Knowing your leadership style can affect how you influence your employees, or your team so it’s important to identify which style you may fall under. Even more so, your leadership style affects how you complete your workload and influence people around you. Take a look at these common leadership styles to see which one you may fall under – we suggest researching additional information on your particular style.

It is also helpful to ask co-workers, or friends which one they ‘peg’ you as – so you have a varied opinion. You may find that some of your traits fit multiple categories, but it’s a great place to start to see how you may have been leading your team for the majority of your tenure.

Here are our four main categories of leadership:

Are you the coaching leader? This is the type of person who is invested in developing others for the future. Perhaps you have a great eye for talent, and skill sets not yet discovered. Most importantly, you have a keen eye for other’s potential and care to see how the people around you can grow into the best versions of themselves.

Be careful not to suggest anything others aren’t ready for (Unless you are trying to challenge them safely!), or deliver the message in a way that is helpful, not demanding. Perhaps try using phrases such as “what I found helpful at this point in my career..”

Giving your employee’s projects that align with their skill sets is a great way to use this leadership technique.

Are you a pacesetting leader? This person is a ‘lead by example’ type of leader. You’re likely never frazzled, hurried and you have a keen sense of detail orientation. You will be most successful if your team is already skilled at work management, and time management. If not, you may want to do training and use examples on what worked well for you as you started out in your career.

Giving your employee’s tools or a ‘day in the life’ example might be a great way to utilize this leadership skill.

Perhaps you fall in line with the style of Democratic Leadership. This person likes to share decision-making with their team. It goes without saying it’s very important to have a smart, trustworthy team when asking for opinions on varied important matters. This style of leadership makes everyone on your team feel important as they are contributing regularly to the success of the company.

To utilize your skills, try a survey on how your employees are feeling about current issues, the company and overall how they would like to see you interact with them as a leader.

Lastly, you could be a Laissez-faire leader. This means you give your employees total responsibility for their actions, time management and results. Sometimes this works very well because employees do not feel ‘micromanaged’, but self-empowered – and often even work harder. It’s important to still give feedback to team members even when using a ‘hands off’ approach.

To make sure you’re doing all you can as a leader, ask your employees how you could be of help to them.

MG (Retired) Mike Diamond is CEO and founder of Diamond Strategy Group. Diamond Strategy Group is a leadership development and consulting company. We focus on improving the quality of leadership within organizations by utilizing the same methods Mike and his consultants have used in both military and civilian sectors. We invite you to stay connected! Visit us online at www.DiamondStrategyGroup.com and connect with Mike Diamond Strategy Group on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail us at info@diamondstrategygroup.com!

To request Mike as the keynote speaker for your next event, e-mail SEM4MD@gmail.com.

Order Mike Diamond’s book, The Diamond Process, now at www.diamondstrategygroup.com/book/

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