Golemans Six Leadership Styles
 
Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and author, identified six leadership styles based on his research on emotional intelligence. Each style has its strengths and is most effective in specific situations. Here's an overview from creative arts coach and mentor Alec McPhedran.
 
In Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence (Goleman, D. 2007. Emotional Intelligence10th ed. Bantam Books), outlines six leadership styles that leaders can adopt, depending on the situation and their emotional intelligence competencies. Each style impacts the workplace climate differently and has unique strengths and weaknesses.
 
Of course, age groups, motivators and cultures have changed over the past 20 plus years since Goleman’s work was published, the six leadership styles are still, to many, very relevant. Understanding them and using each style appropriately, depending on the situation, helps improve communication, people management and improving long term growth of the team.
 
The Six Styles of Leadership
 
1. Coercive (Commanding) Leadership
Description: Relies on control and issuing clear directives. The leader expects immediate compliance.
When to Use: During crises, turnaround situations, or when dealing with problem employees.
Impact on Climate: Can damage morale and motivation if overused.
Typical statement: "Do what I tell you."
 
2. Authoritative (Visionary) Leadership
Description: Focuses on inspiring others with a clear vision and motivating them to achieve it.
When to Use: When the organization needs a new direction or during a major change.
Impact on Climate: Highly positive; fosters commitment and clarity.
Typical statement: "Come with me."
 
3. Affiliative Leadership
Description: Prioritizes emotional bonds, harmony, and team cohesion.
When to Use: To rebuild trust, improve morale, or heal a team after conflict.
Impact on Climate: Creates a strong sense of belonging but may neglect performance.
Typical statement: "People come first."
 
4. Democratic Leadership
Description: Encourages collaboration, team input, and shared decision-making.
When to Use: When the leader needs ideas, buy-in, or commitment from the team.
Impact on Climate: Positive; builds trust, respect, and commitment.
Typical statement: "What do we think?"
 
5. Pacesetting Leadership
Description: Sets high performance standards and leads by example.
When to Use: With highly motivated, skilled teams that need little direction.
Impact on Climate: Can overwhelm and demoralize if expectations are unrealistic.
Typical statement: "Do as I do, now."
 
6. Coaching Leadership
Description: Focuses on developing people for the future, helping them grow their strengths.
When to Use: To build long-term capabilities and align personal goals with organizational objectives.
Impact on Climate: Highly positive; boosts morale and performance over time.
Typical statement: "Tell me how you might do this."
 
Summary
No single style is best for all situations. Effective leaders adapt their style to the needs of their team and the challenges they face, often blending several styles for maximum impact. Using Goleman’s six leadership styles effectively requires emotional intelligence (EI), self-awareness, and an understanding of the context and your team’s needs based on each situation a leader faces.
 
Alec McPhedran Chtd Fellow CIPD, Chtd Mngr CMI, MCMI is a recognised creative arts coach and mentor. He specialises in one to one talent coaching, facilitated learning and team development. For further information, visit www.mcphedran.co.uk.

Copyright © Alec McPhedran 2024

The Johari Window
 
The Johari Window is a psychological tool used to help people better understand their relationships with themselves and others. Alec McPhedran, creative arts coach and mentor, provides an introduction to the incredibly useful self awareness model.
 
Background to Johari Window
The Johari window is a psychological tool to help people better understand their relationships with themselves and others. Named after Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham having developed the model in 1955, is a window pane through which you can look at yourself, your character and your attributes. The window is a tool to illustrate the balance between what you and other people do or do not know about you. 
 
The Four Quadrants
The Johari Window is represented as a four-quadrant grid, divided based on the interplay between what is known/unknown to oneself and what is known/unknown to others.
 
Open Self
What is known about the person bout him/herself and is known by others.
Items known to yourself and known to others are referred to as being in the public arena, sometimes called the Open or Free Area. This is an area of confidence and all attributes of your character, being public knowledge, are known both by yourself and others.
 
Blind Spot
What is unknown by the person about him/herself but which ithers know.
This quadrant is hidden from you but open to others. It is where other people observe and form their own opinions about you. They can only give this information to you in the form of feedback. Once feedback has been given and shared, this knowledge then becomes public and the size of the public arena (top left) is increased.
 
Hidden self
What the person knows about themselves that others do not know.
In the bottom left corner, are matters you know about but others cannot see without your help. Your may choose to reveal these facts about yourself e.g. politics, beliefs, love, in which case they move into the public arena. The more you reveal about yourself the larger the public arena comes in the downward direction.
 
Unknown
What is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown to others.
The bottom right hand box is unknown and unexplored territory, which reflects a lot of your personal potential.
 
Using the window
1. Workplace Team Building:
   - Facilitates better communication and collaboration.
   - Encourages feedback and reduces misunderstandings.
  
2. Personal Development:
   - Helps individuals gain insight into their behaviours and relationships.
  
3. Counselling and Therapy:
   - Aids in identifying unrecognized issues affecting mental health or relationships.
 
By engaging in feedback and self-reflection, the Johari Window encourages growth by making the Open Self Area larger, thereby improving interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics.
 
As you extend your Unknown Area, through giving of yourself and receiving feedback you will discover some of your potential by challenging and revealing some of the unknown or potential quadrant. Using the window productively is a question of striking the right balance. If you reveal too much about yourself, you become transparent; if you do not reveal enough about yourself and refuse to accept feedback, you will have a small public arena which makes you a very private and difficult person to understand.
 
Alec McPhedran Chtd Fellow CIPD, Chtd Mngr CMI,  MCMI  is a creative arts coach and mentor. He helps emerging talent to develop and build on their aspirations. If you want to know more about Alec and his work, visit www.mcphedran.co.uk.

​Copyright © Alec McPhedran 2024

Coach and Mentor Differences and Similarities
 
The roles of a coach and a mentor are often compared because both involve guiding someone toward personal or professional growth. However, there are key differences in their focus, approach, and the nature of their relationships with the people they are helping.
 
What are the key differences between a coach and a mentor?

Focus
Performance-oriented:
Coaches focus on improving specific skills or behaviours, often in a structured, short-term framework.
Development-oriented:
Mentors focus on long-term personal and career growth, including broader life goals.

Relationship
Formal, short-term:
The coaching relationship is usually formal, time-bound, and goal-specific. It may last for a set period or specific project.
Informal, long-term:
Mentoring relationships are often informal and can last for years or even a lifetime, with a focus on overall growth.

Goal
Skill-building and improvement:
Coaches help individuals improve specific areas (e.g., leadership, presentation skills, sports performance).
Holistic development: Mentors help with long-term career guidance, life advice, and professional or personal growth.

Expertise
Technical expertise or specific training:
Coaches are usually trained professionals in the area they are coaching, but they don’t need to be experienced in the exact field of the coachee.
Experience and wisdom:
Mentors have significant experience in the mentee’s field, often providing wisdom based on their own career path.

Approach
Structured and process-driven:
Coaching is structured, with regular sessions, assessments, and clear objectives. It often follows a framework like GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward).
Flexible and informal:
Mentoring is more fluid, with conversations and guidance happening as needed. There may be no strict schedule or process.

Feedback and Accountability
Direct feedback and accountability:
Coaches provide specific, actionable feedback, helping the individual be accountable for their progress and performance.
Advice and support:
Mentors offer guidance and advice rather than holding the mentee accountable for specific tasks. The mentee has more control over the pace and content.

Nature of Issue Addressed
Tactical and skill-based:
Coaches address immediate, practical challenges, such as how to improve a specific skill, handle a project, or perform under pressure.
Strategic and personal:
Mentors help with long-term strategic decisions, personal challenges, navigating career paths, and understanding broader life issues.

Roles
Coachee:
The coachee is usually a person seeking to improve a specific area or reach a certain performance goal.
Mentee:
The mentee is someone looking for guidance on their career journey or personal growth, often for the long term

Professional Training
Formal certification or qualifications:
Coaches often undergo certification or formal training to develop coaching techniques and skills.
No formal certification needed:
Mentors usually rely on their own professional experiences and achievements, with no need for formal mentoring qualifications.
 
To clarify the differences and similarities between a coach and a mentor, a more detailed comparison is needed.
 
Focus and Goal
Coaches focus on performance improvement and achieving specific, short-term goals. They help clients enhance certain skills, whether in the workplace, sports, or personal life. For example, a leadership coach might help a manager improve their decision-making under pressure.
Mentors focus on holistic, long-term development, guiding mentees through broader life or career journeys. Their advice can span across professional growth, personal challenges, and general life direction. For example, a senior professional might mentor a younger colleague to help them navigate career choices over the years.
 
Nature of the Relationship:
Coaching is often a formal relationship that is established for a specific period with clear objectives. There is often a contractual agreement between the coach and coachee. The relationship typically ends once the goals are achieved.
Mentoring tends to be more informal and ongoing. Mentors and mentees may meet sporadically as needed, and the relationship can last for years or evolve naturally over time. There is no formal "end" to a mentoring relationship, and it can adapt as the mentee progresses.
 
Feedback and Accountability
A coach will regularly provide direct feedback on performance and hold the coachee accountable for achieving specific tasks or goals. Coaches often set measurable goals, track progress, and help adjust strategies when necessary.
A mentor offers advice, guidance, and insight, but the mentee is typically in control of how and when to implement suggestions. Mentors provide a supportive environment without enforcing accountability in the same way a coach does.
 
Approach and Expertise
Coaching is typically more structured. Coaches use specific techniques or methodologies to help clients, like the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will). They may have certifications or formal training in coaching practices, but they don’t always need expertise in the mentee’s field.
Mentoring is usually more open-ended and based on the mentor’s experience and wisdom in the mentee’s specific field or industry. The mentor is often a more senior professional or someone who has already walked the path the mentee is on, offering insights based on real-life experiences.
 
Context and Situations
Coaching is often used in specific contexts, such as performance coaching in the workplace, executive coaching for leadership development, or life coaching for personal challenges.
Mentoring occurs in a broader context, focusing on career development or personal growth over time. It’s often seen in educational settings, professional environments, or informal relationships between experienced and less experienced individuals.
 
An example of a coach and a mentor
A sales coach works with a salesperson to improve their closing techniques over the next two months, using regular practice and feedback sessions. However, a seasoned sales director provides long-term mentoring and career guidance to an emerging talented sales manager, helping them navigate the challenges of building a team and balancing personal and professional life.
 
Coaches are goal-oriented, structured, and often hired for a specific purpose. Their focus is on current challenges and measurable outcomes, using techniques that help clients solve problems themselves. Mentors provide broader, experience-based guidance in a more informal, long-term relationship. They focus on career and personal development, offering wisdom from their own experiences to help mentees navigate their future.
 
Both coaching and mentoring can be invaluable for growth, and the choice between the two depends on whether someone needs targeted skill development or holistic career guidance.
 
Alec McPhedran Chtd Fellow CIPD, Chtd Mngr CMI, MCMI  is a recognised creative arts coach and mentor. He specialises in one to one talent coaching, facilitated learning and career development. For further information, visit www.mcphedran.co.uk.

Copyright © Alec McPhedran 2024