Antleader
Guide
#A1

What's Your Style?

Congratulations! You have just been elected as a student leader and you have a lot of decisions to make. To whom do you delegate, what goals will you establish, how will you get the job done? The way you choose to answer these questions is a reflection of your leadership style.A good way to determine your leadership style is to examine the style of others. What did you like about your predecessor's style? What could be improved upon? Review these questions to discover what style you would like to develop:

• Are you people oriented (concerned mainly with how your members are doing, how they feel)?
• Or are you task­oriented (concerned with what your members are doing, are group goals being reached)?
• Do you place good relationships (camaraderie) high in your priorities?
• What would you suggest as the group goals?
• Do you feel all the other members should have input in deciding the organization's goals? Or just the group's officers?
• How will goals be achieved? By setting up different committees (e.g. fundraising committee, publicity committee, program committee)?
• Is officer cohesiveness important to you?
• Ultimately, which method (i.e. "tell and have done," participative, etc.) ­ in your judgement -- would help the organization accomplish its goals most effectively in each situation?

Note the diagram describing a continuum for leadership behavior. Remember that others elected you because they have confidence you will choose the best style to develop their organization.

Continuum of
Leadership Behavior

Boss-Centered Leadership
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Subordinate- Centered Leadership
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Use of authority by the manager

Area of freedom for subordinates

• Leader presents tentative decision subject to change.
• Leader presents problem, gets suggestions, makes decision.
• Leader defines limits; asks group to make decision.
• Leader permits subordinates to function within limits defined by superior.

-Harvard Business Review
"How to Choose a Leadership Pattern"
by Robert Tannenbaum and
Warren H. Schmidt.

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