Leadership styles explained: which one are you?

Leaders are the crux of any business. But there are many different leadership styles in management, each suiting different situations. Understanding your own leadership style, and when to adapt it, is crucial to moving your business and workforce forward.

Leadership styles refer to the way in which a leader motivates, manages, and directs their team or department. This takes into account how a leader makes decisions, their style of communication, their risk level, and how they exercise their authority.

A leadership style doesn’t have to be set in stone however, and leaders don’t have to lead the same way every single time. A good leader should be able to flex their leadership style depending on the circumstances and the people they’re dealing with, taking team experience, work culture, and organisational pressures into account at all times.

Leadership style is important because it influences:

• Staff retention and engagement, with CIPD research consistently showing that leaders play a vital role is shaping the employee experience, with workers more likely to perform effectively and less likely to leave if managers support their development while creating a positive work environment.
• Workplace culture, with leadership styles shaping a culture of innovation and inclusion.
• Change management, so during times of business restructuring, transformation, or redundancies, leaders can continue to build trust while dealing effectively with any staff disengagement.
• Productivity and performance, with leaders enabling an increase in performance and productivity. Data for the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveals a clear link between the quality of leadership and business performance, with better management practices associated with an increase in productivity.
• Closing the capability gap, with a CIPD study noting that productivity across the UK public sector remained 4.2% below pre-pandemic levels, with management and leadership identified as the main factor for closing the gap.

Being a democratic leader means involving everyone in making decisions, so a shared and common view is taken. This leads to each member of staff feeling an equal part of the team, bringing their own thoughts and ideas to the table.

An example of this can be found in the John Lewis Partnership, which employed 69,000 employees at the end of 2025. It is famous for having an employee-owned model, where staff are known as partners and have a say in decision-making. The model reinforces shared accountability and embraces high engagement due to ownership.

• Higher engagement and buy-in.
• Improvement in quality of decisions.
• Teams feel more valued, with higher job satisfaction.

• Slower decision-making.
• Reduced decisive action from leaders.
• Can lead to inequality, as not every decision can be used.

As the complete opposite to democratic, this type of leadership style is focused on the boss making every decision on how to run and manage the company. There is a clear distinction between the leader and their employees, alongside a rigid business structure.

A recent example of an autocratic leadership style comes from the CEO of Currys, the UK electrical retailers, currently with 24,700 members of staff. Currys had been underperforming and the CEO, who has now stepped down, implemented a centralised, top down strategy that transformed the company’s fortunes by making rapid and decisive changes that stabilised performance and rebuilt profitability.

• Quick decision-making.
• Clarity in a crisis.
• Clear chain of command.

• Limited employee engagement.
• Reduced innovation.
• No chance of collaboration.

This is one of the key leadership styles, and inspires change and transformation with purpose, vision, and innovation. It’s a type of leadership that is effective when businesses are looking to restructure or make significant changes.

Unilever, with 2,500 UK staff, is widely cited for transformational leadership, especially under its sustainability strategy and purpose-driven business model. The leadership honed in on a long-term vision, cultural transformation, and empowering employees to innovate.

• Looks to the future.
• Drives change and innovation.
• Increases staff motivation levels.

• Risks burnout if change is too quick.
• Overlooks detail.
• Potential misalignment between vision and the operational reality.

Also known as managerial leadership, this is a style that focuses on dishing out rewards, but also punishments. It’s more aligned to following protocol and established routines, instead of making any major changes.

The NatWest Group, within the banking sector, operates such a leadership style with an approach that encompasses clear accountability, performance frameworks, and measurable culture metrics, along with structured decision-making.

• Sets clear expectations and accountability.
• Thrives in regulated work environments.
• Defines clear roles and responsibilities for employees.

• Limits creative thinking.
• Might feel too rigid a structure, without any flexibility.
• Encourages minimal effort by doing just enough to earn a reward.

A coaching leadership style prioritises individual development of staff along with long-term growth, taking a personalised approach and establishing mentorship programmes. These types of leaders tend to show empathy and compassion towards colleagues.

Tesco, one of the biggest supermarkets in the UK, has invested in leadership development programmes that help managers identify key strengths, develop staff, and improve performance through coaching-style conversations. A study, released by Strengthscope, showed how Tesco had upskilled thousands of managers to develop teams more effectively and enhance performance with improved leadership behaviours, which led to stronger employee engagement and better team performance outcomes.

• Supportive of career development.
• Connects workers across all levels.
• Encourages free thinking.

• Takes a lot of time.
• Reduces the pace of change.
• Might show up a gap in coaching skills.

This literally translates as “let them act,” which means giving teams autonomy, without much oversight. It’s a hands-off approach, with leaders excelling at delegating and trusting their teams to accomplish set tasks.

Acas research highlights the fact that this type of leadership is seen in the growing use of high-autonomy working models across organisations where employees are trusted to manage how and where they work, and managers take a step back from control on a daily basis.

• Encourages collaboration on decisions among team members.
• Means experienced teams can flourish.
• Leads to more confidence and personal growth within the workforce.

• Might result in inconsistent performances.
• Workers might feel totally on their own with no back up from the management side.
• There is no true direction on where the company is headed.

Effective leaders are those who adapt their leadership style to suit the situation every time. Below is a table to compare styles and when they should be used.

Style	Best for	Risks
Democratic	Collaboration and culture	Slow decisions
Autocratic	Crisis and compliance	Low morale
Transformational	Change and innovation	Lack of execution and discipline
Transactional	Structure and performance	Reduced creativity
Coaching	Development and retention	Slower short-term results
Laissez-faire	Expert teams and innovation	Lack of accountability

1. Reflect on default behaviours

Ask yourself how you make decisions in a pressurised situation, if you collaborate or prioritise control, and how you respond to poor performance.

2. Collate comprehensive feedback

This can be gathered through feedback tools, employee surveys, and exit interviews to gauge the type of leader you are.

3. Analyse outcomes

Use the feedback to define your leadership style. You might think you’re democratic, but it’s how your employees perceive you and your style that matters. A UK survey of 1,000 employees discovered that 92% of workers believed themselves to be productive, but only 67% thought the leadership team was, revealing a clear gap in perception.

4. Consider the context

You might adopt different styles according to each new situation, so take that into consideration.

That means not just rigidly sticking to one leadership style, but adapting it based on the needs of the team and the business context.

You can do this through the use of regular reflections and feedback.

Whatever style you adopt, getting your point across is crucial for moving forward.

Your behaviour as a leader should strengthen the values of the company, not contradict them.

Q. What are the 4 types of leadership styles?

A. The four commonly referenced styles are:

• Democratic.
• Autocratic.
• Transformational.
• Transactional.

Q. What are the 7 leadership styles?

A. A broader model includes:

• Democratic.
• Autocratic.
• Transformational.
• Transactional.
• Coaching.
• Laissez-faire.
• Bureaucratic.

Q. Which leadership style is the best?

A. There is no single “best” leadership style, as it depends on the situation. Being an effective leader is what counts, and this depends on the business context, the capability of the team, and the company culture. Flexible, adaptive leaders, who combine elements of coaching and transformational styles, tend to achieve stronger outcomes.

If your team described your leadership style in one sentence, would it match with the leader you’re trying to be?

If your organisation is considering outplacement services, contact us at the earliest opportunity to find out more.