How teams are structured
Very often, teams are put together only for a short project and then the team changes. It all depends on what the company needs. This means that a team is quite regularly fragmented and its members don’t always know one another. On the other hand, some teams consist of experienced members who have strong mutual ties. Therefore, the leadership style to be applied will vary.
An article on the website of the INSEAD business school refers to a paper entitled Team Leadership and Performance: Combining the Roles of Direction and Contribution which investigates the question of whether leadership type can be chosen on the basis of what the team needs. It was discovered that team leaders can choose a different approach to leadership when the setting is different. So just as team size or project characteristics vary, so does the leadership.
Two traditional leadership types
The most basic distinction is that leaders are either autocratic or participatory. Leaders who are more directive tend to give orders and instructions, correct the work of others and are somehow above the team. A classic example here would be Steve Jobs at Apple.
In contrast to this, participatory leaders do not prescribe nearly so much. They work with others rather than giving orders; they do the same work and empower their colleagues.
This kind of leader helps others to hone their ideas and get the best out of them. Members of a team with this type of leadership can express themselves freely. One example of a participatory leader is Mark Parker of Nike.
The second part of the article will show that autocratic leadership need not necessarily be bad. You will learn how to choose the appropriate style in a particular situation.
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