An Insight Into Leadership Styles For Entrepreneurs
Leadership is more than just leading people. It entails having qualities required to achieve a desired result through people successfully. There are different leadership styles, it varies based on individual personality, and some leaders might even adopt more than one style. Below is a list of leadership styles for entrepreneurs to decide what best suits them –
Types of Leadership Styles
- Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership is one of the most effective leadership styles an SME in Nigeria can adopt for a successful business. It puts the people first; especially the employees. While the leader has the final say in any decision making, he or she consults with the employees first to give them a say in the outcome. Democratic leadership is highly effective as it gives all employees equal chances in every decision-making stage which gives them the exposure required for managing senior roles in future.
A perfect example of democratic leadership will be a board or business meeting with employees; and the employer allows them to share their individual opinion. At the end of the meeting, the leader puts into consideration every single opinion and makes a final decision.
- Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership style is a type of leadership where decision making is solely up to the leader. The leader does not take input from subordinates.
If the business is pivoting and changing its focus, employees are not consulted before such a decision is made. Once an autocratic leader makes a decision or gives an instruction, employees are expected to follow suit. A simple explanation for this leadership style will be when the working hours of employees in an organization is being changed without first consulting with the employees directly involved.
- Transactional Leadership
A transactional leadership is a type of leadership that rewards employees for work done. In other words, a transactional leader rewards employees with bonuses and other gifts when they achieve a particular goal. This reward is meant to motivate them to do more and better. This type of leader can go as far as giving incentives to employees when a project is about to begin. The incentive is a way of motivating them to take their assigned duties seriously.
According to an article published by Boundless, “transactional leadership includes: clarifying what is expected of followers’ performance; explaining how to meet such expectations; and allocating rewards that are contingent on meeting objectives.”
- Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
Laisez-Faire also known as the ‘Delegative’ style is a type of leadership where the leader does not offer ample direction. Instead of direction, decision making is left to the group or employees. For an SME in Nigeria, this comes with its pros and cons. It is effective when you have highly skilled employees who can take initiatives on your team. However, where the reverse is the case, choosing this style of leadership might ruin the business in the long run. To effectively lead with this style, it is crucial to constantly monitor employee’s performance and provide feedback regularly.
- Transformational Leadership
With transformational leadership, the leader pushes employees to step outside their comfort zone and do more. Just like its name, the leader transforms and improves the company or business. An SME in Nigeria adopting this leadership style will most likely set specific goals for the employees to reach within a specified time. Employees might find tasks easy to accomplish; however, a transformational leader will set the bars higher and stretch employees going forward. Amongst the leadership styles, this is the most effective one as it motivates employees to do more and become better versions of themselves. Also, it reveals what employees are capable of beyond the scope of their comfort zone.
- Coach-Style Leadership
Just like a football coach, a coach-style leader builds up the strength of the employees. For an SME in Nigeria adopting this style of leadership, it involves identifying the individual strengths of employees and dealing with them based on that. A coach-style leader will not force a skill or area of specialization on an employee whose strength lies somewhere else. Instead, such a leader allows employees to focus on and develop their strengths.
This type of leader sees the talent embedded in people and takes it upon himself/herself to milk such talent to its highest potential. The result of this style of leadership is a strong team that will learn to embrace their individual uniqueness rather than striving to be something or someone else. Also, team members are encouraged to learn new skill sets from one another. This in return will lead to the success of any organization or business.
While several leadership styles exist, most leaders will exhibit two or more of these styles in the course of their careers. There is no permanent style that must be followed, and different situations require different leadership styles.
The most important thing for you as an SME in Nigeria is to discover which one best works for you. Also, give room for some flexibility to allow for easy adaptation as time and situation changes in the course of the business.
