There are many different kinds of leadership in the workforce, but the spectrum of the various types of leadership stem from the two extreme kinds of leadership: One that conquers in fear and the Other rules in inspiration. If you are a boss, ask yourself which one you are teetering towards. Or ask yourself which extreme type is your boss leaning towards.
Below are some of the scenarios and how the 2 extreme type of leadership will react.
Careless Mistakes @ Work Someone in the team made a grave error due to sloppy work and carelessness.
Fear: You screamed your head off at the incumbent and issued a warning letter. You held back the whole team after work to clean up his mistakes.
Inspiring: You had a closed-door talk with the incumbent and understand his inadequacy. You highlight his mistake and talk about the consequences of his carelessness. You asked if anyone in the team would like to volunteer to stay behind together with you and him to rectify the errors.
Prep Talk You are taking over a new team in a new department. You are holding your very first meeting with them.
Fear: You took a commanding stance and menacing glare around the room as you laid down rules and your dislikes.
Inspiring: You smile a lot, and you make sure you have eye contact with each and every one of them. You introduce yourself, ask a lot of questions and listen to what they have to say. You genuinely show that you want to know them as an individual.
Difficult Decision Management handed down a difficult decision for you to break the bad news. The company is not giving out bonuses this year.
Fear: You send an email stating the fact without offering any explanation. You made it clear that you don’t want anyone asking you about it and there is no room for further discussion.
Inspiring: You gather your team aside and announce the news. You let the news sink in and offer 1 on 1 to anyone who still has questions about the issue.
Team Bonding Your team have to decide what to do and where to go for their team outing.
Fear: You already made up your mind that you want Japanese food and you tell your team your preference. You veto all their choices and dates, only picking the most convenient time to suit yourself.
Inspiring: You rally everyone’s morale and ask all of them to throw in some crazy fun ideas from an outdoor zip line to movies night to dancing class. You get everyone to vote for their choice of activity and the dates.
Brainstorming You need feedback from your staff and come up with a new idea to improve current processes.
Fear: You came up with your own idea and refuse to listen to any feedback. Or worse, you took one of your team’s idea and made it out as if it is on your own and not through teamwork.
Inspiring: You put forward a few ideas to get the ball rolling, and you explain the impact of each idea that you are unable to pick. You push the limits of their thinking boundaries and challenge your team to come up with something better than the last idea. Lastly, you presented the final plan as a whole team to the management.
What are your thoughts on the above topic? A penny for them in the comments below!
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