Leadership Style & Performance: Part 1
Taking management seriously as a profession with its own body of empirical knowledge and best practices is critical to the health of the museum industry. Leadership style is high on the list of management practices that directly affect team performance.
The Harvard Business Review is a well-spring of practical knowledge of what good leadership practice can do for museum managers. The classic article “Leadership That Gets Results” by Daniel Goleman[1] is a case in point that I will attempt to summarize here.
Goleman describes six leadership styles:
Coercive: “Do what I say” can be effective when turning an organization around, but it can also inhibit flexibility, employee participation, and motivation.
Authoritative: “Come with me” establishes a clear vision and objectives but allows staff to choose how they achieve them.
Affiliative: “People come first” builds teams and morale, but too much praise can condone poor performance.
Democratic: “Let all voices be heard” can generate fresh ideas and shared responsibility but can generate endless meetings and slow decision-making.
Pacesetting: “More is better” sets high-performance standards and pushes self and others to more results but can overwhelm and take over decisions.
Coaching: “You can do it” focused on the personal development of teams and individuals; this style works where weaknesses are acknowledged, and there is a willingness to change and improve.
Leaders should choose a primary style that characterizes their normal state of operation for consistency. However, like the many clubs in a golfer’s bag, a leader should be ready to deploy any of the six styles as the moment requires. What is your primary style? Is it right for the work culture you are leading? Should you switch to a different style? Why? These are questions to consider as you develop your leadership style.
Stay tuned. My next paper in this series will look at the internal culture or climate of organizations and how leadership style can directly impact both climate and performance.
[1] Goleman, Daniel. Leadership That Gets Results in On Managing People (Boston, Massachusetts, Harvard Business Review, 2011) pgs. 2-28.
