What type of leader are you?

Leadership is one of the essential ingredients which every organisation puts in to make it successful. Defining leadership could be difficult because it is perceived differently by different people. Most of us define leadership as a social influence or an ability to make sound decisions and motivate employees to perform better.

Different types of leadership exists in the business environment. It could be participative where there is importance given to input of employees and peers or laissez-faire where there is lack of direct supervision and so on. Culture and organisation’s goal shape the leadership style you adopt. But do gender differences influence the way we lead our teams?

Earlier studies concluded that there is no gender difference when it comes to leadership. Women and men were seen to be equal in their ways of leading a team.

But many recent researches and studies relating to the leadership style around the globe has broke the conventional results and has pointed out towards the differences in the way a woman leads her team when compared with a man’s way. It was found out that “Women leaders take care and men leaders take in charge.”

Women generally adopt transformational style of leadership. They look at a bigger picture and effectively communicate with others. Caring, nurturing, empathetic and responsive is what a women leader is more likely to be. Though some negatives have also been reported too (e.g moody).

Talking about male leaders, they are more likely to adopt transactional style of leadership. That means, they are more action oriented, and focussed. Following this leadership style, they are less likely to be emotionally engaged, unlike women leaders.

When it comes to leadership, every leadership style has both advantages and disadvantages. It depends on the organisation’s goal and the leader’s way of perceiving things. 

So, what kind of leader are you?

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