Assertive Leadership

In my work I sometimes encounter leaders who are too domineering, as well as those who prefer a friendly and soft-touch leadership style. At their extremes, both these styles can be ineffective or at worst destructive.

Those with an overt, domineering behaviour can demonstrate poor listening skills and shut subordinates down in one-to-one conversations or in meetings. The result is demotivated employees whose ideas are stifled by being deprived of air time. The ultra-domineering manager misses out on the collective wisdom of his or her team and may never discover some great ideas that could benefit the business.

At the other end of the leadership behaviour scale are those who value harmony above all else. They see subordinates as close personal friends, sometimes failing to deal effectively with poor performers. When team members are seen to be getting away with lax performance or missing deadlines, apparently without consequence, the top performers become demotivated. The team may also feel that their interests are not being properly and forcefully represented at Board level by the seemingly ‘soft’ boss.

So where is the middle ground? In most cases it’s simply a question of communication skills, combining listening skills with assertiveness. For the domineering manager, mastering listening skills enables them to learn more from the collective knowledge of subordinates. For the harmony focused manager, learning assertiveness helps them ensure team members meet deadlines and fully understand the consequences of under-performance. A reluctance to be assertive often stems from confusing ‘assertive’ with ‘aggressive’. The difference is that aggressive behaviour is emotional and disrespectful, whereas assertive behaviour is respectful and unemotional.  It is simply clarity of communication.

If this resonates with you and you would like to learn more about how executive coaching can dramatically improve leadership style visit; www.wayahead.com.sg or call Dennis Heath on +65 9677 8043.