As individuals progress in their careers and develop leadership skills, they often use different techniques and methods to achieve organizational objectives while also engaging staff to work together toward common goals. These different approaches to providing direction, executing plans, and motivating people are known as: leadership styles. The objective of this section is to assist you with leadership effectiveness by building self-awareness. Self-aware leaders are able to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and proactively learn and practice the leadership attributes that contribute to high-functioning teams and organizations. At the end of this section, you will have a better understanding of your strongest qualities while working on the qualities that would benefit from development. Ultimately this section is meant to assist leaders to connect with – and inspire – members of their team on a deeper level.

Being familiar with the leadership styles you most closely relate to is important because it helps you to communicate better with your team and more accurately understand your current skill set. Take a look at the chart below to review the eight main leadership styles.

Activity #1

The following assessments will evaluate your personality traits and skills and link them with characteristics of a specific leadership style. To receive the most accurate results, please answer each question as honestly as possible. If you come across a situation that you have never experienced before, answer according to how you think you would behave in such a situation.

• Quiz 1 – What’s Your Leadership Style? (Mind Tools, 2021)
• Quiz 2 – What’s Your Leadership Style? (Cherry, 2021)

Video: Top 8 Leadership Styles – Definitions & Examples | Indeed Career Tips (13:42)

Reflection Exercise

Check Your Understanding