You Can Learn The Skills To Master The Different Types of Leadership

The list of different types of leadership are as unique as puzzle pieces. They work in tandem with the other pieces to create a finished picture. There isn't a one-size fits all style, but there are certain traits that guide the various styles of leadership.

We welcome you to follow along in this description of leadership methods. Our goal is to help you recognize your own inner strengths to inspire and influence others to greater personal and professional success.

We all come into this at different levels. As you've read in other pages, if we can do this, it is certain all of you can do so as well and probably better and faster than those of us in our editorial room.

You'll see some similar characteristics in nearly all the different types of leadership we'll list in this page. There will be situational traits that match the goals with the skill levels of team members. Some more than others as you'll read a few paragraphs down.

Strategic leadership is in focus in the most effective leadership types because a strong vision of the direction is established with a solid plan to meet the vision. So let's jump right in with the different types of leadership and how to identify your own talents in utilizing those styles.

Different Types of Leadership for Every Situation

Where you are right now in this process is no indication of where you will be in the future. Regular readers know we have one very quiet editor who doesn't like being anywhere near the center of attention and another who loves to meet people and have fun in every part of life.

We have another who had to overcome some difficult things in life. Everyone has challenges. They are only limiting if you allow them to limit you. You can learn all the skills needed to become a visionary leader.

We call this first style on the list of different types of leadership, the "carrot and stick" method. The more academic term would be "transactional leadership." There is certainly a time and place for this style. It involves clear rules and roles. Duties are set in stone as are the consequences of not meeting those duties. Sharing the vision and encouraging thinking outside any established role is not permitted.

Personal incentives are provided as the carrot part which also steers team members away from facing the consequences of not meeting set requirements. This style aligns closely with the content of our page about the difference between leadership and management.

In high stress situations, this leadership style, directed by a strong, decisive personality might be needed. The problem is that it is not duplicatable and doesn't always bring out the skills and talents of team members.

The polar opposite of the carrot and stick method is the hands off leadership style. Other descriptions are delegating or maybe "laisse-faire." Team members are allowed to free-lance and set the tone.

New ideas are encouraged which is a great thing and in the following levels of different types of leadership are vital to success. The problem here is that without a clear vision and without passionate direction, there is no defined plan. If we don't know where we're going, any route will get us there.

Let's take part of that last leadership style and stir in some inspiring motivation. Let's add a passionate vision for the team goal. Let's challenge the accepted norms and limits and reject mediocrity.

Let's look at empowering our team members to be innovative and creative as they develop skills and talents to help the team reach the goals we've placed in front of them, along with a plan to get there.

Let's give them ownership in the process. This is transformational leadership. Extraordinary success is possible and in fact likely with this leadership style. With one more ingredient, it is impossible to not succeed.

That one ingredient is found in the ultimate leadership style which is authoritative leadership. Be careful when reading that term. All three of us heard it at different times and in our minds we all heard the same thing. We heard authoritarian. That invoked thoughts of dictatorial, which is the complete opposite of this most important leadership type.

John Maxwell is the author of one of the best books on leadership. He has done the work, faced the challenges, suffered the pain of failing and has the scars to prove it. And he has overcome the pitfalls to become a proven expert in his field.

When you are an authority on your subject and when you are able to relate to people and share the vision, when you are able to inspire and empower, you will have become the leader who can help people achieve any success.

We've drawn much of our leadership knowledge from John Maxwell, Stephen Covey, as well as a few others. You'll need the the help of experts to reach this level. They did too. They learned some skills we've highlighted in other pages. We have a container block at the end of this page for easy reference.

Before we get there, let's talk about one more leadership type. Servant leadership is something a little different from the others, but requires all the skills of transformative and authoritative leaders.

Servant leaders are passionate about helping other people, are determined to inspire innovation and creativity from their team members and encourage an ownership mentality. And at least in their own mission, they have become experts because they learned what worked and what doesn't.

Looking Inside Ourselves

To become effective, inspiring leaders we need to look within ourselves to see what we need to learn and what we need to let go of to inspire others. We all need to learn how listen better and some of us need to learn how to trust our skills and speak up.

Leadership is a journey we take, with bumps in the road along with smooth stretches where we seem to glide past roadblocks with the wind at our backs.

Different types of leadership are a lot like different personality types. In fact our personality type will influence leadership styles for a while. But as you look inside yourself and as you learn from authoritative leaders, your former weaknesses will become strengths. This isn't a theory. We've seen it for ourselves and it will work for you.

You can be any type of leader you choose to become if you are willing to put in the work. It's a journey and it won't always be easy. But it's worth it.

In the next container block we've included some pages to help you find your leadership style. We've also included an image of "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" which in our opinion is the very best of all the leadership books.

Please share your success stories. You will inspire people that you'll probably never meet. That is a sort of "long-tail" success principle of servant leadership.

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