An Up-to-Date Understanding of Leadership

Within all of these theories, frameworks, and approaches to leadership, there’s an underlying message that leaders need to have a variety of factors working in their favor. Effective leadership is not simply based on a set of attributes, behaviors, or influences. You must have a wide range of abilities and approaches that you can draw upon.

Having said this, however, there’s one leadership style that is appropriate in very many corporate situations – that of Transformational Leadership. A leader using this style:

• Has integrity
• Sets clear goals
• Clearly communicates a vision
• Sets a good example
• Expects the best from the team
• Encourages
• Supports
• Recognizes good work and people
• Provides stimulating work
• Helps people see beyond their self-interests and focus more on team interests and needs
• Inspires

In short, transformational leaders are exceptionally motivating and they are trusted. When your team trusts you and is really “fired up” by the way you lead, you can achieve great things!

The transformational leadership style is the dominant leadership style taught in our How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You program, although we do recommend that other styles are brought in as the situation demands.

Having said that Transformational Leadership suits very many circumstances in business, we need to remember that there may be situations where it’s not the best style. This is why it’s worth knowing about the other styles shown below so that you have a greater chance of finding the right combination for the situation you find yourself in.