There are many types of leaders. What kind of leader are you? What kind of leader do you want to be?
Take a look at these two YouTube videos, the first by Train in a Day and the second by Tim David for BrainPokes.com. What do YOU think about the leadership styles discussed?
This is a interesting topic–what kind of leader do you want to be: not very strict and not very kindness may be a regular answer, but i think the answer is not absolutely made by the leader, inversely, it is made by what kind of employees faced by leaders. A good leader never does the same thing, when he faces the different employees.
Based on this article/videos, it seems like the ideal leader is one who can draw characteristics from each style. While you of course want a leader with transactional traits such as being results-driven, all of this is done in vain if you can’t motivate your employees/team. Because of this, I feel it is slightly more important to lean towards to side of transformational leader. If you can’t be enthusiastic and inspiring, how can you expect others to do the same? This also applies to the concept of leading by example. The essence of a decent leader is someone who can show, and not just dictate instructions. It’s important to be cautious with this approach however, because it seems that there is a limited distance between boss/leader and the inferiors. How can you lead effectively if you can’t assert some kind of dominance? Therefore, it’s imperative to merge the two styles to create an ideal leader. Is it an easy task to become this picture perfect individual? Probably not, but it’s something worth working towards.