6 Leadership Styles That Could Make or Break Your Team — Which One Are You?

Leadership is not a one-size-fits-all skill. According to Primal Leadership, understanding and flexibly applying six leadership styles can dramatically influence your team's emotional climate and success.

Visionary Leadership is about casting a compelling future and inspiring commitment. Ideal during change, it aligns people around a shared purpose. For example, a CEO rallying a company through transformation by connecting daily work to a grand mission exemplifies this style.

Coaching Leadership focuses on personal development, linking individual aspirations with organizational goals. Leaders who invest in one-on-one conversations and growth plans build trust and engagement.

Affiliative Leadership prioritizes harmony and emotional bonds, fostering loyalty and morale. This style is powerful in healing rifts or during stressful periods.

Democratic Leadership invites participation and consensus, enhancing buy-in and leveraging collective wisdom. It works well when diverse input is essential.

Pacesetting Leadership demands excellence and quick results, energizing high performers but risking burnout if overused.

Commanding Leadership demands immediate compliance, useful in crises but often creating fear and resentment.

Effective leaders flexibly combine these styles, tuning their emotional influence to the needs of their people and situations. Over-reliance on any one style, especially pacesetting or commanding, can damage morale and performance.

By mastering these styles and their emotional impacts, you can become a more adaptive, resonant leader who inspires loyalty and drives results.

Sources: 1 , 2 , 4