for your company. This is not a leadership style that can be used in isolation as it solicits others’ perspectives on the vision. Many times project managers think they are visionary leaders, but they may be just “telling” others the direction they have decided—this is NOT visionary. This style sees “selling the vision” as key.
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It persuades others by explaining the “whys” in terms of their or the organization’s long-term interests. It sets standards and monitors performance in relation to the larger vision, and uses a balance of positive and negative feedback to motivate. To utilize the visionary leadership style in the best manner, employ it when the communication of goals is needed. Additionally, you can use it with new employees, and when knowledge of direction or the “whys” of a project or task needs to be known or reinforced.
The Affiliative Leadership Style
The primary objective of the affiliative leadership style is to create harmony by connecting people to each other (Goleman et al., 2002, p. 55). This style is most concerned with promoting positive interactions and team development. It places emphasis on addressing others’ personal needs and identifies opportunities for positive feedback.
The affiliative style stresses the importance of others’ morale on performance and rewards personal characteristics more than job performance. The affiliative leader puts less emphasis on accomplishing goals and tasks and more on valuing people’s feelings. On the down-side, this style avoids performance-related confrontations.
The Participative Leadership Style
The participative leadership style’s primary objective is to build commitment and generate new ideas. It values people’s input and gets commitment through participation (Goleman et al., 2002, p. 55). It trusts that team members can develop the appropriate direction for themselves and invites others to participate in the development of decisions and goals. This style builds on a triad of emotional intelligence abilities: teamwork and collaboration, conflict management, and influence.
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The best leaders are excellent listeners, and listening is a key strength of the participative leader. It seeks opportunities for consensus, holds many meetings, and listens to others’ concerns. On the detrimental side, this style rewards adequate performance and rarely gives negative feedback. It is best to use this leadership style when the team is competent, or needs coordination.
The time to avoid this style is in crisis mode, when there is no time to meet or gain consensus. Also, if your team members are incompetent—your productivity will drop if you rely on this style solely.
