What do you do if your leadership style is not inspiring your team?

1 Assess your leadership style

The first step is to understand your own leadership style and how it affects your team. There are many frameworks and tools you can use to assess your leadership style, such as the Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid, the Situational Leadership Model, or the DISC Personality Assessment. These can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, your preferred communication style, your level of task and relationship orientation, and your adaptability to different situations. You can also ask for feedback from your team, peers, or mentors to get an honest and constructive perspective on your leadership style.

2 Understand your team's needs

The next step is to understand what your team needs from you as a leader. Different teams may have different expectations, preferences, and goals, depending on their personality types, skills, experience, and motivation. You can use tools like the Team Management Profile, the Belbin Team Roles, or the Tuckman Model to analyze your team's dynamics, strengths, challenges, and development stages. You can also communicate with your team regularly, listen to their concerns, and solicit their input and ideas. This can help you build trust, rapport, and engagement with your team members.

3 Adjust your leadership style

The final step is to adjust your leadership style to match your team's needs and situation. This may require you to be more flexible, versatile, and responsive to different scenarios and challenges. For example, you may need to be more directive and supportive with a new or inexperienced team, more participative and empowering with a mature or high-performing team, or more visionary and innovative with a creative or diverse team. You can also experiment with different techniques and strategies, such as coaching, mentoring, delegating, collaborating, or rewarding, to find out what works best for your team.

4 Evaluate and improve your leadership style

Adjusting your leadership style is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process of learning and improvement. You should monitor and evaluate the impact of your leadership style on your team's performance, satisfaction, and morale. You can use metrics like productivity, quality, retention, feedback, or recognition to measure your leadership effectiveness. You can also seek feedback from your team, peers, or mentors to identify areas of improvement and celebrate successes. You should also reflect on your own learning and development as a leader, and seek opportunities to enhance your skills and knowledge.

5 Seek professional guidance

If you feel stuck or overwhelmed by the challenge of adapting your leadership style, you may benefit from seeking professional guidance. You can enroll in a leadership development program, hire a leadership coach, or join a leadership network or community. These can help you gain new insights, skills, and perspectives on your leadership style, and provide you with support, feedback, and accountability. You can also learn from other leaders who have faced similar challenges and overcome them successfully.