Editorial Desk Competitive Environments: Implications for leadership styles

“The most successful leaders are able to adapt their leadership style to the situation, they become the person their team needs them to be in that moment.”

Robyn Benincasa, CEO of World Class Teams.

Truth is, all leadership styles can be good choices, in the right situation. Conversely, none of them work all the time. “Trying to label yourself with a single leadership style feels like ’60s-era thinking. Leadership is much more complicated than that.” said Greg Githens, Strategic Thinking Coach Catalyst and Cadre LLC.

Different leadership styles are required in different and often challenging environments. During times of change, a transformational leadership style is often needed and can be very effective. These transformational leaders are often charismatic and inspire followers to achieve higher goals. They encourage followers to be creative and tackle challenging projects with energy by extolling a shared vision. Career and workplace expert, Lindsay Pollack says that the “one size fits all” style of management was “command and control,” where leaders in top-down organisations hoarded information and meted it out on a need-to-know basis. This autocratic style of leadership was better suited to the workplace of the past. Instead, here are some strategies she thinks currently work well.

1. Be available

2. Ask instead of guessing

3. Customized knowledge sharing

Given the fluid nature of public service today and the increasing frequency of disruption, we are continuously transitioning through stages of change and certainty. Fact is, those in leadership positions will require more than just one type of leadership skill for them to remain relevant and effective.

“ONE SIZE FITS ALL, Great for socks, Bad for beliefs.”

Colin Wright