- Effective leadership requires a combination of soft and hard skills that inspire others to achieve mutually beneficial goals.
- Four leadership styles are commonly used today. Each has unique aspects that help leaders address specific issues within an industry or organization.
- The true meaning of leadership goes beyond skills and leadership theories. Leaders help push society forward by providing vision and inspiration to people.
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Why is leadership important? This is a valid question as companies move past traditional corporate structures and leadership theories. With new ways to manage teams emerging and remote work becoming more common, the definition of leadership has also evolved. Today, effective leadership requires an understanding of diverse groups of people and the technology that powers the global economy.
Ahead, we discuss what defines a leader and why leadership is important. We also share some common leadership theories and conclude by sharing a story about the true meaning of leadership.
What Defines a Leader?
Leaders inspire others to apply their unique talents toward a mutually desired goal. A good leader goes beyond the call of duty. They use soft skills to inspire their teams rather than relying on authoritarian measures to achieve results. Leadership also involves directing teams and aligning them based on mutual values.
The definition of leadership has many variations, each based on different leadership theories. Over time, evolving leadership styles make us question traditional notions of what defines a leader and what form of leadership is necessary for success.
Why Is Leadership Important?
Leadership is important because it is a vital component of human achievement. As the workplace becomes more diverse, leadership skills become even more critical. According to research from Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill published in 2023, key leadership skills include:
- Empathy and authenticity
- Curiosity and analytical skills
- Adaptability and creativity
- Resilience and comfort with ambiguity
To become a good leader today, you need to hone different skills than leaders of the past. Working with diverse groups makes empathy and authenticity a key leadership skill. And with the ever-evolving state of the economy and technology, adaptability and comfort with ambiguity are also crucial. In the next section, we review some popular leadership theories and how they incorporate these leadership skills.
Get Industry leading insights from Robert F. Smith directly in your LinkedIn feed.
Get Industry leading insights from Robert F. Smith directly in your LinkedIn feed.
What Are 4 Different Types of Leadership?
The four different types of leadership commonly employed in today’s workplace include transformational leadership, transactional leadership, participative leadership and bureaucratic leadership. Each one accommodates different types of organizational needs. For example, bureaucratic leadership is more common in highly regulated industries. However, participative leadership is more applicable to smaller, more creative teams.
Here are four different leadership styles common in organizations today:
- Transformational leadership. This leadership style relies on skills like empathy and authenticity to help teams find success through inspiration, encouragement and aligning toward a common vision.
A transformational leader identifies strengths and weaknesses and helps teams collaborate effectively. This form of leadership is best used in diverse workplaces, where a unifying vision can help people from different backgrounds find a commonality of purpose.
- Transactional leadership. This leadership style is more common in hierarchical management structures, where authoritarian leaders provide directives to subordinates.
The relationship is transactional in the sense that the people working on the team are completing tasks solely in exchange for compensation. Transactional leadership is based on the notion that the workforce requires external motivation. This is a stark contrast to transformational leadership, where leaders motivate their teams with internal validation.
- Participative leadership. With participative leadership, team members are able to influence leadership decisions. This way, decision-making is informed by many different departments and points of view, which can lead to innovation.
Participative leadership is common in smaller, more creative organizations. This leadership style is also applicable at a departmental level. It can help a brand evolve and extract valuable insights from its own workforce.
- Bureaucratic leadership. Bureaucratic leadership is most common in highly regulated industries. This form of leadership is very common in governments and areas like finance.
In high-compliance industries, there is less room for creativity. This leadership style can ensure that an organization is compliant with the law, industry regulations or government oversight.
Leadership evolves with the times and the needs of different organizations and industries. That is why so many leadership philosophies have become popular as the global marketplace evolves. Even within the same business, departments can employ different leadership styles.
The True Meaning of Leadership
The true meaning of leadership extends beyond definitions, characteristics and leadership theories. Throughout history, great leaders have pushed society forward by providing a vision for the future that inspires others to follow in that direction. Usually, an important issue for society to solve sets the stage for leadership.
Today, student debt is an issue that keeps certain groups of people in financial turmoil, even as they work hard and are financially responsible. This issue exacerbates other issues, like racial inequity. These issues motivated visionary Robert F. Smith to make a groundbreaking move with his philanthropic giving. While giving the commencement speech to the Morehouse College class of 2019, he announced that he would eliminate their student debt and the debt incurred by their parents and guardians, with a gift of $34 million.
There have been many large philanthropic donations to universities before, but Smith took it a step further by addressing the financial needs of the students directly. In doing so, he changed the trajectory of the lives of nearly 400 young Historically Black College and University (HBCU) graduates. The only thing he asked of them in return was to pay it forward to future generations.
This is a great example of how an act of leadership can influence the lives of others and address critical societal issues.
Learn more about the importance of leadership, different leadership philosophies and Smith’s commitment to leadership by following him on LinkedIn.
