At DMConsultants I’ve worked with a variety of organizations, worldwide and across many industries. I’ve encountered many types of leaders – some who inspired me, and others who made every day of the collaboration felt like a battle. It is not that we butted heads, it was how they felt it was best I conducted training sessions with their team. Over time, I realized just how much leadership styles impacts employees, not just employee performance, but their mental well-being, motivation, and even career decisions.
The Right Leadership Style Builds Trust
The best leaders I’ve worked with understood that employees must feel heard, supported, and empowered. The best leaders recognized that life happens and if they adopt a transformational leadership style, they can strengthen their team by focusing on open communication, empowering teams, setting clear goals, and encouraging personal growth. I found teams who had these kinds of supportive leaders were more engaged in the training session, willing to go the extra mile after training, and were proud of the work they were doing in the organization.
The Wrong Style? It Can Drain Your Team
On the flip side, I’ve experienced authoritarian leadership, the dictatorial style of reporting and being punitive to any employee who arrives late for training sessions. These were leaders who specifically asked me to report any late attendees and ignore their request to be given an update as to any part of the session they missed. To my mind this is not productive for the business or the employee. The objective is to effect change, hence to my mind this leadership style where decisions are made without team input, and mistakes are not tolerated, does not foster growth. I have seen team members who have performed well during our training sessions leave the organization with new knowledge after completing the training. The result? A loss to the organization, money wasted on corporate training, low staff morale, high staff turnover, and a team that was just going through the motions. In many cases, no doubt looking for better placements. No one thrives under constant pressure with zero feedback or recognition.
Leadership Directly Impacts Team Performance
Whether you are a startup, a small business or a corporate environment, I’ve seen how the leader’s style sets the stage for team collaboration, creativity, a good working environment, high staff morale and team productivity. Employees reflect what they see. A leader who is empathetic, decisive, and communicative creates a ripple effect across the entire organization.
Final Thoughts
From my experience, leadership must not be focused on hitting goals consistently, it’s about people and shaping a culture where people feel valued and supported, do this and the goals of the organization will naturally fall into place with a team who surpasses expectation consistently. If you’re in a leadership role, take some time to reflect: is your style helping your team grow, or holding them back? The way you lead could be the reason someone either dreads Mondays or looks forward to it. I am not here to judge you, just to help you make that change, contact us today.
