Getting Down to Business
Not to be confused with leadership styles, management styles are instrumental when it comes to setting and evaluating priorities, communicating with team members, planning workloads, and handling sensitive information. Everything from one’s own personality to the industry or team dynamics impacts how a manager chooses to lead their team, and while no two people (and thus managers) are exactly alike, there are a handful of prominent managerial styles. Wondering which one you fall under? Read on to find out.
Visionary Management
Visionary managers are less concerned with day-to-day operations and rather excel at inspiring and motivating team members. Getting team members to buy in to a larger vision is sometimes necessary to create change or yield results. While this style works well with many teams and can create out-of-the-box thinking, visionary managers have to make sure they are still providing tangible support to the teams they lead, and their job can become difficult if they themselves do not agree with a certain directive.
Autocratic Management
In this management style, the power lies with the manager themselves. They are typically responsible for decision making and rarely consult their team.
Autocratic managers are master delegators, and this top-down approach means decisions can be made quickly and easily. While it does have its pros, team members under an autocratic leader can easily feel stripped of creativity and micromanaged, leading to low morale and high turnover.
Democratic Management
Democratic leaders recognize the importance of the roles people play in a business and want team members to feel valued. Decisions in this dynamic are typically made based on a “majority rules” approach, and democratic managers are well versed in providing their team with content. With an emphasis on brainstorming and engagement, the main downside to this style is that resolution typically warrants more time.
Transformational Management
Rooted in change, transformational managers are constantly setting goals and pushing their teams to achieve them. While this style is nice because it inherently means managers are focused on team members’ professional growth, it can create challenges when teams can’t or aren’t motivated to hit certain metrics. On the other hand, it can give life to more mundane tasks and can be beneficial in industries that are constantly changing.
Laissez-Faire Management
Laissez-faire translates to “let it go,” and that’s exactly what these managers are best at. This type of leader is very hands-off and generally only consults with team members if something goes awry. This means that those working under a laissez-faire manager have a great deal of autonomy in their work, but less experienced team members can often struggle with creativity or prioritizing tasks.
