Harvard Leadership Styles

Which leadership strategies will give you the results you want?

The answer has become a lot clearer following new research recently published in the Harvard Business Review [HBR]. From a random sample of nearly 4,000 executives, it was found that the most effective leaders choose from six distinctive leadership styles.

The research investigated how each of the six leadership styles correlated with the key components of the organisation’s culture. HBR identified these cultural components as:

a. flexibility – employees’ ability to innovate without excessive rules and regulations.
b. responsibility - how responsible employees feel towards the organisation.
c. standards - the level of standards expected in the organisation.
d. rewards - the accuracy of performance feedback and its link to rewards.
e. clarity - how clear employees are about the mission, vision and core value.
f. commitment – employees’ commitment to a common purpose.

The six leadership styles identified by the HBR, in order of their impact on an organisational culture, are as follows, and marked across the six key cultural components above [a more detailed breakdown is available from HBR], are as follows:

1. Coercive. This is a leader who demands immediate compliance. The phrase most descriptive of this leader is: "Do what I tell you!" This style can destroy your organisational culture. Because the downside is far greater than the upside, it should only be used with extreme caution. It is useful in an emergency, and may work in a crisis, a "turnaround" situation or as a last resort with a problem employee. This leadership style has the most negative impact (-.26) on the overall organisational culture.

2. Pacesetting. This is a leader who sets extremely high standards for performance. The phrase most descriptive of this leader is: "Do as I do, now!" This style can destroy a good culture. It only works with a highly motivated and competent team who are able to "read the leader’s mind." Others will feel overwhelmed and give up, because they cannot see themselves reach unrealistic standards. This style has virtually the same negative impact (-.25) on the overall organisational culture, especially on rewards and commitment.

3. Coaching. This is a leader who is focused on developing people for the future. The phrase most descriptive of this leader is: "Try this." Coaching leaders are great delegators, and are willing to put up with short-term failures, provided they lead to long-term development. This style works best when you want to help employees improve their performance or develop their long-term strengths. This style has a positive impact (.42) on the overall organisational culture.

4. Democratic. This is a leader who achieves consensus thorough participation. The phrase most descriptive of this leader is: "What do you think?" This style builds trust, respect and commitment, and works best when you want to receive input or get employees to "buy-in" or achieve consensus. It doesn’t work under severe time constrains or if employees are confused or uninformed. If handled correctly, this style has a positive impact (.43) on the overall organisational culture.

5. Affiliative. This is a leader who is interested in creating harmony and building emotional bonds with employees. The phrase most descriptive of this leader is: "People come first." This style works best when you want to motivate employees, especially when they face stressful situations, when you want build team harmony, improve communication, increase morale or repair broken trust. This style has a positive impact (.46) on the overall organisational culture. Because this style has virtually no downside, it is often describer as the best overall approach.

6. Authoritative. This is a leader who mobilises people with enthusiasm and a clear vision. This is a visionary leader, who gives people lots of leeway to innovate and take calculated risks, provided that they move in the direction of the stated vision. The phrase most descriptive of this leader is: "Come with me." This style works best when change requires a new vision or when employees are looking for a new direction. This style fails when employees are more knowledgeable or experienced than the leader, or if the authoritative style becomes overbearing. Provided that it is used with finesse, this style has the most positive impact (.54) on the overall organisational culture.

HBR provides further details on indicative factors for the above styles and directs the reader towards a measuring tool to support further analysis.

Most importantly, the HBR research shows that leaders who have mastered four or more styles, especially the authoritative, affiliative, democratic and coaching styles, and who can move seamlessly from one to the other, depending on the situation, produce the most positive organisational cultures and enjoy the greatest business successes.