thing as an ideal leadership style. It all depends. Effective leaders
can flex their styles to respond to different situations and
demands. The factors affecting the degree to which a style is
appropriate will be the type of organization, the nature of the
task, the characteristics of the group and, importantly, the
personality of the leader. A task-orientated approach (autocratic,
controlling, transactional) may be best in emergency or crisis
situations, or when the leader has power, formal backing and a
relatively well-structured task. In these circumstances the group
is more ready to be directed and told what to do. In less well-
structured or ambiguous situations, where results depend on the
group working well together with a common sense of purpose,
leaders who are more concerned with maintaining good relation-
ships (democratic, enablers, transformational) are more likely to
obtain good results.
However, commentators such as Charles Handy (1989) are
concerned that intelligent organizations have to be run by
persuasion and consent. He suggests that the heroic leader of the
past ‘knew all, could do all, and could solve every problem’.
Now, the post-heroic leader has come to the fore, who ‘asks how
every problem can be solved in a way that develops other
people’s capacity to handle it’.
LEADERSHIP QUALITIES
The qualities required of leaders may vary somewhat in different
situations, but research into, and analysis of, effective leaders has
identified a number of generic characteristics which good
leaders are likely to have. John Adair (1984) lists the following
qualities:
■ enthusiasm – to get things done which they can communicate
to other people;
■ confidence – belief in themselves which again people can
sense (but this must not be over-confidence, which leads to
arrogance);
■ toughness– resilient, tenacious and demanding high stand-
ards, seeking respect but not necessarily popularity;
■ integrity– being true to oneself – personal wholeness, sound-
ness and honesty, which inspire trust;
How to be a Better Leader 123