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Why Affiliative Leadership Style Might be Right For You

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Affiliative leadership style is one of the four main types of leadership styles. This type of leadership encourages collaboration, consensus decision-making, and involvement from subordinates to reach a goal. It’s important to know which style will work best for you because different situations call for different approaches. The following are four reasons that affiliative leadership might be right for you.

It Boosts Employee Morale

As a leader, one must keep in mind the morale of one’s subordinates. If they’re feeling happy and productive, it will show in their work. Employees are much more likely to perform better when they have good working relationships with their peers and leaders. A recent study has shown that leaders who adopt affiliative leadership styles achieve improved performance from their employees, both short and long term.

It Takes Greater Account of Employee Differences

There are many different types of personalities – some more introverted than others, some who are motivated by friendly competition, etc. A good leader will recognize these differences and work with each individual to encourage them. By looking at these differences in your employees, you can figure out the best ways to communicate with each person. By using an affiliative leadership style, you’ll get everyone working together because it allows for employees at all levels to contribute towards mutual goals.

Offers Quicker Emotional Recovery

In a leadership role, you will have to make decisions with which some of your subordinates will disagree. When this happens, it is good for the leader to deal with criticism from others. To do this successfully, it’s essential to be an affiliative leader because these individuals tend not to take criticism personally and are thus better able to move on from conflict.

It Promotes Better Risk Taking

When working as a team, each person needs to take risks, especially leaders. By having an affiliative leadership style, you’ll encourage risk-taking and reward those who take chances because this will ultimately lead to greater success. By using an affiliative leadership style, you’ll get everyone working together because it allows for employees at all levels to contribute towards mutual goals.

Conclusion

So there you have four reasons that adopting a more affiliative approach may work well for you as a leader. If you incorporate a focus on a stronger team dynamic into your overall skill set, you’ll be surprised at how much more effective you can be daily.

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Article originally published on MatthewLittlemore.com