Fast Company has an insightful article on 6 Leadership Styles, and When You Should Use Them. Effective leaders need to be able to operate in different leadership styles, depending on the situation. The article concludes:
Bottom line? If you take two cups of authoritative leadership, one cup of democratic, coaching, and affiliative leadership, and a dash of pacesetting and coercive leadership “to taste,” and you lead based on need in a way that elevates and inspires your team, you’ve got an excellent recipe for long-term leadership success with every team in your life.
(ht: Tim Tseng)