What leadership styles are you employing?

Over the years I have found my own leadership style evolving while I watch how others lead. I find myself wondering if the style they use is better than mine, worse than mine, would have more of an impact, or would turn people away.

I consider myself an observer of people. I love to watch how people dress, interact, their tendencies, and their abilities. I especially watch people in roles of leadership to see how they choose to lead. The leaders who present leadership styles that I want to use are the people I love to watch the most.

Several years ago I had a clash of leadership styles between myself and another individual. It would be the first of many, but it was a moment in time where my ability to lead and make rational decisions were tested.

I felt that the rewards within the organization should be given to those who worked for it and not given to the ones who did not deserve it. I gave this advice to a particular leader who was in charge of handling the situation. He chose to ignore my request and do things his way.

Although I felt slighted and angered, I had to make a decision on whether my leadership style was going to be appropriate for the organization. I had thoughts of stepping down from my position and removing myself from that situation. While doing some deep thinking on the situation, I decided I would make a change to my style rather than abandon it.

What came out of that decision shaped my philosophy on what great leaders do. I chose to change my leadership styles to develop a mentoring relationship with new members of the organization. I decided to learn from them while helping shape their perspective on membership in the organization.

At the end of my leadership term, I left the organization with some thoughts I had prepared. My goal was to hopefully impart some words of wisdom to the future leaders in that organization. I am proud to say that a few years later, the president of the organization let me know that he referred to my notes in shaping himself as their leader. I felt fulfilled that my change in leadership styles had a small part to play in someone's development.

As a leader, your leadership styles will have an impact on those around you. Develop a great style and the leaders behind you will learn and build up future generation of leaders.