Several years ago, the author and leadership expert Daniel Goleman discussed six different leadership styles in his article, "Leadership That Gets Results" that was published in the March/April 2000 issue of the Harvard Business Review. These six leadership styles included coercive leadership, authoritative leadership, pacesetting leadership, affiliative leadership, democratic leadership, and coaching leadership. Importantly, Goleman concluded that "being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches." In other words, the best leaders will view these different styles as they would different tools in a tool box. As certain jobs require a certain set of tools, certain circumstances require a certain leadership style.
The question then becomes, which leadership style fits best with what specific kind of situation? Thankfully, Rebecca Knight answered this exact question in another Harvard Business Review article titled "6 common leadership styles - and how to decide which to use when". Here is a quick summary:
Knight suggests that the "Coercive Leadership Style" should be used rarely, if at all, while the "Authoritative Leadership Style" should be used most frequently. Importantly, Goleman says "A leader's success depends on the productivity and effectiveness of the people who work for them. You're shooting yourself in the foot if you use a style of leadership that's counterproductive to their performance."
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