Throughout history, great leaders have emerged each with particular leadership

styles

Leadership in itself is a somewhat fluid principle. Generally, most leaders adapt their
styles to suit their situation. This is particularly true the longer they lead, as they
learn and engage with their employees they adapt their leadership style.

In order to become a more successful leader, leaders have to understand where

they are currently. In this article, we’ll explain what a leadership style is, then look
at 5 of the most common leadership styles and how effective they are.

1. Transformational Leadership
2. Delegative Leadership
3. Authoritaritative Leadership
4. Transactional Leadership
5. Participative Leadership

What is a leadership style?

A leadership style refers to a leader’s methods, characteristics and behaviors when

directing, motivating, and managing their teams.

Their leadership style is also the determining factor in how leaders develop their
strategy, implement plans and respond to changes, whilst managing the
expectations of stakeholders and the wellbeing of their team.

As you start to consider some of the people who you think of as great leaders, you
can immediately see that there are often vast differences in how each person leads.
Why is it important to know your own leadership style?

As a leader, understanding your own leadership style is critically important. When

you do understand your own leadership style you are able to determine the affect
this has on those that you directly influence.

Some leaders are already able to categorize their current leadership style,
recognizing whether this makes them an effective leader? Or how their employees
see them. But it is not always so defined. It is usually the case that leaders can
categorize their style, however often tend to exhibit traits of many other leadership
styles also.

One easy way to know what your leadership style is involved feedback. Asking those
who you lead to provide you with open and honest feedback is a helpful exercise.
Doing so will allow you to adapt your style’s characteristics within your day-to-day
responsibilities as a leader.

1. Transformational leadership
We’ve likely all been in a group situation where someone took control,
communicating with the group and creating a shared vision. Creating a unity,
developing bonds, creating energy and instilling passion. This person is very likely to
be considered a transformational leader.
Transformational leadership is a leadership style that places emphasis on change
and transformation. Leaders who adopt this approach strive to inspire their
followers to achieve more than they ever thought possible by tapping into their
individual potential. This type of leadership can be extremely effective in
organizations that are looking to make major changes or transformations.
Some of the key characteristics of transformational leadership include:

A focus on the future: Transformational leaders are always looking ahead and
thinking about what needs to be done in order to achieve the organization’s goals.
They inspire their followers to do the same.
A focus on change: Transformational leaders are comfortable with change and
understand that it is necessary for organizational success. They work to ensure that
their followers are also comfortable with change and are able to adapt to it.
A focus on people: Transformational leaders see the potential in each and every one
of their followers. They strive to develop their followers’ individual strengths and
abilities so that they can reach their full potential.

2. Delegative leadership

Often referred to as “laissez-faire”, a delegative leadership style focuses on

delegating initiative to team members. This is generally known as one of the least
intrusive forms of leadership, this literally translates to “let them do”. This is
therefore considered a very hand-off leadership style.
Leaders who adopt this style have trust, relying on their employees to do their jobs.
They don’t micromanage or get too involved in providing feedback or guidance.
Instead delegative leaders give their employees the freedom to utilize their
creativity, resources, and experience to help them meet their goals.
This can be a successful leadership strategy if team members are competent and
take responsibility for their work. However, delegative leadership can also lead to
disagreements among team members may split or divide a group.
It can be particularly difficult for newcomers to adapt to this style of leadership, or
staff members to develop an understanding of who is ultimately in charge and
responsible for outcomes. Therefore, it’s important that this leadership style is kept
in check.
3. Authoritative leadership

Authoritative leaders are often referred to a visionary. Leaders who adopt this style
consider themselves mentors to their followers. Not to be confused with
authoritarian leadership, authoritative leadership places more emphasis on a “follow
me” approach. In this way leaders chart a course and encourage those around them
to follow.
Leaders who display authoritative traits tend to motivate and inspire those around
them. As they provide overall direction, they also provide guidance, feedback and
motivation to their teams. This promotes a sense of accomplishment, or
achievement.

The authoritative leadership style relies heavily on getting to know each member of
a team. This allows a leader to provide guidance and feedback on a more
personalized level, helping individuals to succeed. This means authoritative leaders
need to be able to adapt, particularly as the size of their team grows.
Authoritative leadership is clearly very hands-on, but leaders must exercise caution
not to micromanage. This is a tendency with this style, which can be overbearing for
team members and creative negative sentiments.
4. Transactional leadership

Transactional leadership, often referred to as managerial leadership, is a leadership

style that relies on rewards and punishments. This leadership style has a clear
emphasis on structure, assuming individuals may not possess the motivation needed
to complete their tasks.
With this reward based system a leader sets out clear goals, or tasks for their teams.
Leaders also make it clear how their teams will be rewarded (or punished) for their
work. Rewards can take many formats, but typically will involve financial
recompense, such as pay, or a bonus.

This “give and take” leadership style is more concerned with following established
routines and procedures in an efficient manner, than with making any
transformational changes to an organization.
Transactional leadership establishes roles and responsibilities for each employee.
However, it can lead to diminishing returns if employees are always aware of how
much their effort is worth. Therefore it is important that incentives are consistent
with company goals and supported by additional gestures of appreciation.
5. Participative leadership

Sometimes referred to as democratic

leadership, participative leadership is a leadership style encouraging leaders to listen
to their employees and involve them in decision-making process. This leadership
style requires leaders to be inclusive, utilize good communication skills and crucially,
be able to share power/responsibility.
When a leader adopts a participative style of leadership this encourages
collaboration, through accountability. This often leads to a collective effort of a team
to identify problems and develop solutions, as opposed to assigning individual
blame.

This leadership style has historically been very common, utilized by a wide range of
leaders in many organizations. However, as working habits have changed
(accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic) and teams have become more
decentralized it makes this leadership style more difficult.

Spontaneous, open and candid communication are often associated with a

participative leadership style. Remote working, or virtual teams can make this
particularly challenging to maintain.
Participative leadership is often favored as it helps to build trust with
employees. Empowering them and encouraging them to share their ideas on
important matters, demonstrating their value to a team.

What Makes You A Great Leader!

A great leader, the most important skill should be owned by every individual.
Being a good leader can ameliorate your productivity, confidence, emotional
intelligence, seriousness, and many other things in your professional as well as
personal life. In this article, we will assimilate some great qualities to be a
great leader.

1. Honesty and Integrity

These are the two utmost supreme qualities to be a leader. When you will be
honest with yourself and others then only you will be able to learn. When the
leader will be honest with his work, then only his teammates/juniors will follow
the same. A great leader sticks to his principles, moral values, and ethics.

2. Confidence

A leader should have enough confidence to give orders to his teammates and
to ensure that the orders are followed by them. Confidence builds trust among
the teammates. To gain some respect from your subordinates one should be
confident. As being an under-confident person, the orders won’t be followed
by the subordinates, and being an overconfident person can destroy all the
work.
3. Inspire others

Yes, a great leader always inspires others and this can only happen when
one has set a good example. As a leader, you should always have an optimistic
approach, motivated and calm in every situation. These qualities will inspire
your subordinates. If your subordinates are inspired by you successfully, then
you can easily overcome any current and future challenges.

4. Commitment and Passion

A team will work hard with passion only if his boss is already doing it. A leader
should always stick to his commitments. This quality will not only build trust
among the team members but also infuse new energy in your teammates. This
will help them to achieve their targets.

5. Good Communicator

Communication is a key role in teamwork. Lack of creation sometimes creates

misunderstanding, failure to achieve goals, etc. A leader should always express
his vision, goals, strategies, and expectations among the teammates so that
they can understand and this will help them to achieve better results. Then
only a good communicator can be a good leader.

6. Decision-Making Capabilities

Many people are unable to decide at the right time. A leader should have the
ability to take correct decisions at the right time. He should, of course, think
long and hard but once the decision is taken then it must be correct.

7. Emotional Intelligence

Many people in the higher authority are fooled by the emotional drama of their
subordinates.
A leader should possess emotional intelligence because of managing emotions
effectively, better social awareness, seamless communications, and conflict
resolution. Emotional intelligence can also influence decision-making skills.

8. Resilience

There are always ups and downs in life. Great leaders should only focus on
finding solutions no matter how much the situation is tough. While most
people are busy complaining about the circumstances they are facing.

9. Empathy

To make a closer connection with the subordinates, empathy is necessary.

Understanding problems, feeling pain is the first step to being an effective
leader. Also finding the solutions to their problems is considered the quality of
a good leader.

10. Creativity and Innovation

These are the two qualities, which always make a person different from the
crowd. A great leader should have ideas, which are out of the box. Then
ideas should be turned into goals and that goal into reality.

Thinking deeply about subjects is a pivotal part of learning. Educators have always
wanted their students to think about what is being taught, but the way they
encourage that process is changing. Teachers no longer tell students what to think.
Instead, they teach them how to think.

Today’s instructors seek to build student leadership through their teaching

techniques. Student leaders go on to become independent thinkers who understand
how to work as part of teams and have positive effects on organizations and
communities.

What is Student Leadership?

Student leadership means students take active roles in their education and develop
positive skills in the process. The goal of inspiring student leaders is to create
a culture of ownership, collaboration and community in the classroom. Student
leadership development helps create skills that the students can carry over to
adulthood.
In the classroom, teachers can foster student leadership qualities through a process
called Project-Based Learning or PBL. The Buck Institute for Education explained
Project-Based Learning is a teaching process in which students learn through hands-
on work on a project that addresses a complex question or challenge over a period
of time.
Teacher, podcaster, public speaker and blogger Vicki Davis works to cultivate
student leadership in her classroom and among fellow teachers. She writes about
her methods on her award-winning website Cool Cat Teacher. She’s also written two
books called “Reinventing Writing” and “Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds.”
She believes PBL and other student-led initiatives can shape minds in unique ways
and said:
Project-Based Learning and student leadership building, when done well, add
meaning and relevance. They start students on a path to success and give them
opportunities for leadership while in school, so they can speak the language of
negotiation cooperation, esprit-de-corps and teamwork. One cannot start too soon
helping students lead.
Educators work hard to motivate students to lead in their classrooms. How that
looks can vary by class type and age, but the end goal is inspiring confident
individuals ready to take on challenges using real-world skills.

How Teachers Facilitate Student Leadership Development

Davis has a lot of advice when it comes to facilitating student leadership in the
classroom. Most of it comes down to listening to students and helping them
communicate and shine in ways that feels comfortable to them.

As teachers, we must constantly be sensitive to the inclusion of everyone in class

conversations. For example, when I have some students that dominate
conversations, I’ll give each student three tokens as they enter class. I offer
participation grades for the day based upon their “spending” of each token with
meaningful additions to class conversation. Once their three tokens are spent, they
must wait until everyone has spent their tokens in the conversation. This
encourages students who are quieter to join the conversation while keeping one
student from monopolizing it.
Other times, I may include a back-channel chat so students can participate via
message as well as verbally. There are many meaningful ways to encourage
conversation, but the best ways are not gimmicks are tricks. It is simply using a
student’s name and asking him or her to join the conversation.

t’s also incredibly important to consider different personality types when encouraging
student leadership. Differences and insecurities shouldn’t keep students from
emerging as leaders in the classroom when inclusivity is encouraged.

While working with teams, I discuss the natural tendencies of introverts and
extroverts but stress the importance of getting everyone involved in discussions
because teams are more successful when people are included.
To encourage this in a team environment, I point out when I notice one person
successfully including another. The best way to include people is to build habits of
being inclusive in students. That is the kind of leadership we’re looking to nurture!
Cultivating a passion in students is a great way to bring out their innate leadership
qualities. Project-Based Learning activities should be meaningful to the students and
the community so classes can see the true effects of their hard work.

The best way to spark students’ belief in themselves is giving them the opportunity
to do projects of worth. When a student can be successful in smaller projects and
see impacts, they’ll proceed to larger projects of their own.
When students pitch project ideas to me, I’ll watch them to see if they’re
passionate. If I don’t see passion, I’ll ask them why they are doing this project. If
they answer something like, “It’s easy,” we’ll engage in authentic conversation about
what matters and work to find a topic that matters to the student or students. The
right project is the key to unlocking students’ excitement.
Giving students ownership of their education and true responsibility helps build
accountable, confident individuals. It also provides them with marketable skills that
they can apply to future endeavors. Student leadership in the classroom and PBL
help students develop skills they might not have otherwise had the opportunity to
grow.

Project-Based Learning is not learning something and then making a poster to

demonstrate what was already learned. Students are learning as part of the process
of creating the project. Therefore, they often take a variety of roles just as people
take a variety of roles in a business.
For example, if students are creating an application, there are various roles for
students, including project manager. For graphic design and websites, we’ll have an
art director. Editors work to proofread and bring continuity to applications, websites
and blog posts. Different projects may have different leaders, but when the project
is completed, students not only have a sense of accomplishment, but a valuable skill
and title for their future resume that represents an authentic learning experience.
Educators must adapt their teaching to bring out the best in their students and help
them learn through meaningful work. This helps build true student leadership
qualities that will benefit students throughout their lifetimes.

Student Leadership Qualities Teachers Cultivate

Student leadership qualities look different student-to-student. It’s important that all
students, regardless of personality traits or learning types, get the opportunity to
grow their leadership qualities in their learning environment.

Everyone has influence. Each person can lead in their own way. In many schools,
most leadership positions are by election or appointment. Students who aren’t
interested in clubs or extracurriculars may graduate from high school without
appreciating or developing their leadership ability.
Teamwork is an essential part of real-world success. Therefore, it should be part of
a real-world classroom environment. Every school should have at least one class, if
not more, that brings to the forefront each student’s leadership ability and helps to
improve and develop it.
Building student leadership is about a classroom mirroring and affecting the real
world. Only then do students build the skills they need to be leaders inside and
outside of school.

Examples of Student Leadership

In her time in the classroom, Davis has witnessed many students discover their
leadership skills and apply those skills to meaningful work and learning.

I had three girls design an app called iCare, which gave students ideas for ways to
be kind to one another. Those young ladies have each gone on to lead in ways that
show people they care. One became a camp counselor each summer to help girls
know they matter. Another one, who was the art director on iCare, was hired by a
company for a virtual internship to make movies in Atlanta.
One of my students learned Adobe Premier in a movie making class and went on to
job shadow a local company that makes movies for businesses. She had already
managed film shoots and edited film through her Project-Based Learning activities.
She was offered a summer internship.
Davis takes great pride in seeing her students grow in a changing world. She
believes that their ability to lead in the classroom helps them succeed in their future
endeavors.

A tenth-grade student named Casey Cox partnered with another student in

Bangladesh. They co-created a video and studied trends in Thomas Friedman’s book
The World is Flat. These two young ladies won a top award for that project. Casey is
now in her 20s and is a leader in the Georgia-Florida-Alabama Water Rights
negotiations. She was recently inducted into Leadership Georgia 2019. She blogs for
Intel and has been to the White House. She was even on a recent episode of
Sesame Street! All because she understands and uses 21st century skills and
leadership techniques. It is a new world, and she was ready!
It’s easy to see that given the right opportunities, students will blossom to be
leaders in fields that interest them, making a positive impact on society.

Impact Student Leadership in Your Career

Are you an educator inspired to make a true difference in the lives of your students
by developing their leadership skills? Teacher leadership may be the route for you.
In fact, it’s the route Davis took.

My job is a hybrid role. I teach four classes and have three classes dedicated to
instructional technology leadership. When an educator is allowed to teach and lead,
I believe it brings out the best in education. Teacher leadership is a valuable
education path for many teachers.
Many teachers are stepping outside of the classroom to help their fellow educators
inspire their students through new instructional practices, including Project-Based
Learning. If you want to expand your education and become a teacher leader,
consider an online master’s in education leadership. Campbellsville University’s
Master of Arts in Education Teacher Leader program prepares you to lead and
mentor fellow teachers and students.
If your passion lies with helping special education students, Campbellsville University
offers a program specifically for you. Our online master’s in special education with a
focus in teacher leadership will help you prepare to meet the unique challenges of
students with emotional, behavioral and learning disorders and the educators
working with them.

Teacher Leadership Roles Inside and Outside of the Classroom

Teachers are leaders all day. They lead by example in the way they act, speak, and
behave. They lead their students through challenging activities and rigorous
learning. Then, they take on additional teacher leadership roles inside and outside
the classroom. Activities, events, and extracurricular programs are what build
positive school culture and often require additional leadership support from teachers.
Endless academic and social opportunities for students within schools benefit from
teacher initiative and leadership capabilities. American University’s Online Master of
Arts in Teaching and Master of Education in Educational Policy and
Leadership programs build versatile teacher leaders, who are prepared to take on
extra leadership and understand the importance of it.

Leadership Styles

In schools, there are always selfless teachers who support students at all costs.
Trusted by students and staff alike, these teachers are known to make decisions
 based on students’ needs. Their dedication to improve students’ academics and
social experiences is proven by their willingness to dedicate lunches and after-school
hours with students to grow their activities and programs.

According to Dr. Tiphanie Scroggins who runs the American University School of
Education’s administrative program, there are a few key leadership qualities vital to
success as an educator. “The heart of an educators work is students’ learning and
well being,” says Dr. Scroggins. “They need to be focused, strategic, innovative, and
collaborative.” These qualities not only help teachers improve learning outcomes, but
also help build community, encourage inclusivity, and create a culture of continuous
improvement for themselves, their colleagues, and their students.

Of course, there are many ways educators can lead, so no two teachers will share
the same leadership style. Here are five leadership styles that teacher leaders can
use inside and outside the classroom.

 Authoritative Leadership
Authoritative leaders push their teams to pursue common goals. They balance
maintaining a high bar and inspiring their teams to success. According to Dr.
Scroggins, authoritative leaders rely heavily on strategy, using data to set high
expectations and take thoughtful risks. Authoritative leaders can also be relentless in
their pursuit of meaningful growth and demonstrate determination and resilience. In
education, this means authoritative leaders may be teachers with many years of
experience or higher degrees. The National College for Teaching and Leadership
names authoritative leadership the most effective in education.

 Affiliative Leadership
Affiliative leaders are people who their teams can trust and feel safe going to. They
validate their colleagues and build camaraderie among their teams—qualities that
promote inclusivity, equity, and culturally responsive practices, according to Dr.
Scroggins. A school’s success largely depends on building culture and values. This
requires affiliative leadership to push staff and students alike in the same direction.

 Democratic Leadership
Democratic leaders are the first to seek feedback and share decision-making
responsibilities. In education, this often means gathering feedback from students,
staff, administrators, and families to implement school-wide changes and policies.
“Democratic leadership is about believing students, parents, and the community
have a voice,” says Dr. Scroggins. “This approach helps build community and
nurture partnerships among stakeholders.”

 Pacesetting Leadership
Pacesetting leaders essentially focus on the practice of leading by example inside or
outside the classroom. They do it all, setting the tone of a school and inspiring other
teachers by their skills, dedication, and achievements.

 Coaching Leadership
Coaching leaders take young or struggling teachers under their wings to mentor.
This style of leadership is usually time-consuming and requires much empathy and
patience on the leader’s part. However, it has significant benefits to teacher
development and student academic success.

Leadership Opportunities

The Teacher Leadership Competencies, published by the National Board for

Professional Teaching Standards, clearly states that “teacher leadership is no longer
optional.” It’s part of the job. And there’s no shortage of teacher leadership roles for
educators. Teachers have endless opportunities to lead initiatives and programs on
and off campus to enhance the educational experiences of their students.
Sometimes these opportunities are formally appointed or open for applications;
other times they’re volunteer-based. Below are ideas of leadership opportunities
most schools will offer.

Teachers as Leaders
Leadership is a term that can mean many different things depending on the setting.
In addition, there are many different leadership styles and no two individuals are the
same. Each person has their own perspectives based on their individual cultures,
educational backgrounds and personality traits. All of these things affects how the
information that they are being given is processed and interpreted. An effective
leader must have the ability to adapt their leadership style to the needs of the
immediate person or situation.
Teachers fulfill many roles in today’s world and one of the most important is the role
of a leader. Teacher leadership occurs every day in the classroom and provides an
environment that enriches the lives of not only the students but all of the
professionals with whom they come in contact.
There have been numerous studies that have attempted to determine the essential
traits that make up a good leader. Following are those that I feel are consistently
seen in teacher leaders.
1. Passion. Teachers are very passionate about teaching and learning. They
continuously feed their passion by staying on top of the latest evidenced based
practices for teaching their students. In addition, they are passionate with regards to
professional learning to enhance their career goals.
2. Integrity. Teacher leaders display honesty in all of their interactions with their
students, colleagues and administrators. Also they are trustworthy and can be
counted on to produce quality work and meet all of the many timelines that are part
of their everyday commitments. When they make a promise to their students they
always follow through.
3. Collaborative. Teacher leaders ask for input from all the members of their
classroom team, their colleagues and administrators. They realize that to be a truly
effective teacher leader they cannot close their classroom door and operate
independently.
4. Communicative. Teacher leaders are able to clearly articulate their vision for
their classroom in order to insure that the team is working towards the same goal.
Teacher leaders are also able to communicate the vision for each student to parents
and anyone else that is part of the student’s learning community. Teacher leaders
are able to communicate to each student the goals that have been set for them so
that the student has a clear picture of the path that they and the teacher are on.
5. Positive Attitude. Teacher leaders consistently demonstrate an upbeat
demeanor that motivates those with whom they interact on a daily basis. They
manage to maintain an important balance between productivity and fun.
6. Confidence. Teacher leaders stay calm and confident when faced with a setback.
They keep the team moving forward and focused on the long term goals. When a
student is having a hard time either with an academic concept or maintaining
appropriate classroom behavior, the teacher is the voice of calm in the middle of the
student’s storm and is able to re-focus the attention of the student back to the task
at hand.
7. Inspirational. Teacher leaders keep their students and teams invested in the
goals that have been set. They do this though acknowledging both large and small
accomplishments that are made daily.
8. Engagement. Teacher leaders keep their teams engaged. They do this by
challenging them and asking for their input on a frequent and consistent basis.
Teacher leaders keep their student’s consistently engaged by setting high
expectations and reachable goals.
9. Fearlessness. Teacher leaders are not afraid to take risks and in doing so, make
mistakes. They realize that making mistakes allows them an opportunity for growth.
By doing so, they create an atmosphere in their classroom that encourages all team
members and students to take risk without the inherent fear of making mistakes.
10. Celebrators. Teacher leaders take time to recognize all the accomplishments
the students and team have made.