Understand Your Leadership Style, Understand Yourself

Getting to the root of who you are as a leader, and why, can be transformative. Learn how. 

By Nick Liantzakis

No matter where you are in your career, I’d bet you can think of a manager (or two) who just didn’t “get” it. Wasn’t plugged into frontline employee needs, didn’t enact meaningful changes, maybe even actively created a hostile, burnout-prone environment. 

If you’re like me, those experiences weren’t necessarily all bad. They were draining, sure. They were frustrating. But ultimately, at least for me, they were motivating. Seeing dysfunction in the  workplace and the obvious shortsightedness of managers, I made a promise to myself that someday, I’d be the manager I would want to have. 

Years later, I got my chance. But it wasn’t without some necessary introspection. Just as in my recent article, in which I explored the benefits of collaboration in creating better project outcomes, I can say confidently: there is discomfort in bucking the norms, and it requires commitment. 

In this article, I hope to share what I’ve learned in my career and in my development as a leader. Whether you’re new to leadership, a seasoned pro, or aspiring to a front-office job someday, I think everyone can benefit from learning a bit about themselves and their leadership style. Let’s dig in. 

First up: What’s a leadership style? 

Throughout this article, I’ll be referencing leadership styles. Put simply, a leadership style is how a leader or manager behaves, and how they guide, motivate, and manage others. Leaders can be excellent delegators, or they can be strategic top-down commanders, or they can loop in disparate groups, or they can act in the “servant leader” role. There are a lot of ways to behave as a leader. 

There’s rarely one “true” leadership style that rings true throughout someone’s career. So much of a leadership style is dependent on the field, the role, the number of direct reports, and so on. Near the end of the article, you’ll find some helpful links that go into each of the most common leadership styles—resources that I hope will help you as you explore how you show up as a leader, and what traits you’d like to emphasize. 

Take stock of what’s in front of you

For those who are in management, I’d recommend starting with the question: How did I get here? Why was I attracted to being a leader? Pay and praise are at the top of the list for a lot of people, but from what I’ve learned, there is almost always something deeper, too. Again, maybe you saw poor examples of leadership. Or maybe you had examples of great leaders in your life and sought to emulate them. 

For those who want to get into leadership, explore why. What motivates you? What are the unique traits that set you apart and could help you lead others effectively? 

Ultimately, developing—or further developing—your leadership style means taking a close look at what makes you tick, and why.

In any case, it’s important to note: Understanding your management or leadership style isn’t a one-and-done activity. We evolve with different roles, with different life events, and even as we get more years of leadership under our belts. Your leadership style will probably even change based on what issue you’re facing! But there are common threads you can identify. 

With all that said, take some time to think about the following:  

  • How did I react to a recent critical situation or issue in the workplace? Was it effective? Would I have changed anything about it? 
  • Which leaders do I admire? Why? 
  • How do those I lead see me? 
  • Would I want to be managed by myself? 
  • Who do I observe silently and learn what to do and what not to do?

Get ahead of the curve

There are both personal and practical reasons for getting in touch with who you are as a leader and ultimately identifying your leadership style. I’ve found that it’s the lack of self-awareness that can cause trouble. That is to say, if you’re not aware of your leadership style, you may not be aware of problems brewing in the background. This is especially relevant in high-stakes or intense environments, like corrections. 

Again, some introspection: Do you build up walls and fortifications around managerial and administrative decisions and activities? That may cause fear or nervousness in direct reports or frontline people when it comes to speaking up about potential issues before they balloon into big problems. 

I am not suggesting you change who you are and how you lead entirely. But if you suspect that leading with a firmer hand means staff may not be comfortable bringing up issues of potential importance, brainstorm ways to facilitate that knowledge-sharing. If you gain a reputation as a leader who can identify potential issues before they become big problems, that’s a net positive. The same is true in the other direction, though. If your frontline staff are utterly unsurprised when an issue spirals out of control, it means they knew something you didn’t—and it may mean they didn’t think it was worth sticking their necks out to tell you. 

Putting it into practice

Ready to get started? The resources below are excellent starting-points for identifying, empowering, and enhancing your leadership style. 

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