Maybe you’re an aspiring leader, already CEO of a fortune 500 company, or maybe you’re somewhere in between. Either way, at some point during your career, you may be called into the role of a leader. When that time comes, you want to make sure that you do your best to avoid falling into these 5 types of management styles!
1. The Know-it-All
Yes, managers are placed in a leadership position for a reason. However, that reason is not because they know everything about everything. Regardless of an individuals title, there is always something to be learned and the most intelligent people are always the ones who understand that. When someone has a better idea than you or knows something you don’t, it’s never a bad thing. It actually makes your job easier, because you don’t have to have all the answers.
2. The Micro-Manager
It can be difficult to let go of control and place faith in other people’s ability to get the job done, especially when a teams performance is a direct reflection of their manager! Many times, that pressure causes managers to be overbearing on their employees by walking them through their jobs step and over-supervising their work. However, be aware that this type of management style can present a major barrier to the productivity of the managers own work. Not to mention, a distraction to the bigger picture. A micro-manager stifles creativity, makes their team feel incompetent, and can be really annoying to work for.
3. The Absentee Boss
On the opposite side of the spectrum is the absentee boss! While it’s good not to micro-manage your staff, the absentee boss takes hands off leadership to another level. Employees may appreciate the fact that their boss is so hands off, until they actually need something. Sure, managers should manage from a distance, but that doesn’t mean disappear completely. Every employee wants and deserves a certain degree of autonomy, yes, but they also want and need guidance, feedback, and validation that they are on the correct path.
4. The Self-Server
Self-serving leaders are obsessed about making themselves look good to their own boss and will use someone else to do it! These types of leaders will take all the credit for the good ideas their team comes up with, but will place blame on others if things don’t work out to plan. Eventually this leads employees to resent management and will be sure to cause friction on a team.
5. The Best Friend
Let’s face it, a lot of us spend more waking hours at work than we do with our family. Because of this, it’s important that we build strong relationships that we value in the workplace. However, becoming best friends with your direct reports can put you in a sticky situation. It may cause favoritism and resentment from other team members if it’s targeted towards one individual. Or, if you’re too close to the entire group, it can lead your team to start taking advantage of the close relationship. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with the people you work with. You just need to redefine what this type of friendship means.
By avoiding these leadership styles, you’ll surely be an amazing leader! Great leaders have a combination of people skills, communication abilities, and self mastery. If you’re a new leader, there can be a lot at stake as you try to rise up in your career. Some of the best leaders have executive coaches which help them hone and develop their skills in order to take their career to a higher level.
If you’d like to work with a coach the best way to do that is online! Modern Therapy offers online life coaching for career oriented professionals. Lean more here.