The job of a manager is to plan, organize, and control. The job of a leader is to motivate, inspire, and drive change. The biggest difference between management and leadership is that we manage things and we lead people.
The evaluation of your leadership style begins by looking at you. You need to identify your strengths and weaknesses. This requires honesty, reflection, and a personal commitment to improving yourself. The process can be as simple as filling out questionnaires that will help you determine your leadership style, your strengths, and your weaknesses.
If you really want to evaluate and improve your leadership style, you should; 1. Conduct a detailed personal evaluation by personally answering questions, 2. Get feedback and suggestions from your employees, and 3. Have your boss complete an evaluation of your leadership style, then meet with them to compare answers.
For any improvement program to work, there has to be an honest evaluation that creates change. What works? Why? Why not? How does it work? How can it be improved? All of these hard questions and more must be applied to any leadership evaluation and improvement effort.
When evaluating and improving your leadership style, you must answer an important question, what leadership style fits you and the organization the best? Before you answer that question, it's best to understand that there are many leadership styles from which to choose and as part of the leadership evaluation and improvement process, you should consider developing and using as many of the leadership styles as possible.
Leadership styles should be adapted to the needs of the situation, the requirements of the individual involved and the challenges facing you at the time. Great leaders do not limit themselves to just one leadership style. They use the leadership style that best fits the situation. The is called situational leadership.
1. Commanding Leadership - This is a classic model of a "military" style of leadership. This is probably the most often used, but the least often effective. It involves top-down decision making by management that expects immediate employee compliance. It is most effective in a crisis situation or when fast action is needed. Commanding leaders can be forceful and egotistical. They push employees around without considering employee morale.
2. Visionary Leadership - This style of leadership is most appropriate when an organization or team needs a new direction. Its objective is to move people and the organization towards a shared vision.
3. Coaching Leadership - Coaching is a one-on-one leadership style that focuses on developing individuals, helping them improve their performance, connecting their goals to the goals of the organization.
4. Democratic Leadership - This style of leadership utilizes people's knowledge and skills and creates a group commitment to creating and achieving goals. A motivational and inspirational approach.
5. Team Leadership - This style of leadership emphasizes the importance of teamwork, motivates and inspires a team effort. Inspirational and group approach to leadership.
6. Transformational Leadership - This leadership style focuses on driving change. Motivating people and making things happen. Motivating, inspiring, and driving change.
7. Strategic Leadership - This leadership style stresses the competitive nature of running an organization and being able to outsmart the competition.
8. Situational Leadership - Situational leadership is a leadership approach where you adjust your leadership style to fit the situation as well as the individual involved.
You can improve your leadership style by promoting innovation and encouraging people to express their creativity. Keep the door open, take risks, and try new things. Pay attention to the things that have been effective in the past and always be on the hunt for new ways to change and improve. Make it a goal to improve your leadership style (put your goal in writing).
Be willing to learn from your failures. Great leaders know that the key to success is not in avoiding failure, but in evaluating and learning from it. Never stop learning, the world never stops teaching. Great leaders never stop learning and improving themselves. Study and learn more about your leadership style. Understanding your current leadership style is essential. What are your strengths? Which areas need some improvement?
Improve your leadership style by getting a reality check. Finding out what others think of your leadership style can be a real eye-opener and often a path to change and improvement. A good way to judge your success is by the success of the team. As a leader, your main responsibility is to ensure growth and success of your team. Make sure that you have a clear vision of yourself, others, and the organization. What do you stand for? What is your managerial philosophy? What are the dreams and goals of the people? What is the vision and mission (purpose) of the organization?
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