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Beyond the Cain-Abel Culture, page 6
 

Leadership Styles and Climate

There are many ways to look at an organization and analyze why it is successful or not. As leaders are the ones who are responsible for the results, one way is to look at the leadership that is exercised within the group or organization.

In his article “Leadership That Gets Results”¹ Daniel Goleman describes six styles of leadership and analyzes their effect on the working environment – or climate - in an organization. The six styles are affiliative, authoritative, coaching, coercive, democratic and pacesetting. Here a short overview of their characteristics.
 

Climate

Climate is defined and measured by six factors: flexibility, responsibility, standards, rewards, clarity and commitment.

Flexibility
This relates to how free a leader’s followers feel to innovate without being criticized or called back into line.

Responsibility
This refers to the sense of responsibility that individuals have towards the organization as a whole. Do they reflect on what effect their actions have on the group and do they care about that?

Standards
What kind of standards do people set? What is the average commitment to the goal? How much do they put in without being asked to do so?

Rewards
Are people rewarded for their contributions and accomplishments? Are the rewards appropriate? Are they fair? Rewards does not just mean financial benefits like bonuses or pay raises. It means anything that helps people feel good about their contribution. Simple feedback, constructive criticism can be seen as a reward in that sense,

Clarity
This refers to how clearly people know what is expected from them? Do they know the values of the organization and how that translates into action?

Commitment
This factor relates to the real commitment that people have to the organization. It’s not just the professed commitment – the answer to the question: How committed are you?

The article then describes the six approaches to leadership and relates them to these factors, assessing their influence on the working environment, i.e. climate, measured by these six factors.
 

¹Daniel Goleman, “Leadership That Gets Results”, Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000 Edition (back)

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