As the theories show, for many years people have been searching to identify the “best” style of leadership. Yet the evidence clearly indicates that there is no single, all-purpose leadership style. Successful leaders are those who can adapt their behaviour to meet the demands of their own unique situation.
Leadership Style and Behaviour
Leadership style refers to how you behave when you are trying to influence the performance of someone else and is a combination of directive and supportive behaviour.
| Directive behaviour | Is the extent to which a leader engages in one-way communication by telling people what to do, as well as when, where and how to do it and then supervising their performance closely. |
| Supportive behaviour | Is the extent to which a leader engages in two-way communication by listening to people, providing support, giving encouragement for their efforts and facilitating their involvement in problem-solving and decision-making. |
The recognition of direction and support as two critical dimensions of a manager’s behaviour has been an important part of management research. These two dimensions have been given various labels ranging from “autocratic” and “democratic” to “people orientated” and “production orientated”. In the next section we will be looking at different leadership styles in more detail.
