Positive Leadership: A Critical Mission for Leaders in 2023
Anyone can be a leader. After all, leadership does not require a position title. Anyone who leads a team to do or achieve something can be considered a leader. However, there is quite a difference in the corporate setting.
In a business context, employees will be positioned according to hierarchy. Each of them will have to fulfil a role specifically designed for them. One of these positions is being a leader. Corporate leadership duties are often given to employees with managerial or supervisory roles. These positions are designed for team development.
Different Kinds of Leaders
When you start working, you will meet various people, including leaders. Every leader follows a different style, and here are some of them:
Democratic - This type of leadership is about making decisions based on the team’s opinion and feedback. In simpler terms, democratic leaders ensure everyone is involved in the decision-making process.
Autocratic - Autocratic leadership is precisely the complete opposite of democratic. This type of leadership does not give importance to the team’s opinions regarding business decisions. Rather, autocratic leaders expect their members to adhere to their decisions.
Laissez-Faire - Derived from the exact French words, Laissez-Faire means “let them do.” Hence, this leadership style signifies entrusting the decision-making to the team members. Out of all the leadership tactics, Laissez-Faire is the least intrusive. This kind of leadership also empowers the team to make their own decisions and holds them accountable for their work.
Strategic - This type of leadership is when leaders use their skills and capabilities to help their team and the organisation achieve their long-term goals. Strategic leaders aim to create opportunities for every adversary and strive to bring the best out of people.
Transactional - Among all the leadership styles, transactional leadership is the most task-oriented. This means the members must meet the leader’s expectations to be rewarded. Otherwise, the team can be punished. The rewards and punishments would depend on the leader. Generally, transactional leadership is based on the action-and-reward concept.
These are just a few leadership styles you may encounter or use in leading your team. But no matter what approach you use, it is essential to remember that developing leadership skills is necessary.
Sticking with one leadership style, regardless of the context and your members’ situations, is a surefire way to alienate team members and see their morale plummet. You must understand that each team member has a different background, principles, and upbringing. And it is your duty as the leader to adjust your approach accordingly.
This brings us to a new leadership style you might need, especially this 2023–positive leadership.
What is Positive Leadership?
Positive leadership is modeling, facilitating, and purposefully influencing positive emotions to encourage team members to excel in their work. This type of leadership promotes and cultivates an empowering environment through healthy practices, such as communication, accountability, emotional intelligence, motivation, and a model-worthy work ethic.
The concept of positive leadership is not entirely new. Many leaders have been practising this approach in guiding their employees. However, due to the unexpected changes over the past two years–the pandemic, the great resignation, burnout, etc.–reinforcing positive leadership has become a critical mission for managers.
Many leaders likely understand the idea and value of positive leadership. However, only a few know how to implement and sustain it. That said, here are some of the things about positive leadership that you have to know.
The 4Ps of Positive Leadership
Leadership can be exhausting. You have to manage people from different walks of life, and on top of that, you have to attend to several administrative tasks. But if you want to ensure your team's success, these four principles are the crux of executing positive leadership.
Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is defined as the belief that you would not be punished or humiliated for airing your opinions, ideas, concerns, questions, or mistakes. Given the occurrences that happened in the last two years, providing your team with a sense of psychological security becomes more crucial than ever.
This principle breeds an atmosphere that ensures your team members can freely speak up without fearing embarrassment, humiliation, or intimidation. Hence, it encourages people to show up fully and contribute more to the company’s growth.
Purpose
A clear purpose should be part of your priorities when you are a leader. Positive leadership motivates you and your team to attach meaning to your work instead of simply getting the job done. If your team sees that their work is connected to a higher purpose, they will most likely be engaged in their responsibilities.
Path
Like purpose, a leader should also have a comprehensive path for you and your team. Your focus should also be on providing your group with clarity on goals, resources, roles, timelines, and strategies.
The principle of path defines the ‘how’ in granular detail. Your team members must clearly understand what you expect from them and what they can expect from you. Leaders who practice positive leadership will never shy away from providing clear expectations to their members.
Progress
Progress is the last P in positive leadership. This principle aims to promote a sense of value, growth, and development in the team. To show progress, you can either show appreciation or build good relationships with your members.
When it comes to showing appreciation, you can honour your team by celebrating their small and big achievements. Do not be content with the idea that they already know they have achieved something. Make sure that you, as their leader, are there to assure them that they did a job well done.
Building a good relationship with your team members is not just about their wins. This can be more related to their losses. As a leader, your duty does not only entail supporting your team on their winning days but, more so, boosting their morale during their failures. Give them assurance and feedback, and show them how they can improve their performance.
Positive Leadership Styles
We have already mentioned different leadership styles earlier. But if you adopt positive leadership, it is essential to know what leadership styles best suit this concept. Here are four of them:
Visionary (Authoritative) - A visionary leader ensures that their team’s visions become a reality. These leaders are known for their drive and ambitious nature, inspiring others to do the same. Their goal is to empower everyone in their team to participate in their action plan.
Coaching - Your role as a leader does not end in giving tasks to your team; you must also know how to be a good mentor to your members. This is what coaching leadership is about. In this leadership style, you will have to invest your time and energy to develop your team individually.
Affiliative - Affiliative leadership adopts a people-first approach. This means that affiliative leaders take on the role of mending relationships and motivating the team during extreme workloads and stress. The focus of affiliative leadership is building harmony in the workplace and keeping every member happy.
Consensus - This type of leadership is pretty much similar to democratic leadership. Consensus leaders thrive on collaboration and bringing the team together. Their goal is to develop a diverse range of ideas and gather information from different points of view before making decisions.
The workplace setup today is way different than it was before. In addition, your employees are more likely to consist of individuals from different generations. Thus, it is only expected that you will use different approaches. You can combine these four to create a harmonious environment for your and your team.
Learn More About Leadership with Corporate Learning Solutions
Being a leader will never be easy. It will always come with challenges varying from different levels of difficulty. But these hardships are also what makes this role fulfilling. Knowing that your team is gearing toward success is something every leader should cherish.
Having said that, Corporate Learning Solutions is here to help you hone your leadership skills. Managing a team while keeping up with new leadership styles and trends can be overwhelming. But with us as your aid, we can assist you in navigating these things for the betterment of your team.
Want to learn more about us? Check our website at https://www.corplearn.com.au/ or read the following articles:
