Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other” – John F Kennedy.

First and foremost, what is leadership? What makes someone a good leader? Are they any rules to be followed to be a good leader? Leadership in simple words is nothing, but the ability to lead an individual or an organization. Though it sounds simple, it is really an effortful process. To be precise, leadership is the ability of an individual to lead and guide an individual or a group of individuals effectively towards a goal. A good leader gives the followers motivation, guidelines, and confidence. Though it sounds simple to be a leader, it involves a lot of effort and qualities that an individual must possess to be a good leader. Good communication, ability to delegate tasks, intuition, confidence, and ethics are some of the characteristics that a leader would possess. But why do some people fail as a leader even though they try so hard? Is it because they don’t own these characteristics? It need not be. There can be several other reasons an individual may end up as a bad leader. The major change happens when the individual takes up the strategy. Now, why is leadership important? Why is a leader important? A leader is someone who not only supervises but also guides and leads. A leader is someone who maximizes the quality of the result from the employees. It reduces the conflict and helps in the fulfillment of the outcome. Autocratic Leadership Autocratic Leadership is that type of leadership where an individual exerts power over a group of people and gives only little room for others’ opinions. Though it doesn’t sound so effective, it reduces the stress on the employees. It is effective when crucial and important decisions are to be made. Democratic Leadership Democratic Leadership is also known as participative or shared leadership. As the name suggests, it is that type of leadership where both leader and the employees participate in the decision-making process. It involves the process of brainstorming and involves a lot of ideas. It makes sure that all perspectives are heard. Laissez-faire Leadership is that type of leadership where the participants are given space and freedom to complete the tasks in their own way. Transformational Leadership is the type of leadership that aims to bring changes or say transformations in people and systems. This type of leadership promotes new ideas and works with aim of working as a single unit.It encourages changes along with keeping the ethics of the company intact. Authoritative leadership as the name suggests gives power to the leader to exert control over the decisions, goals, processes, etc. An authoritative leader will have a clear vision of the goal and the steps that he would have to follow to make that happen. Pacesetting Leadership Have you heard of Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric? He is said to be the most prominent example of a pacesetting leader. Pacesetting Leadership is that type of leadership where the leader leads from the front constantly setting up standards for the employees and expects them to meet the standards with minimal management. Coaching Leadership works on the principle of collaboration and leadership. A collaborative leader identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each individual on the team and encourages the employees to work as a team and help each other so that they yield maximum productive outcomes. Affiliative Leadership Emotional intelligence introduced by Daniel Goleman, is a term that best describes a person’s ability to use, understand and manage one’s emotions. Affiliative Leadership is that type of leadership that focuses on the EQ of an individual. It promotes emotional bonds between leaders and employees. Transactional Leadership Rewards and punishments are natural reinforcers. It is proven to improve overall results. Also, called managerial leadership, this type of leadership focuses on rewards and punishments to achieve optimal performance. Bureaucratic Leadership is a type of leadership that focuses highly on structures and systems. Bureaucratic Leadership involves well-structured processes which thereby reduces the barriers. It focuses on the division of labor and effective management. Charismatic Leadership is said to be confident, creative, determinant, and have good communication skills. When a leader uses his/her charismatic skills say charm, communication skills, etc to influence others, it is said to be charismatic leadership. It is been proven that more charismatic leaders are perceived more by the employees than less charismatic leaders. Collaborative Leadership is that type of leadership that promotes collaboration that allows room for different sectors to work together to bring out more efficient results. Responsibility is not shared but owned by all. Servant Leadership is a type of philosophical leadership where the main agenda of the leader is to serve. It is over the belief that most powerful leaders serve rather than take control over the employee. A servant leader works with an unselfish mindset and provides space for diversity of thoughts. Though the above-mentioned leadership styles are equally prominent as others, it is very important to note that each of them works best under specific situations. It is important to find the natural and authentic leadership qualities within the situation provided to choose the best among them and simply to obtain the best results. As said, the secret to success is good leadership. Remember, it is not necessary to follow one style of leadership. You can mix and match the leadership style to work its best. Also, by understanding each of these, you’ll have the access to choose the best one for the situation.