Emotional Leadership

What is Emotional Leadership?

The emotional leadership style is generally adopted by leaders when there are conflicts in their team. Even if there are no conflicts, a leader must make sure that he has a good relationship with his employees. The team members must feel that their presence is valued.

Emotional leadership means that the leader gives importance to the personal growth and values of his subordinates. Trust tops the list in this style. Employees should feel comfortable in the workplace environment. Their ideas and opinions should be given enough consideration while taking any decisions for the organization.

A leader who incorporates these factors during his run is assured to benefit. It boosts motivation and works efficiency. Thus, not only the tasks are carried out effectively; even the members are enthusiastic about their work.

Levels of Emotional Leadership Styles

The authors of the book, Primal Leadership, recognized the six emotional leadership styles. They identified what effects these have on others, as well as the strengths and weaknesses that come with these styles.

To implement change and improve relationships, leaders must know these leadership styles in-depth to teach these in their organizations. A leader must be well aware of the degree of impact these six emotional leadership styles have.

Below is a detailed analysis of these leadership styles and how effectively these can be put into use in different situations.

1. The Visionary Leader

The visionary leader is inspiring. He looks forward to achieving goals. Such leaders are very good at leading the team. They know how to take people (employees) along with them in the forward direction; towards the shared goal.

A leader who has a vision always encourages his team members to think out of the box and take the initiative in overcoming difficult situations to reach their goal. These leaders are often seen spreading knowledge about the desired goal and not micromanaging the procedure to get there.

Empathy is one of the traits of such leaders. They empower and motivate individuals to utilize their innovative ideas, to experiment, and even grants permission to take calculated risks.

Implementation of this type of leadership is most effective when an organization on the path of a new beginning, or has fostered a new vision. In addition to this, it is helpful when a change needs to be managed. Hence, this leadership style can prove to generate more positive results, as long as it doesn’t burden you.

2. The Coaching Leader

The coaching leader, as the name suggests, coaches his employees instead motivates them to try new things. They offer a ‘try this’ approach. A leader who encourages and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of his employees and uses them in the right direction is a coaching leader. He connects these traits and aspirations with the goals of the organization.

The leader must have a positive attitude, should establish trust, and focus on building up team members for future successes. With a coaching leader around, the climate of the surroundings remains positive and pleasant.

Implementation of this leadership style is most valuable when there is an employee who requires help to plan goals for the future, or perhaps he may feel lost or uninspired.

On the contrary, if this style is used on a member who is unwilling to work, it will not be sufficient.

3. The Affiliative Leader

For an affiliative leader, his employees and members come first in the priority list. Such a leader takes collaborative effort towards connecting people and involving their emotional demands in the team setting.

This style encourages inclusion, harmony, and promotes personal connections. When the concern is conflicts amongst members of the team, such methods are best suited. Since, its motto is to create a healthy working environment, so poor performances are often masked by the combined effort of the group.

4. The Democratic Leader

A leader who gives importance to what others think is a democratic leader. A democratic leader emphasizes collaboration and expects inputs from the team. In this style, the leader includes participation, commitment, and ideas from all the members of the group.

Even though this style draws a lot of skill sets, yet it can create a crisis if the decision is to be made quickly.

Implementation of this style is most robust when a team needs to get on board or build a consensus.

5. The Pacesetting Leader

A pacesetting leader is one who is more focused on excellence, performance as well as achieving goals. The leader is most influential when the team is competent and motivated. It is essential to use this style in combination with other methods.

A pacesetter sets goals and high standards with very little guidance and inputs. The underlying ideology is to work efficiently and faster. This leadership style must be used carefully to avoid a toxic environment that can cause failure and demotivating employees.

Implementation of the pacesetting leadership style is best obtained when results are required in a short duration.

6. The Commanding Leader

As the name implies, a commanding leader commands decisions and ideas to his employees. A dominant leader is often seen to have full power and dominance over the employees. He utilizes control and creates a stringent and rigid hierarchy.

He does not believe in having inputs from employees and leads on to a path of success with a singular vision. Even though this offers the least effect, it is used often.

Implementation of this leadership style is best witnessed in times of crisis or when changes are required within the organization due to conflicts amongst employees.

However, these leadership styles if used in combination with one another give the best outcomes and prove to be more successful. A leader who is skilled and contains knowledge knows how to utilize these to the best of his team’s capabilities. Besides this, an effective leader draws the most suitable style as per the needs and keeps trying to fit all the scenarios as per them.

One must never underestimate themselves! With the right kind of approach and guidance, anybody can quickly learn to implement these emotional leadership skills in their workplace to help employees perform well.

Conclusion

Different leadership styles have different impacts on organizations based on their situations. An emotional leadership style is still necessary to attain balance and stability amongst employees. These six different emotional styles can be taught by the leaders depending upon the circumstances.

The styles it offers helps leaders to adjust and mold in different situations and come out as efficient. This, as a result, boosts the functioning of the entire team and shoots the goal-achieving process. Thus, achieving their desired goals becomes an easy task.

Do you also think that emotional leadership styles are quite effective in motivating teams to accomplish different goals? Share your viewpoints with us in the comments below.