VILNIAUS KOLEGIJA

EKONOMIKOS FAKULTETAS

Bankininkystės katedra

LEADERSHIP STYLES AND METHODS

Verslo anglų kalbos projektas

STUDENTĖS

DĖSTYTOJA

Vilnius

2017
Content
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Lewin's Leadership Styles ................................................................................................................... 4
Theory X and Theory Y....................................................................................................................... 4
Leadership methods ............................................................................................................................. 6

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 Introduction

To become more effective, leader-managers must learn how to influence others with the
intent of effectively motivating them. Leaders possess qualities that make others want to follow
them. The standard definition of leadership is the process of influencing other people’s behavior
toward achieving a predetermined goal.
Leadership traits are physical or personality characteristics that differentiate leaders from
subordinates. There have been many attempts to define these qualities over the years. In the 1980s,
Warren Bennis, a leading management consultant, reviewed ninety successful leaders to determine
commonalities among them. Bennis identified the following basic leadership traits, which remain
relevant: attention, meaning, trust, self-awareness.

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 Lewin's Leadership Styles

Kurt Lewin recognised that one of the factors that determines a leader's choice of leadership
style is the need to make decisions. In 1939 he and his co-workers identified three styles of
leadership decision making, the autocratic, the democratic and the laissez-faire.
1. Autocratic leaders make decisions without consulting their team members, even if
their input would be useful. This can be appropriate when you need to make decisions quickly,
when there's no need for team input, and when team agreement isn't necessary for a successful
outcome. However, this style can be demoralizing, and it can lead to high levels of absenteeism and
staff turnover.
2. Democratic leaders make the final decisions, but they include team members in the
decision-making process. They encourage creativity, and people are often highly engaged in
projects and decisions. As a result, team members tend to have high job satisfaction and high
productivity. This is not always an effective style to use, though, when you need to make a quick
decision.
3. Laissez-faire leaders give their team members a lot of freedom in how they do their
work, and how they set their deadlines. They provide support with resources and advice if needed,
but otherwise they don't get involved. This autonomy can lead to high job satisfaction, but it can be
damaging if team members don't manage their time well, or if they don't have the knowledge, skills,
or self motivation to do their work effectively. (Laissez-faire leadership can also occur when
managers don't have control over their work and their people.)
Lewin's framework is popular and useful, because it encourages managers to be less
autocratic than they might instinctively be.

Theory X and Theory Y

In the 1960s, social psychologist Douglas McGregor developed two contrasting theories that
explained how managers' beliefs about what motivates their people can affect their management
style. "Theory X" and "Theory U", the course in the book "The Human Side of the Enterprise," won
widespread recognition among managers.
Theory X managers tend to take a pessimistic view of their people, and assume that they are
naturally unmotivated and dislike work. As a result, they think that team members need to be
prompted, rewarded or punished constantly to make sure that they complete their tasks.

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 Work in organizations that are managed like this can be repetitive, and people are often
motivated with a "carrot and stick" approach. Performance appraisals and remuneration are usually
based on tangible results, such as sales figures or product output, and are used to control staff and
"keep tabs" on them.
This style of management assumes that workers:
 Dislike their work.
 Avoid responsibility and need constant direction.
 Have to be controlled, forced and threatened to deliver work.
 Need to be supervised at every step.
 Have no incentive to work or ambition, and therefore need to be enticed by rewards
to achieve goals.
Theory Y managers have an optimistic, positive opinion of their people, and they use a
decentralized, participative management style. This encourages a more collaborative, trust-based
relationship between managers and their team members.
People have greater responsibility, and managers encourage them to develop their skills and
suggest improvements. Appraisals are regular but, unlike in Theory X organizations, they are used
to encourage open communication rather than control staff.
Theory Y organizations also give employees frequent opportunities for promotion.
This style of management assumes that workers are:
 Happy to work on their own initiative.
 More involved in decision making.
 Self-motivated to complete their tasks.
 Enjoy taking ownership of their work.
 Seek and accept responsibility, and need little direction.
 View work as fulfilling and challenging.
 Solve problems creatively and imaginatively.

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 Leadership methods

Leaders are unique individuals. They become Leaders in many different ways for
many different reasons. It is important that a Leader understand their method to success.
There is no one method more effective than another. Just like humans, all Leaders
are different.

Method 1: Example:
All people tend to respond better to what they experience rather than what they hear.
Leading by example allows to show your team what to do versus telling them what to do.
Have you ever had a boss tell you to go above and beyond, but never did it themselves? Not
exactly someone you would follow into the breach again and again. Asking or telling people
to follow you into battle takes on a different meaning if the leader has an empty weapon.
Leaders that use this method are the ones handing out the ammunition to the team while
firing his own. They do what they teach.

Method 2: Encouragement:
When you mix 1 and 2 together, Leaders and teams get the best of both worlds. Not
only is the Leader firing his weapon with the team, but he cleans the teams’ weapons after a
victory. No need for medals here. The team knows it’s more valuable to be taken care of
than wear a ribbon on their chest. And they enjoy the smile and the meaning behind the
actions of the Leader. Awards or announcements have its place, but sincerity, empathy, and
a pat on the back shows that the Leader has their back. It is more genuine to the team
because they can feel the Leader.

Method 3: Expertise:
People tend to want to learn. It’s human nature to want to become better and to
achieve more. They thrive with a Leader who shares the expertise. Sharing expertise does
not mean data dumping. A Leader knows you can’t force feed. There is also a difference in
instructing vs espousing wisdom. Expert Leaders do not start out by saying “When I was
doing your job……” A Leader knows that sharing their experience is very valuable, but
must be applied to ever changing times. Not when, but today. Leaders stay on top of the
need for their expertise and wisdom. Their timing is impeccable. They are always sharing
one way or another. Leaders offer advice and knowledge but let the team experience it and
use it in their own way. They put it into the hands of the team, and in the teams own time
and language.
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 Method 4: Motivation:
Leaders know that everyone has their own button to push. The power of motivation
lies within the individual. Leaders create an environment where winning for the individual
becomes easier. A Leader knows the individual. They identify the behaviors, values, and
attitude of each individual. Leaders simply ask to find out. Behaviors teach them how they
do a job. Values teach them why they do a job. Attitude teaches them will they do a job.
Leaders put all they’ve learned together like pieces of a puzzle. There is a realization that
not everyone is motivated by the same things. Leaders revel in differences on their teams.
They discourage a robotic or cubical work place. The Leader respects and promotes the
uniqueness of the pieces. They eliminate the fear of being an individual. They encourage
individuals to succeed in their own way. They enjoy the whole picture while not
manipulating the pieces to fit. They benefit from the individuals while creating a single
picture and then allow celebration. Leaders give reasons to win.

Method 5: Determination:
Leaders know that method alone will not win the battle. In a way it has some
relationship to method 1. At one point or another, all Leaders have told themselves: “I will
work harder, come in early, leave later. I will eat, sleep, and live this job”. That is not
determination. Determination will not perform miracles. A Leader knows that the problem
with sheer will power alone is…… BURNOUT. Leaders are constantly looking for signs of
burnout in the team. They replace it with exciting realism that blocks it. They add pride into
fighting the battle and generate a want to win. No matter how small the win, the leaders
always celebrates. Leaders make determination fun and habit forming. They allow the team
to believe they are good. They balance the difference between pride and arrogance.
Everyone begins to believe in something, even though they can’t explain it. A Leader who
shows that they believe, empowers a team’s determination to win. It’s better than just
surviving and it feels good.

Method 6: Charismatic:
This leadership method is designed to influence others through personality and
character, leveraging values and beliefs to incite others to action. It’s an ideal leadership
method for a new leader who feels passionate about their business idea and who is a high
energy individual determined to motivate others. The one aspect that is important to
remember about the charismatic leadership method is that it can easily turn into being just

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about the leader and their presence so this type of person and leadership style has to be
balanced to ensure the team knows they can have their own individual passions about what
they are trying to achieve, and that they can contribute in their own way in their own team.

Method 7: Innovative:
When a startup is intent on disrupting the marketplace and standing out within an
industry, it helps to employ an innovative leadership method that focuses on doing things
entirely different from expected. A leader who uses an innovative method can see the entire
situation as a whole and determine how to do things differently, especially when traditional
ways are not working. An alternative, or innovative way of thinking is a good way of
showing the team that everyone is free to try new things and take some risks. As a startup, a
new leader can encourage a culture of innovation and creativity early on to shape how the
company focuses on their disruptive capabilities for the marketplace. The innovative leader
brings out needed creativity.

Method 8: Situational:
Combining a number of leadership behaviors, the situational leadership method
includes directing, empowering, coaching, and being supportive to the team. Since a startup
is still evolving, this leadership method is particular effective because it is helpful for
situations that involve ongoing change. A new situational leader just has to be careful not to
change too often, too fast or be too unpredictable about what the changes are to the
organizations. When done properly, this leadership method reduces the sense of uncertainty
among the new team. Since this team is often remote, they may already be feeling out of the
loop with what’s happening with the company so this leadership style helps by having the
new leader actively involved with the developmental change.

Method 9: Affiliative:
The affiliative leadership method is a way to build bonds early on and a sense of
belonging that can help propel a startup through its development. While this is a good
method to use to bring a team together, this style should not be the leadership method that a
leader continues to utilize forever, primarily because it is based solely on praise and
nurturing. There will always be the need to build and encourage, but there has to be more
dimensions to the leadership method used in order to provide direction and encourage higher
performance levels.