What is your leadership style?

Autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire have been identified as the primary leadership styles by Kurt Lewin in 1939, each with its strengths and weaknesses. While the most effective leadership style is believed to be a combination of leadership styles depending on the organisational culture, the situation, and the needs of the team, knowing what works for you as the leader is equally important as fulfilling the needs of the business and the team you lead. The key to true success can lie in finding a leadership style that resonates with your personality and values. Embracing your authenticity as a leader can be the secret ingredient that propels you from being good to being exceptional.

Before we explore this topic further, take a moment to ask yourself the following thought-provoking questions. Notice how you may be able to answer some of the questions effortlessly, while others might leave you pondering or feeling uncertain.

• Describe the unique qualities and characteristics that define your approach to leading others in three words.

• When was the last time you engaged in self-reflection to analyse and improve your management style?

• How do you know that your leadership style is bringing out the best performance from your team?

• What changes have you made to better facilitate your team's growth and well-being?

• When faced with challenges or setbacks, do you instinctively search outward for someone to blame, or do you look inward on what you could have done differently, and focus on resolving the problem at hand?

• How confident are you in your ability to obtain genuine feedback from your team?

As you reflect on the questions, allow yourself to embrace the answers as an opportunity for growth. True self-discovery and a growth mindset require courage and willingness to explore the depths of your leadership potential.

We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can't have both. Not at the same time. - Brené Brown

Susan's Story - Embracing Authenticity and Overcoming Doubts

Susan’s unexpected promotion from work left her feeling both happy and unsettled at the same time. She couldn't seem to be able to shift the latter, and it’s been affecting her concentration at work and at home. This sudden opportunity comes from the resignation of her direct report, John, and management decided to offer the vacant role to someone internal instead of recruiting a new replacement externally. Susan will be stepping up to the role once John’s notice period and handover is served. The news of Susan taking over is well received by the team; they already held a small team celebration outside of work for Susan privately.

Susan believes there could be some level of possible imposter syndrome, but as we dive deeper into the core of the issue, she shows great confidence in her knowledge and experience of the role, except she can’t see herself able to lead the team as well as John due to her lacking the right leadership skill.

“What is the right leadership skill that you think you lack but John has?” – I asked.

Susan expressed her doubts, saying, "John is like a natural leader, an authority figure we all respect and…fear sometimes. He’s good at managing people and he knows how to delegate works in ways that people will follow instructions without question…I mean I get along with the team well, I am just not confident that they will take me as seriously as John..." Susan added: “these are qualities that I don’t have, if changing my title means I will have to act differently among the team, that’s just.. weird and awkward... I really don’t know; I think this whole transition would be much easier if I don’t have such big shoes to fill”.

Notice how Susan’s focus was predominantly about what John has and what she lacks, I encouraged her to identify the qualities she brings as a leader. It was obvious that Susan really struggles to come up with any positive aspect that she could say about herself. Even when she does, her good qualities are almost immediately shadowed by John, who in her belief – is a natural leader. At this point, Susan clearly seems more overwhelmed and convinced that she’s not good enough.

“Can you tell me what the rest of the team thinks of John?”

“I believe it’s similar to everything I said so far.” Susan answered with no hesitation.

“What other leadership qualities does the team wish John had to improve their work-life satisfaction?”

“….I am not sure, I don’t think I can answer this on their behalf.” - Susan

“Both questions are encouraging you to try to see John through the team’s lenses. What I have noticed is that you seem confident answering the question on what the team thinks of John, but somehow didn’t think it was your place to answer on the team’s behalf when it comes to other leadership qualities they wish John had. How is it that you find one question more comfortable to answer and not the other?”

Susan looked confused initially but soon responded saying: “That is a very good question…” After pausing in deep thought, eventually, Susan continues: “OK…I think I know what you are doing, even though you are asking what other qualities the team wishes John had, it’s really the same question you asked before about what John lacks and what I have, isn't it?” Susan seems excited with her new discovery; it was the most relaxed she had been since she sat down in the session with me. She smiled and looked at me eagerly for confirmation.

I smiled back at Susan and said: “You haven’t answered my question.”

It was then Susan burst out laughing, and I couldn’t help but join in; this lifted a lot of the heaviness that had accumulated. I was very pleased to see more of Susan’s personality coming out.

When Susan recomposes herself, she says: “you know what, this may not answer your question, but before the promotion, I never had a problem dissing John with my other colleagues at work. Not going to lie, that’s like one of our favourite thing to do…we talked about how John can be hard to read sometimes, you never know 100% whether he’s happy or not happy, so most of the time we just go along with his decision to avoid being put on the spot…We wish that he can be more open to suggestions and ideas. It doesn’t bother me (paused) – No, it does bother me, I am just better at managing it after working alongside him for 5 years, but some of the team find it difficult, and they come to speak to me instead…I feel like the promotion somehow took away my power to say anything negative about John. Equally, I feel like I have lost the confidence to say anything good about myself because…I felt wrong to criticise or judge him if I haven’t proven myself, but that doesn’t mean I am not, or won’t be a good leader to the team”.

At this point, it wasn’t clear whether Susan was saying these to me or herself. She slowed down and looked like she was in deep thought after sharing the above with me. With her notepad and pen, she began writing down notes while sharing with me that – “I think I know what the problem is, a lot of the anxiety I have is because I feel like there are many things I lack when directly comparing with John, but then talking about what we wish he could have, I also see what John lacks, and it wasn’t just me that feels this way…. I feel like since I received the news, I haven’t given myself any credit on the promotion. It was a shock to me, and I immediately threw myself into how to meet John’s standard as a leader. However, I am taking over the role, but I am not going to be the next John. I should have my own way of leading the team that works with me and the team.”

“At the beginning of the session, you described John as a good and a natural leader. How does this statement sound to you now?”

“I still believe that statement is true; no one is perfect, what worked for John, or somebody else, doesn’t mean that it’s going to work with me. I don’t know what kind of manager I am going to be, but I am looking forward to finding out." "What made you change from feeling anxious to something that you are looking forward to?"

"I think it’s the realisation that I don’t have to be someone else that I am not… That’s it! It’s the fear of losing my authenticity. This sounds very stupid, because…no one ever asked me to be different or be more John-like.” – Susan’s face lit up as she made the discovery.

In her pursuit of leadership success, Susan had a profound realisation: becoming a leader doesn't require compromising her authenticity. Instead, she firmly believes in recognising her strengths, values, and the needs of her team to foster an environment of trust, open communication, and genuine feedback - a combination she is convinced is the key to creating an effective and positive working culture. While this approach may not resonate with everyone, Susan is eager to embrace it as the starting point of her journey in unleashing her leadership potential.

If you are asked to take one step forward to be a better leader, what would that remarkable step entail?