Leadership Styles

From the book: "Leadership and the One Minute Manager"

1) Directing is for people who lack competence but are enthusiastic and committed. They need direction and supervision to get them started.

2) Coaching is for people who have some competence but lack commitment. They need direction and supervision. Support and praise builds their self-esteem, and involvement in decision-making to restores their commitment.

3) Supporting is for people who have competence but lack confidence and motivation. Support is necessary to bolster their confidence and motivation.

4) Delegating is for people who have both competence and commitment. That doesn’t mean you give them a job and never check in again. It means talking about what you want them to do and setting parameters, goals, and times of feed-back.

I tend to think that everyone else is just like me. So I would use the style of leadership based on how I view the task. Something that seems simple, like cleaning the bathroom, can be delegated, but I have discovered there are people who have no idea how to clean a bathroom and need some coaching.

Leaders tend to only use only 2 styles – directing or delegating. I know I don’t like when things are just delegated to me, even if I do have the competence and the commitment. I still want follow-up and not just when I’m doing something wrong. I like to be told that I’m doing it well too, so I know I’m headed in the right direction. Even if it is being done well, it’s nice to receive advice on how to do even better.