What sort of leader are you? A question that poses the risk of sending
less modest types into Steve Jobs/Mahatma Gandhi-based reveries. It also risks
provoking blank expressions. Keen to avoid association with the type of leader
who would answer as above, there are also
bosses who have never had the time nor inclination to consider this.
Earlier this year, research by management consulting firm
Hay Group drew a strong link between demotivated working
climates and a lack of conscious thought from bosses about the sort of leader
they wanted to be. In fact, the approach of the more self-aware boss
modeling themselves on one particular business icon, could
be just as limited.That’s because the key to successful leadership is to choose
between several styles.
"It’s like golf clubs: the
more you have the better game you’re going to play," says Yvonne Sell,
director at Hay Group. "Typically, we find that the best leaders have four
or more styles."
'Situational Leadership’ has been
around since the 1970s, but it seems to have been forgotten. "Our research
shows a preponderance of people now using just a coercive or directive style.
That’s a ‘just get it done, get it done now’ style," says Sell. Hays’ survey, based on interviews with 14,000 leaders in 400 UK
companies, found that 38 percent of leaders have mastered only one or no positive
leadership styles.
"What we’ve seen is that the coercive style has increased with
economic uncertainty," she says. "That’s because people feel like
their whole organization is under pressure. People feel they don’t have the
time to explain the background or strategy to people."
While this directive style is useful in many
scenarios, it can have detrimental effects on morale and creativity, says BPIF
chief executive Kathy Woodward. "It’s easy for print bosses to be directive, because if you’re in an
environment with short deadlines and you are under pressure, it’s easy to just
focus on the task and tell people what to do."
Take this quiz by Print Week to discover if you have enough strings to your leadership
styles bow.
What kind of leader are you?
Tot up how many of each letter you have (you can circle more than one for
each question). If you have an even spread between two or three styles you’re
already on your way. A spread between four or more and you’re sickeningly
brilliant. Close magazine and move to celebratory drink-purchasing environment.
1 There’s a job you’re keen to
pitch for. You…
a Explain to all working on the pitch how much winning
the job will boost the company’s bottom line by.
b Get an ambitious, but relatively inexperienced,
employee to lead the pitch so as to really stretch them.
c Ask which members of the team might like to work on it.
d Take the lead completely, slapping employees’ hands if
they so much as go to look at the tender documents.
e Delegate strict instructions as to which parts of the
pitch should be formulated and delivered by whom.
f Call a meeting in which all members of staff can thrash
out ideas about approaching the opportunity.
2 Disaster strikes: a blocked
inkhead means a job is looking none too pleased with itself and needs
reprinting. Meanwhile, the customer’s tapping their foot impatiently in
reception… You…
a Outline to staff the most efficient way of reordering
jobs, taking time to paint just a quick mental picture of the customer’s
bloodthirsty demeanour.
b Give your budding production manager the chance to
shine.
c Schedule in a quick heart to heart with staff to check
they’re not feeling ‘too stressed by it all’.
d Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in (possibly
elbowing people out of the way in the process).
e Switch into military mode, telling each member of staff
exactly what they need to do to help get the job out.
f Get the flip-chart out and the doughnuts in –
brainstorming is the best way to overcome any challenge.
3 After plaintive cries of ‘you
never call any more’ from clients, you’ve noticed one of your most sparky
account directors has slipped into bad habits. You…
a Explain how only liaising over email can lose clients
and how the company can’t afford this to happen.
b Send them on a training course faster than you can say
‘people buy from people’.
c Check there are no underlying personal problems
affecting their performance. Then explain the importance of having friendly,
face-to-face relationships with clients, where you get to know them as people
as well as suits.
d Organise a meeting between yourself, the account
director and the neglected client where you can lead by example.
e Set exact targets for how much time the account
director should be spending on the phone and in meetings with each client.
f Get all account execs together to discuss ways of
better engaging with clients.
4 You’ve announced that the
company is to be bought by Not A Big Soulless Corporation, Honest Ltd. You…
a Take time to explain just why this acquisition might
actually be a good thing.
b Take each employee aside to discuss their career
options.
c Call regular informal group therapy-esque meetings so
everyone can air their worries.
d Rest safe in the knowledge your employees trust you as
a highly competent, trustworthy sort.
e Make sure the company stays on track by running an even
tighter ship than usual.
f In fact, you haven’t made the announcement or indeed
the decision to sell. You’re still gathering employee feedback on the idea.
5 It’s time. The 21st century
can be ignored no longer and you’ve decided to take the cross-media plunge.
You…
a Make sure any salespeople disgruntled at having to be
knowledgeable about a whole new area understand why this new offering could
keep them in pinstripes and hair wax.
b Roll out a rigorous training programme that will soon
have all employees ‘mailshot-ing’ like pros.
c Trial a series of therapeutic approaches in your
attempts to get to the bottom of your deputy’s inexplicable aversion to all
things digital.
d Seize this as the ideal moment to reveal your MA in
Multimedia Communications, inspiring all with your extensive electronic media
skills.
e Work out exactly how each staff member will be valuable
to the venture. People don’t need to know why they’re pressing buttons and
inputting information.
f Make sure all staff, no matter how junior, have the
chance to shape the new offering. Finally, a use for young Craig’s social media
obsession…
THE VERDICT
Mostly As: You’re a visionary leader
Good for Congrats. Your natural style is actually one with relatively few
drawbacks and usefully deployed in a range of scenarios. You have a flair for
helping people see the wider picture. "If you were only going to pick one
style, this would probably be the best one. It works in nearly all situations,
because even the ‘we need to get this to the courier by 5pm’ directive approach
is aided by the explanation ‘that’s because if we don’t, X, Y and Z will happen
and this will impact our ability to do business," says Hay Groups’ Sell.
Not so good for Despite its all-round ‘amazingness’, a visionary approach
is sometimes impractical. "Where something’s very deadline driven or
health and safety-critical, you haven’t the time to do the visionary
stuff," says leadership trainer Lewis. "If you’re a colonel in the
army, you can’t say ‘let’s have a chat about this, let me tell you about the
bigger picture of when we win the war’."
Mostly Bs: You’re a coaching leader
Good for Another style that has relatively few downsides. This kind of
leader is sure to find out what an employee wants regarding professional
development, and to help them achieve this. "For me, the most effective
style is when you have a combination of visionary and coaching. Someone has the
over-arching vision and you have a set of coachers underneath trying to move
the organisation towards realising that," says the BPIF’s Woodward.
Not so good for A coaching approach won’t be applicable for some older team
members. "With the changing demographic of workplaces, it may come to the point
where there’s someone who is semi-retired who may feel ‘I don’t want long-term
career options, I’m all about slowing down right now’," says Sell.
Mostly Cs: You’re an affiliative leader
Good for Similar but still distinct from the coaching style, the
affiliative approach is one that takes care of staff’s emotions rather than
just their career ambitions. If you’re an affiliative leader, it will really
come into its own in times of crisis. "This will come in when you’re
downsizing and will be crucial in relation to the higher retirement age,"
says Woodward. "What happens when someone is too old to work effectively
but doesn’t want to leave? How you treat that individual will really permeate
throughout your organization."
Not so good for "Affiliative tends not to work where there are
performance issues," says Sell. "Obviously, if the performance issue
is related to a personal problem, that’s a different story. But just being nice
to someone where there’s an issue is not necessarily effective. It also doesn’t
work with some people. Some will just think ‘stop asking me about my weekend,
it’s none of your business’."
Mostly Ds: You’re a pace-setting leader
Good for Pretty much what it says on the tin this one. You’re probably a
coffee-glugging, non-sleeping, high-energy type who has founded their own
business. Leading by example, you expect everyone else to be swept along with
your energy and learn from your high-achieving ways. "This sort of leader
is often an entrepreneur and very hands-on. They’re very good at getting a
business up and running, they’re in there checking it all themselves,"
says leadership methodologist of 20 years Paul Bridle. Sell adds: "This
style is really effective when you have people who already have a lot of the
skills so they can watch you and figure out what you’re doing."
Not so good for "As the business grows, this type can find themselves
not doing so well because they don’t know how to stop actually doing things and
allow and teach others to do them," says Bridle. Lewis adds: "Being a
good leader isn’t about ‘well, I know how to do this so I’ll keep it to myself’
or ‘others will just pick it up’. A good leader will think about how they bring
on others."
Mostly Es: You’re a directive/autocratic leader
Good for Loosely summed up as ‘my way or the highway’, this style comes
into its own for many of the situations print bosses face - where there are
health and safety considerations or tight deadlines, for example. "This
can be really effective where there are performance issues; if you know someone
can do the job and they’re just not pulling their socks up," adds Sell.
Not so good for "A directive approach can really hamper
creativity," warns Woodward. "A lot of people think in a hierarchical
structure: creativity lives at the top, when actually it should filter right
through to the bottom. If you’re very directive, then you don’t create
opportunities for those other layers to come forwards with ideas."
Mostly Fs: You’re a democratic/consultative leader
Good for A veritable Mandela, you’re good at listening to all viewpoints
and encouraging debate about how something should be done. "An element of
democracy should be operating where you’re trying something new; for instance,
if you’re bringing a new client on board," says Woodward.
Bridle adds that the habit of seeing what other ideas are out there should
extend to business-to-business relations. "Leaders need to realize that if
they’re going to make quantum steps forwards they will probably get there
quicker by partnering with other organizations rather than doing everything
in-house. A lot of innovative stuff is coming from a joint venture
approach," he says.
Not so good for Again, sometimes there just isn’t time for a democratic
approach. And there’s only so long something should be debated before someone
steps up and makes a decision. "You can’t discuss things forever,"
says Lewis. "There are some organizations where you go in and they’ve been
talking about something for six months. At some point someone’s got to say ‘let’s
do something about this’."
