A basic choice of styles!

Are you sometimes wondering which Leadership style you should use in a given moment?

It’s normal to be unsure here.

Here’s a quick refresher on 4 common style differences and when to use them:

Mentoring: a voluntary offer to pass down experience and knowledge to someone who has some kind of growth goal. It makes informal organisational and political knowledge accessible. BUT: it can create dependency.

Consulting: the analysis of work problems and offer of direct solutions. It provides quick wins. BUT: It often solves superficially. Solutions may not be sustainable and it cements dependency on the solution provider.

Counselling: the provision of resolution and ‘healing’ for tough personal and psychological problems through inquiry. It’s deep and powerful. BUT: People Leaders typically don’t go there, for good reason. It requires solid training.

Coaching: the provision of facilitated thinking and problem solving to boost performance and growth. It’s THE style that builds autonomy, motivation and accountability. BUT: It requires a solid skill set and practice.

⚠️ Don’t forget: all styles have their place and use!

I focus on teaching coaching, because it’s the most unfamiliar style to most people. If you have not been trained to coach, most likely you never coached before!

In which area of your team’s work do you feel stuck?

Where would you like your team to play a more self-motivated role?

These are areas where an inquiry-based way of leading will have great benefits! Coaching is a fantastic way to help teams get unstuck. More on this in the coming weeks 🙂