Colors of Leadership: 6 to Choose From

What kind of leader are you? Kind of hard to answer. Type in the word “leader” in Google, and you will see that there are a variety of images. It’s a challenge to pinpoint an archetype of what a Leader looks like –and that’s AWESOME!

It’s frickin AWESOME because it goes to show that Leadership isn’t about what we look like. It’s about the choices we make! It’s about the skills we choose to hone, the tools we pick up, knowing when and how to use them. That’s why it’s so hard to really say in one word, what kind of leader we are.

However, as Leaders, we know that part of being a leader is discovering more tools on our journey, thus, empowering us to create the character we would love to be in both our professional and personal lives. It’s kind of like being an artist; an artist doesn’t say “I’m a red user only.” On the contrary, artists use a variety of colors to paint their masterpiece. Likewise, we could use a variety of leadership styles to build the kind of character we would love to emanate as a Leader.

Here are 6 styles to choose from, not in any particular order:

The Visionary

The Visionary usually motivates people with a grand vision. They speak with much enthusiasm and boil up excitement as they continue on about a result in the future. This style is great for sparking ideas. However, this style usually doesn’t come with a “how-to” plan and doesn’t work very well with what we would call the experts. For this same reason, the experts would like to witness a step-by-step plan. The Visionary is usually a great candidate when teaming up with people that know how to get the jobs done because the common vision will keep us all motivated in the practicalities.

The Coach

The Coach sees, learns, and connects people’s wants with organizational goals. The Coach recognizes people’s strengths and weaknesses, and lays out tasks designed to gear the individuals’ growth. Although the Coach may come off as a style that micro-manages, it works best with people who have yet to discover, and develop, their strengths. For those who already know themselves, this style is least likely to work on them as it may come off as patronizing.

The Affiliate

The Affiliate creates an atmosphere of affection. The Affiliate motivates people through emotional needs and connects people through this streamline of emotional acknowledgement. This style rarely focuses on getting things done as there is great emphasis on the amorphous continuity of human emotions. This style does tend to turn people into, what we may sometimes refer to as “complainers”, but does, nonetheless, bring the team closer. Also, if the people do turn into “complainers” more often than not, there’s always one question we can ask them to empower them into action.The Affiliate style amplifies team morale when used wisely as emotions are the hidden drive for all decisions.

The Democrat

The Democrat is impartial, and majority-rules driven, which is why this style is great for gathering information and listening to people. However, the downfall of this style is that it will not follow through with a percentage of the people because not everyone’s concerns can be addressed with just one, universal solution, which is why it is crucial to communicate what the point of asking for their input is for- and clarifying that there may be a possibility their input may not be directly applied. More importantly, it is superbly crucial that their input is still highly valuable as it influences the majority-rules outcomes.

The Pace-Setter

The Pace-Setter rarely looks back, always moving at a faster pace forward, accomplishing goals and setting standards high. The Pace-Setter works best with highly motivated people and, probably needless to say, leads by example. This style works best to get stuff done independently, but may come off as a style that lacks emotional intelligence or compassion. The Pace-Setter is always on the move that no instructions are given to those around ; only their trail of excellence pulls you forward. Sometimes, it may be necessary to ask for clarity, step-by-step outlines, and so on, when encountering the pace-setting style, or vice versa when using the pace-setting style, ensure that clear instructions and expectations are given.

The Commander

The Commander commands, hands down. Direct orders are given. The Commander always goes straight to the point. The downfall is that this style comes off as cold and distant. However, it works best with managing fear because the Commander excels at giving clear “how-to” guidelines to people. The Commander style sounds self-explanatory as commanding has that association that makes one think around the lines of commanding, assertive, assuring, confident, etc.

As Leaders, we must recognize that these styles are not what define us. They are tools we can choose to use for whatever our best judgement calls for in the moment. As Leaders, we know that there is no universal one-fits-all image because it all comes down to the decisions we make to empower others. We know that Leadership isn’t a rank, that it is a choice, and this choice requires the practice and development of many other skills, such as learning to wield these six leadership styles.