What are Leadership Styles?
A leader’s style is the way they present themselves. It includes their demeanor and the methods they use for influencing others.
There have been countless models of leadership and leadership styles proposed by business schools, organizational psychologists and various authors. Some include:
- Autocratic, Democratic, Laissez-faire or Transactional leadership
- Compliant, Combative, Competitive or Catalytic leadership1
- Servant leadership2
- And others…
As agilists, we tend to work on complex problems (where more is unknown than is known). Complex problems require a leadership style that we refer to as “agile leadership.”
1 Described in “The Professional Agile Leader” by Eringa, Bittner and Bonnema
2 This term originates from an essay written by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970
Resources:
What did you think about this content?
Included In
Learning Series
The ways that leaders present themselves and interact with their colleagues can either support agility, or defeat it. Learn the difference between leaders and managers and the traits of an agile leadership style. Explore why we speak more about agile leadership and not servant leadership.