This leadership style quiz determines what kind of leader you are and which are the predominant manager characteristics you show from the six styles. You can discover more on this subject below the form.
How does the leadership style quiz work?
This tool will help you find out what kind of manager you are and to which of the six leadership styles you come closer. There are 16 questions you will have to answer and each one of them has 6 choices because the test is designed to thoroughly cover some of the most stringent matters when it comes to the behavior of a leader. Once you have your choices done you will be given a result that comprises of the style that you exhibit most and then the other styles in the order from the most to the least predominant.
How to define the six leadership styles?
This is a model designed by Daniel Goleman as a result of an extensive study on middle level managers, aiming to discover which the winning traits of a manager are. It seems that the behavior of most managers can be put in 6 different categories, these being the leadership styles: authoritative, coercive, affiliate, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. However, none of these is set to be the winning combination as it appears that an efficient leader should be able to apply traits from each of the six and adjust them according to the needs of his people and the situation at hand.
This is a table that comprises some of the traits for each style and quick tips on when to use it and what to avoid in a certain style.
| Authoritative | Characteristics | Innovative and endearing; |
| Provides long term direction; | ||
| Let’s employees explore and discover; | ||
| Relies on dialogue and feedback; | ||
| When to use it | When a new direction is to be established; | |
| When people need to be motivated; | ||
| What to avoid | Don’t let things out of control entirely; | |
| Don’t let others see you as the solution entirely; | ||
| Don’t make others be dependent of guidance; | ||
| Coercive | Characteristics | “Do as I say”; Authority instilled through fear; |
| Desires immediate compliance; | ||
| Directives rather than direction; | ||
| Clear and precise; | ||
| Monitors everything; | ||
| When to use it | If a drastic change is required; | |
| When close monitoring is needed; | ||
| In moments of crisis; | ||
| When tasks are straightforward; | ||
| What to avoid | Giving orders without considering the opinions of employees; | |
| Not accepting feedback; | ||
| Maintaining a crisis situation; | ||
| Affiliate | Characteristics | Great importance on building morale; |
| Builds trust and harmony; | ||
| Establishes positive relations; | ||
| Loyal and trustworthy; | ||
| When to use it | When team morale needs to be raised; | |
| When there is need for a sense of belonging; | ||
| What to avoid | Exaggerating the need to have everyone involved; | |
| Overlooking the task because of the focus on relationships; | ||
| Democratic | Characteristics | Fair and encouraging; Interested in people’s skills; |
| Organized and clear; | ||
| Accepts feedback; | ||
| Encourages self thought; | ||
| Committed to achieving goals and playing fair; | ||
| When to use it | When there is a need for decisions to be made through consensus; | |
| When participation needs to be built; | ||
| What to avoid | Being late with a response for a crisis; | |
| Getting side tracked from the real matter; | ||
| Pacesetting | Characteristics | Organized and critical; Self aware and highly motivated; |
| At ease with technicalities and procedures; | ||
| When to use it | When there is need for active example; | |
| When there is need for quick results using a method already implemented; | ||
| What to avoid | Being sidetracked with lecturing employees; | |
| Inhibiting people; | ||
| Creating a hostile work environment; | ||
| Coaching | Characteristics | Challenging and motivated; |
| Persuasive and full of initiative; | ||
| Can bring the best of his employees; | ||
| Flexible but also reluctant to feedback; | ||
| When to use it | When there is a need for people to be closely trained or inspired towards self growth; | |
| What to avoid | Risk of micromanaging people; | |
| Undermining the sense of self worth of others; |