Read: management & leadership 3: A consulting (or coaching) style of leadership

There are many theories about leadership and styles of leading.

Absolute theories

• A traditional bipolar distinction is the democratic or autocratic leader. The directive or participative leader, the task- or human-oriented leader and the result- or process-oriented leader.
• Complex leadership styles are the result of a combination of those bipolar characteristics, leading to four different styles: the dictator, the integrator, the coordinator and the facilitator.
• Another classification is instrumental, supportive, participative or performance-oriented leadership

Contingency theories

• The path-goal theory (Greiner), a complex theory about the interaction between leader and workers, which uses a variety of criteria: complexity of tasks, personality of workers, character of the leader, motivational aspects and performances.
• The situational leadership theory (Hersey & Blanchard): a leader-follower model. The maturity of the tasks involved demands different leadership styles: limited follower maturity requires the telling style of leadership, moderate maturity requires the selling style, a reasonable amount of task maturity requires the participative style and high maturity requires a delegating style.
• The vertical dyad linkage theory (leader member exchange) stresses the mutual exchange character of the relation between the leader and each individual subordinate.
• The culturally defined style of leadership (see: Hofstede) : the implicit organizational models family (considerable hierarchy, few rules), village market (few structures, mutual adjustment), well-oiled machine (standardization) and pyramid of people (standardization, direct supervision and considerable structure).

Components that justify the contingency approach of leadership style are

• aspects depending on the question: what business are we in (the nature of the product, the image of the organization, the rate of technology involved, etc.)
• the stage of development of the organization (each phase of development requires another dominant leadership style)
• the subordinates (the education of the workers, the involvement with the organization, etc.)
• the culture of the organization (and the geographic, ethnic and local cultural elements)  and
• the personality of the leader (not everyone can excel in the same matters).

Leadership in countries with an individualistic culture.

Different cultures require different styles of leadership. In countries with an individualistic culture, the successful manager will often adopt a low profile.

An individualistic culture means that individualism is present everywhere, within and outside organizations. Organizations will meet the demands of the environment by delivering tailor-made products. Important is a full scope of responsibility for the workers, few specific rules and the allowance of some latitude in the practical execution of plans or policy.

 The fact that the workers have to be free (to a certain degree) to satisfy the needs of the clients raises a problem: how can the manager guarantee that the products will be in line with the goals of the organization?

 The leaders or managers have to practice a style not opposed to that high degree of individualism. Simply giving orders is not a feasible coordinating mechanism. Such a style would hinder the problem-solving capacity needed to meet the modern challenges outside the organization.

Holding a speech about the organizational goals once a year is not enough to transform those goals into living concepts that function as guidelines for action.

The answer is a consulting style of leadership. Individualism, especially if combined with short power distance, allows space for a form of advice that is fairly open-ended. The core of the consulting or coaching style is: to grasp 1001 chances to translate the goals into day-to-day guidelines, to connect and translate abstract intentions into concrete actions and concrete problem-solving.

The consulting style consists of two skills: promoting a problem-solving way of thinking amongst workers, and using a consultative attitude when confronted with problems, choosing which goal will be the target in a specific situation.

Goals may be general organizational goals, goals relevant to certain sectors within the organization, goals deduced from the personnel policy, goals to improve the functioning of the individual staff member and goals simply linked to the problem at hand.

Basic assumptions of the leader

McGregor describes a mechanistic and a human concept of leadership. The concept is about the way the leader thinks of people.

The mechanistic concept called Y-theory:

• people hate working
• that is why coercion is needed to get them to work
• negative sanctions are the best motivators
• the employee avoids responsibility
• money is an effective reinforcer

The human concept called X-theory:

• people are looking for satisfaction and development in their work
• they want responsibility and want to make efforts to succeed
• they dedicate themselves to their work as long as they are appreciated
• and they are creative if they get the opportunity.

This way of looking at people becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.