Your Leadership Styles Will Effect Your Team

As a leader, what leadership styles are you employing?nnOver the years I have found my own leadership style evolving while I watch how others lead. I find myself wondering if the style they use is better than mine, worse than mine, would have more of an impact, or would turn people away.nnI consider myself an observer of people. I love to watch how people dress, interact, their tendencies, and their abilities. I especially watch people in roles of leadership to see how they choose to lead. The leaders who present leadership styles that I want to use are the people I love to watch the most.nnSeveral years ago I had a clash of leadership styles between myself and another individual. It would be the first of many, but it was a moment in time where my ability to lead and make rational decisions were tested. nnI felt that the rewards within the organization should be given to those who worked for it and not given to the ones who did not deserve it. I gave this advice to a particular leader who was in charge of handling the situation. He chose to ignore my request and do things his way.nnAlthough I felt slighted and angered, I had to make a decision on whether my leadership style was going to be appropriate for the organization. I had thoughts of stepping down from my position and removing myself from that situation. While doing some deep thinking on the situation, I decided I would make a change to my style rather than abandon it.nnWhat came out of that decision shaped my philosophy on what great leaders do. I chose to change my leadership styles to develop a mentoring relationship with new members of the organization. I decided to learn from them while helping shape their perspective on membership in the organization. nnAt the end of my leadership term, I left the organization with some thoughts I had prepared. My goal was to hopefully impart some words of wisdom to the future leaders in that organization. I am proud to say that a few years later, the president of the organization let me know that he referred to my notes in shaping himself as their leader. I felt fulfilled that my change in leadership styles had a small part to play in someone's development.nnAs a leader, your leadership styles will have an impact on those around you. Develop a great style and the leaders behind you will learn and build up future generation of leaders.n