Tailoring Leadership Approaches to Fit the Organizational Culture

Organizational culture has many elements, including the organizational vision, communication systems, employee professional development opportunities, work environment, degree of employee voice, and leadership. Maintaining the culture depends on the leadership styles used. There are multiple styles, and one style will be the overriding and preferred style needed to support the culture, but organizational leaders must also know when to adapt their style. For example, a collaborative culture needs a democratic leadership style, but sometimes a transactional or authoritative style is needed. Every culture needs adaptable and resilient leaders.

A Leadership Style for Every Culture

Numerous leadership styles exist today as organizational leaders respond to changing business environments, dynamics, and employee expectations. Autocratic and transactional leadership styles once reigned when baby boomers grew and managed businesses. As new generations and technologies appeared, new leadership styles were needed. Millennials and Gen Z employees want more voice and more diverse voices, and they want more autonomy in their jobs. The autocratic leadership style is ineffective in most workplaces today and is more likely to lead to high employee turnover and low engagement.

Recognizing the common leadership styles enables identifying which style is the best fit for maintaining a successful current organizational culture or working towards a desired culture. There are at least six leadership styles. The autocratic leader makes decisions without much input from employees and dictates job tasks. It may be a good fit when employees need close supervision. Once decisions are made, employees are expected to support them. This leadership style can cause a lot of employee unrest when decisions affecting their work are not viewed favorably. When people have no voice, they lose trust in management. However, the fact is some decisions need to be made autocratically. For example, if the leader has the most knowledge, it is critical to make a swift decision.