What is your leadership style, really?

As an aspiring leader going on interviews for higher level leadership roles, I was often asked by the hiring manager, “What is your leadership style?” I would proudly answer, “I am a Transformational Leader. I love to inspire others to grow.” Although my answer was true then, and is still true today, I have come to realize that both the hiring manager and I had a limited understanding of leadership theories.

After the interview, I was excited to be offered the leadership role and start my journey on fostering transformational change. The only problem with that is that the situation did not call for a Transformational Leader. I often found myself wondering why I felt exhausted trying to inspire others to learn, grow, develop, and change. Why did my Transformational Leadership approach work with some people but not others? I went along my leadership journey for years not understanding fully what was missing.

I then learned about two leadership theories: Situational Leadership and Contingency Leadership. In Situational Leadership, the leader flexes to meet the needs of everyone, one person may need more direction than another. In that case, the Situational Leader is adaptable and meets the needs of the individual. In Contingency Leadership, the leader is hired for a specific purpose leading to a specific type of leadership approach, this may be more of a Transactional Leadership approach.

After learning more about leadership theories, I realized that I was going about leading others the wrong way. Although my preferred leadership approach is to lead as a Transformational Leader, certain situations will call for a specific approach. I realized, I had to flex my style to meet the needs of the team and/or situation.

Knowing and understanding leadership theories is essential for all leaders. Many leaders will find themselves exhausted and burnt out because they don’t understand how their leadership approach is aligning with their teams. Leadership coaching helps leaders understand how they are showing up, really, and learn ways to improve and connect with their teams.

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