How to self-address your leadership style

Self-assessment is a crucial element of being a leader in the modern-day workplace. Constantly reviewing one’s tendencies and management style can offer direct insight into how they themselves can improve as a leader.

HR Leader recently spoke to careers expert Michelle Gibbings, who talked about the importance of leaders self-addressing their own leadership styles and tendencies.

As either a manager, leader, or supervisor, the responsibility of your team and their outcomes often rests on your shoulders. Regardless of external or internal pressures, that position and responsibility are roles that always demand results.

“As a boss or a leader, you may be ill-equipped for the role, or working for a boss who puts unreasonable demands on you or in a toxic environment and struggling to handle the pressure. It may be that you’re unaware of the impact you’re having on your team and colleagues. Whatever the reason, change starts with you,” Gibbings said.

Gibbings broke down how leaders can process through self-assessing their leadership styles and working out if that style is having either a positive or negative impact on their team.

“Assess where you are at. The best leaders proactively seek feedback and continually assess their effectiveness. Making time to assess your leadership doesn’t automatically catapult you into a ‘good boss’ category. It does, however, make you someone who’s interested and invested in being the best leader they can be,” Gibbings said.

“Make a plan to improve. Every person is unique, which means every leader is unique. The action you need to take to elevate your leadership is different from what other people around you may need to do. This is about creating your own personal playbook filled with strategies and tactics that put you in the best possible position to lead with integrity, authenticity, and courage.”

On the other side of this interaction is, of course, the employees. It can be difficult for a worker – especially young workers – to communicate to their boss or manager that the style in which they lead is having a detrimental effect on them or the team. Gibbings advises first taking a step back, learning the cause of this behaviour, and seeking the best approach.

“Seek to understand what’s driving their behaviour and whether this behaviour is consistent or out of character. There’s a difference between a boss who is a good person but in a stressful situation and not coping very well, and a boss who thrives on power, is a narcissist and/or a bully,” Gibbings said.

“Once you understand what’s driving the behaviour, you can then work out the best approach to take. For example, if they are stressed due to work pressures, find out if there are ways you can help them with their workload. This is a great opportunity to build a good relationship with your boss as they will see you as a person who helps them in times of need.”

“It can also help to talk to them about the impact their behaviour is having on you. This is a conversation that needs to be managed thoughtfully. Be prepared for it and pick the best time to have the conversation. If the person constantly displays poor leadership behaviour, unfortunately, you are not likely to change them.”

Discovering what is driving that behaviour is key to conducting the conversation between you and your boss. Leadership is not an easy task; stress and pressure can affect people in different ways, so taking that step back to look behind the curtain and figure out why they are acting in such a manner is a healthy approach. However, there are, of course, outliers who are simply drunk on power, hell-bent on being a destructive force to your job role. Gibbings believes that you have to weigh up the pros and cons in this situation.

“In this situation, think about the benefits you are gaining from the job (in terms of experience, etc.) and determine if it is worth sticking it out for a bit longer. Reflecting on my career, there are times when I worked for people who were hard to work for, but the experience and benefit gained in the role made it worthwhile,” Gibbings said.

“That said, you need to set a time frame in which to move on, as prolonged time in an unhealthy working environment isn’t good for your confidence and wellbeing.”

Kace O'Neill

Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.