The six emotional intelligent leadership styles
In 2002, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee conducted research for 3 years for the Harvard Business Review, with over 3,000 middle-level managers. Their goal was to uncover specific leadership behaviors and determine their effect on the corporate climate and each leadership style's effect on bottom-line profitability. Goleman found that leaders used six styles of leadership interchangeably:
- Commanding style
- Visionary style
- Affiliative style
- Democratic style
- Pace setting style
- Coaching style
Each of the styles comes from the use of emotional intelligence: being acutely aware of the environment, emotional needs, and feelings and adjusting the style to suit the most appropriate setting. These models summarize the techniques, scenarios of when they work best, and the impact on the organization and its goals.
However, critiques of some of these leadership styles need to be addressed. For instance, the commanding and pace setting styles, despite their use, can...