Leadership styles encompass the behavioral qualities of a leader. These qualities are commonly used to direct, motivate, or manage groups of people. Some of the most recognized leadership styles include Autocratic, Democratic, or Laissez-Faire leadership styles.
Transformational leadership is a style of leadership that motivates, encourages, and inspires employees to contribute to company growth. Leadership expert James McGregor Burns first described the concept of transformational leadership in a 1978 book entitled Leadership. Although Burns’ research was focused on political leaders, the term is also applicable for businesses and organizational psychology.
The theory was developed by psychologist Edwin Locke who also has a background in motivation and leadership research. Locke’s goal-setting theory of motivation provides a framework for setting effective and motivating goals. Locke was able to demonstrate that goal setting was linked to performance.
Harvard Business School professor Dr. John Kotter has been a thought-leader on organizational change, and he developed Kotter’s 8-step change model, which helps business managers deal with organizational change. Kotter created the 8-step model to drive organizational transformation.
The Value Disciplines Model was developed by authors Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema. In their model, the authors use the term value discipline to represent any method a business may use to differentiate itself. The Value Disciplines Model argues that for a business to be viable, it must be successful in three key areas: customer intimacy, product leadership, and operational excellence.
Andy Grove, helped Intel become among the most valuable companies by 1997. In his years at Intel, he conceived a management and goal-setting system, called OKR, standing for “objectives and key results.” Venture capitalist and early investor in Google, John Doerr, systematized in the book “Measure What Matters.”
Tipping Point Leadership is a low-cost means of achieving a strategic shift in an organization by focusing on extremes. Here, the extremes may refer to small groups of people, acts, and activities that exert a disproportionate influence over business performance.
The Self-Evolved Leader by Dave McKeown is a practical guide for those leading teams who wish to adopt new ways of thinking which will take their leadership skills to the next level.
Amazon fundamental principles that drove and drive the company are: Customer Obsession Ownership Invent and Simplify Are Right, A Lot Learn and Be Curious Hire and Develop the Best Insist on the Highest Standards Think Big Bias for Action Frugality Earn Trust Dive Deep Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit Deliver Results.
In his book, “Competitive Advantage,” in 1985, Porter conceptualized the concept of competitive advantage, by looking at two key aspects. Industry attractiveness, and the company’s strategic positioning. The latter, according to Porter, can be achieved either via cost leadership, differentiation, or focus.
User Manual To Leadership Frameworks
Leadership Style/Concept
Description
When to Use
Advantages
Drawbacks
Core Leadership Styles
Behavioral qualities used to direct, motivate, or manage groups of people.
Depending on organizational culture and specific leadership needs.
Provides flexibility to adapt to different situations and leadership challenges.
Overemphasis on one style may lead to leadership gaps.
Transformational Leadership
Motivates, encourages, and inspires employees to contribute to company growth.
When seeking to foster innovation, employee engagement, and organizational change.
Drives high levels of employee commitment and motivation. Encourages a culture of continuous improvement.
May require a shift in leadership mindset and training.
Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ)
A means of making fast decisions that provide quick direction.
When quick decisions are needed in meetings or brainstorming sessions.
Speeds up decision-making and promotes collaboration.
May not suit all decision scenarios.
Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model
A framework for managing organizational change effectively.
During periods of significant organizational change or transformation.
Provides a structured approach to navigate complex change initiatives.
May be perceived as rigid in certain organizational cultures.
Value Disciplines Model
Focuses on customer intimacy, product leadership, and operational excellence as key business strategies.
When developing a clear business strategy and differentiation approach.
Helps businesses identify and prioritize their core value disciplines.
May require substantial resources and effort to implement.
OKR (Objectives and Key Results)
A goal-setting system for organizations to drive performance and focus.
When aligning organizational goals and objectives across teams and departments.
Encourages clarity, alignment, and accountability in goal setting.
Implementation may require cultural and process changes.
Tipping Point Leadership
Achieves strategic shifts by focusing on extreme influencers or activities.
When aiming for significant changes with limited resources.
Leverages the power of influential individuals or groups to drive change.
May overlook broader organizational dynamics and resistance.
Self-Evolved Leader
A guide for leaders seeking to adopt new ways of thinking and improve leadership skills.
When leaders wish to enhance their leadership capabilities and evolve.
Encourages personal growth and development for effective leadership.
Requires commitment to self-improvement and ongoing learning.
Amazon Leadership Principles
Fundamental principles that guide Amazon’s organizational culture and leadership.
To build a customer-centric and high-performance organizational culture.
Promotes customer obsession, innovation, and excellence in leadership.
May not align with the culture and values of all organizations.
Porter’s Generic Strategies
Identifies three key strategies for achieving competitive advantage: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus.
When formulating a competitive strategy and market positioning.
Provides a framework for strategic decision-making and market analysis.
May oversimplify complex business strategies and environments.
Key Highlihgts
Transformational Leadership: Motivates and inspires employees to contribute to company growth.
Lightning Decision Jam: Edwin Locke’s theory on goal-setting to drive performance.
Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model: Helps business managers deal with organizational transformation.
Value Disciplines: Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema’s model focuses on customer intimacy, product leadership, and operational excellence.
OKR (Objectives and Key Results): Management and goal-setting system popularized by Andy Grove and John Doerr.
Tipping Point Leadership: Achieving strategic shifts by focusing on extremes with disproportionate influence.
Self-Evolved Leader: Dave McKeown’s practical guide for leadership development.
Amazon Leadership Principles: Fundamental principles that drive Amazon’s success.
Porter’s Generic Strategies: Cost leadership, differentiation, or focus to achieve competitive advantage.
Airbnb follows a holacracy model, or a sort of flat organizational structure, where teams are organized for projects, to move quickly and iterate fast, thus keeping a lean and flexible approach. Airbnb also moved to a hybrid model where employees can work from anywhere and meet on a quarterly basis to plan ahead, and connect to each other.
eBay was until recently a multi-divisional (M-form) organization with semi-autonomous units grouped according to the services they provided. Today, eBay has a single division called Marketplace, which includes eBay and its international iterations.
IBM has an organizational structure characterized by product-based divisions, enabling its strategy to develop innovative and competitive products in multiple markets. IBM is also characterized by function-based segments that support product development and innovation for each product-based division, which include Global Markets, Integrated Supply Chain, Research, Development, and Intellectual Property.
Sony has a matrix organizational structure primarily based on function-based groups and product/business divisions. The structure also incorporates geographical divisions. In 2021, Sony announced the overhauling of its organizational structure, changing its name from Sony Corporation to Sony Group Corporation to better identify itself as the headquarters of the Sony group of companies skewing the company toward product divisions.
Facebook is characterized by a multi-faceted matrix organizational structure. The company utilizes a flat organizational structure in combination with corporate function-based teams and product-based or geographic divisions. The flat organization structure is organized around the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg, and the key executives around him. On the other hand, the function-based teams based on the main corporate functions (like HR, product management, investor relations, and so on).
Google (Alphabet) has a cross-functional (team-based) organizational structure known as a matrix structure with some degree of flatness. Over the years, as the company scaled and it became a tech giant, its organizational structure is morphing more into a centralized organization.
Tesla is characterized by a functional organizational structure with aspects of a hierarchical structure. Tesla does employ functional centers that cover all business activities, including finance, sales, marketing, technology, engineering, design, and the offices of the CEO and chairperson. Tesla’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, decide the strategic direction of the company, with international operations given little autonomy.
McDonald’s has a divisional organizational structure where each division – based on geographical location – is assigned operational responsibilities and strategic objectives. The main geographical divisions are the US, internationally operated markets, and international developmental licensed markets. And on the other hand, the hierarchical leadership structure is organized around regional and functional divisions.
Walmart has a hybrid hierarchical-functional organizational structure, otherwise referred to as a matrix structure that combines multiple approaches. On the one hand, Walmart follows a hierarchical structure, where the current CEO Doug McMillon is the only employee without a direct superior, and directives are sent from top-level management. On the other hand, the function-based structure of Walmart is used to categorize employees according to their particular skills and experience.
Microsoft has a product-type divisional organizational structure based on functions and engineering groups. As the company scaled over time it also became more hierarchical, however still keeping its hybrid approach between functions, engineering groups, and management.
Agile leadership is the embodiment of agile manifesto principles by a manager or management team. Agile leadership impacts two important levels of a business. The structural level defines the roles, responsibilities, and key performance indicators. The behavioral level describes the actions leaders exhibit to others based on agile principles.
Adaptive leadership is a model used by leaders to help individuals adapt to complex or rapidly changing environments. Adaptive leadership is defined by three core components (precious or expendable, experimentation and smart risks, disciplined assessment). Growth occurs when an organization discards ineffective ways of operating. Then, active leaders implement new initiatives and monitor their impact.
Authors and strategy experts Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne developed the idea of blue ocean leadership. In the same way that Kim and Mauborgne’s blue ocean strategy enables companies to create uncontested market space, blue ocean leadership allows companies to benefit from unrealized employee talent and potential.
Developed by business consultants Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey in the 1960s, delegative leadership is a leadership style where authority figures empower subordinates to exercise autonomy. For this reason, it is also called laissez-faire leadership. In some cases, this type of leadership can lead to increases in work quality and decision-making. In a few other cases, this type of leadership needs to be balanced out to prevent a lack of direction and cohesiveness of the team.
Distributed leadership is based on the premise that leadership responsibilities and accountability are shared by those with the relevant skills or expertise so that the shared responsibility and accountability of multiple individuals within a workplace, bulds up as a fluid and emergent property (not controlled or held by one individual). Distributed leadership is based on eight hallmarks, or principles: shared responsibility, shared power, synergy, leadership capacity, organizational learning, equitable and ethical climate, democratic and investigative culture, and macro-community engagement.
Ethical leaders adhere to certain values and beliefs irrespective of whether they are in the home or office. In essence, ethical leaders are motivated and guided by the inherent dignity and rights of other people.
Those who lead by example let their actions (and not their words) exemplify acceptable forms of behavior or conduct. In a manager-subordinate context, the intention of leading by example is for employees to emulate this behavior or conduct themselves.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
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