Any leader that wants to be effective should consider taking the following steps: (1) develop their emotional intelligence and the ability to understand the development levels of their subordinates, (2) develop a number of leadership styles that can be used according to what the situation requires, and (3) develop or increase their flexibility so that that have the capability to apply a specific leadership style to a particular development level of a subordinate (Ovans, 2015; Northouse, 2013). Since, no two workers are alike, and everyone responds differently to dissimilar incentives, a truly effective leader cannot simply rely on one leadership style to get the most out of all their subordinates. They need to treat each according to what stimulates them the best. This includes, as mentioned, the ability to understand what type of worker they and the willingness and ability to tailor one’s leadership style as needed.
For example, I was in the situation where I had a manager who supervised a team that is run by two team leaders, where I was one of the team leaders. While the manager was responsible for making sure that the whole team accomplished its duties, I, and the other team leader were each responsible for different aspects of the whole team’s duties. I and the other team leader had completely different personalities and work customs. Applying the steps to effectiveness described above, the manager should first learn and understand what the differences were between myself and the other team leader in terms of our development levels. I think the best leader style for me co-team leader would be the “coaching style” in that she was fairly competent in the necessary skills and fairly well motivated to accomplish what she needed to do in terms of getting her team on task (Northouse, 2013). I think the best leader style for me would be the “delegating style” because I understood my team well, I understood the goals that need to be obtained, I was highly motivated to accomplish the goals and had the skills to do it (Northouse, 2013). In other words, I did not need much direction or support. I think if the manager was able to apply these two leadership styles, based on his understanding of me and my co-team leader’s differences, he would have been more effective.
References
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice, 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Ovans, A. (2015, Apr. 28). How emotional intelligence became a key leadership skill. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/04/how-emotional-intelligence-became-a-key-leadership-skill
