5 ways to ensure your leadership style does not kill your work culture

Are you inadvertently destroying the work culture you’re trying so hard to create?

Many of us have leadership roles within our company and whether we realise it or not, all of us have an unconscious leadership style. This style can either inspire others or frustrate them. It can encourage our teams to thrive or choke them. Our leadership can retain or drain our team, enabling staff to stick around or to push them out. The success of any team is down to all its members, but no one sets the tone more than the leader.

Leaders play an important role in creating the work environment for everyone at their company. They set the standard for work and behaviour, and their personal ethos inevitably filters down into all areas of the company.

So figuring out the type of leader you are is important to ensure that you create the right tone (and therefore the right culture) for your company. In this article, we seek to describe the different leadership styles, and explain the impact these styles can have on your work culture before we suggest five ways you can make sure you do not undo all your hard work!

What are the different leadership styles?

Leadership styles vary widely among people. Some leaders prefer to take charge and set goals; others prefer to let things happen naturally. Generally, though, leadership styles sit along a spectrum from tight control to very little control. Everyone’s leadership style can be categorised according to these seven labels.

They run from most controlling to least controlling (although there are always exceptions!):

1. Autocratic – This leader has complete control over his/her employees. They tend to micromanage and control every process that happens within the company.
2. Authoritarian – This leader makes decisions without consulting their employees.
3. Transactional – This leader focuses on results rather than relationships. The employees are there to do a job, not make friends!
4. Transformational – This leader inspires their employees to achieve higher levels of performance.
5. Participative – This leader encourages input from their employees, although gives direction and vision.
6. Democratic – This leader lets employees know they are free to voice their opinions without fear of reprisal. All decisions are made cooperatively.
7. Laissez-faire – This leader leaves decisions up to their subordinates. They have very little to do with the day-to-day running of the company or overall vision.

We all automatically and unconsciously fall into one of these categories. Each leadership style can have a different impact on your team. Sometimes this impact is bad, sometimes this impact is good. Knowing this, we can make changes to try and ensure we get the best out of our teams.

How does your leadership style affect your team?

Surprisingly, if you are prone to a more autocratic leadership style, you can actually really help and support inexperienced or poorly motivated team members. Because you tend to make all the decisions yourself and lean towards micromanaging every process within your company, you can get the best out of a team with little experience or expertise.

However, for those who are more experienced, more qualified and more self-motivated, you can really stifle their creativity and cause frustration and anger.

For those who lean toward a more laid-back or collaborative approach, you can really allow self-motivated colleagues to flourish in their roles. With the straight-jacket off, they are able to think, imagine and create in ways that you could not predict. Some of the most innovative ideas come from companies that are led in a very laissez-faire way. Teams enjoy their work as they have ownership of their projects and it can result in a high retention rate.

However, if a leader’s laid-back attitude is combined with poor systems and processes, colleagues can become incredibly frustrated. They are able to make decisions, but those decisions do not turn into results as the internal processes are poor. In addition, a lack of decision-making at the top can mean problems persist and the company lacks direction. This can lead to poor motivation and employees quickly move on.

How to make sure you’re not destroying your work culture

If you can identify what type of leader you are, and understand how you may inadvertently affect your team, then you can take steps to ensure you don’t kill your work culture.

1.    Value people

Employees who feel valued and appreciated will be more likely to perform better. In addition, employees who feel respected will be less likely to leave their jobs. Treat your team as people, with feelings and values that they hold dear. Make sure that you create opportunities to celebrate your team’s achievements - work and private. Using a Reward and Recognition platform helps the whole team feel connected and valued. Or give rewards, like Retail Discounts to show how appreciative you are of their hard work.

2.    Create an environment that encourages innovation.

A leader who encourages innovation will find that his or her employees are more likely to come up with creative solutions to problems. This type of leader creates an environment where people feel free to share ideas and opinions without fear of reprisal. It allows self-motivated people to flourish.

3.    Give practical support

Let your team members know you value them as whole people by building a package of benefits that support their health or financial wellbeing. People who are cared for practically will give more to the company. These work perks are highly valued by employees and attract applicants to your company. They are perks that people cannot easily live without once they have felt the benefit of quick access to medical care.

4.    Build processes that support

Self-motivated team members will thrive in an environment that encourages innovation when needed, but those who are less experienced will need systems that support them. Be very clear on describing processes and creating systems that support those who are less able on your team. These systems can be a foundation that people can fall back on if they are struggling.

5.    Make expectations clear

Leaders also need to communicate clearly about goals and objectives. This helps employees understand what they should expect from their job. It also allows them to plan accordingly.It’s easy to set expectations when things go well. However, when things don’t go as planned, it’s harder to communicate what needs to happen next. This is where clear communication becomes essential. Leaders should clearly explain what is expected of their team members. They should also provide feedback and guidance to ensure that everyone understands what is required of them.

Plan your work culture

We cannot control our instinctive leadership style. But we can make sure that it does not negatively impact our workplace or cause employees to leave unnecessarily by making small adjustments to the way we care for and support staff. That way, we can plan a positive work culture, rather than accidentally making a negative one.