Previously we discussed leadership, referring to it as a person’s ability to motivate, inspire and influence other people in order to contribute to the success of the organisations to which they belong.
According to research featured in the documentary Make Me A Leader (conducted by the About my Brain Institute), when we feel good about ourselves, we are able to demonstrate these abilities more easily and be better leaders. This in turn makes our employees feel happier, since it has been proven that when they see that we are in a good place, the team sets out to successfully achieve the proposed objectives.
Many defend the belief that leaders are born, not made, but this statement doesn’t exactly reflect reality. One thing that is certain is that each individual has their own personality and way of tackling their responsibilities.
The most common types of leaders are:
a) Pacesetting Leader: pushes toward excellence but needs a motivated team. This type of leader seeks quick results but their level of demand (and self-demand) can overwhelm team members and suffocate innovation.
b)Affiliative leader: seeks to create emotional ties that reinforce the feeling of belonging to the organisation. They are very dedicated to people’s individual needs and make themselves available, and are thus always quite approachable. However, their lack of forcefulness in defining goals and objectives can wind up coming off as a lack of direction and can negatively impact performance potential.
c) Coaching Leader: their vision for the future makes them focus on people’s individual growth, where they attempt to support the creation of long-term strengths.
d)Coercive Leader: this leadership model represents the most traditional style, where orders are given and must be immediately fulfilled. However, there are very specific times, such as crisis situations, where this type of leader can come in handy, given their decisive nature, but in general this type of leadership is not recommended due to lack of flexibility, which can give rise to talent drain.
e) Democratic Leader: acts based on consensus and is a perfect example of participative leadership. This style is efficient as long as goals are clear and they know how to transmit leadership techniques.
Talent Engagement + Organisational Values
Within an organisation, a leader will spearhead actions related to talent engagement, defined as attracting, identifying, developing, retaining and deploying employees with high potential, who are of particular value to the organisation, thus creating a system of belonging between the employee and organisation.
Likewise, a leader’s role is vital to building an organisational culture based on values, such as the set of convictions of the members of a company when it comes to preferring certain actions over others, such as honesty, efficiency, quality, trust, etc.
When organisational values are shared, they directly affect employee performance, specifically with regards to their commitment, sense of belonging, active listening and direct connection with achievements.
Find out your leadership style!
One of the instruments that helps drive leadership is the PDA Assessment (Personal Development Analysis): an instrument that, through a simple, precise and scientifically validated methodology, allows to describe and analyse the behavioural profile of individuals.
This is why, through the self-awareness this assessment provides, each person can learn about the characteristics of their own style (decision-making, problem solving, motivators, etc.) as well as their time management skills.
