Discover why leadership style is important. Learn how your personal approach to leadership affects engagement, results, and your effectiveness as a leader.
Written by Laura Bouttell • Wed 31st December 2025
Leadership style is important because it determines how you translate leadership intention into leadership impact. Research demonstrates that managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement—and that variance reflects not just whether you lead, but how you lead. Your leadership style shapes how people experience your leadership, how they respond to your direction, and whether they commit to following you or merely comply with your authority.
Yet many leaders never deliberately consider their style. They lead the way they were led, react based on personality, or adopt approaches that feel comfortable rather than effective. Understanding why leadership style matters reveals that intentional style development deserves serious attention—and that the style you choose profoundly affects the results you achieve.
Leadership style is the characteristic pattern of behaviours, attitudes, and approaches a leader uses to influence, motivate, and direct others:
Behavioural consistency: Style emerges from consistent behavioural patterns. It's not a single action but an accumulated approach that becomes recognisable and predictable.
Influence mechanism: Style determines how you attempt to influence. Some leaders influence through authority; others through inspiration; others through collaboration. The mechanism reflects style.
Relationship orientation: Style shapes how you relate to those you lead. Some styles maintain distance; others create closeness. Some emphasise task; others emphasise relationship.
Decision approach: Style determines how you make and communicate decisions. Some leaders decide alone; others consult extensively; others delegate decision authority.
Communication pattern: Style manifests in communication—how much you share, how you deliver feedback, how you handle disagreement.
Leadership style and personality relate but differ:
| Dimension | Personality | Leadership Style |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Largely innate | Developed and chosen |
| Stability | Relatively fixed | Adaptable |
| Scope | Applies to all contexts | Specific to leadership |
| Control | Limited conscious control | Deliberate selection possible |
| Assessment | Who you are | What you do as leader |
The personality-style relationship: Personality influences natural style tendencies. Extroverts may gravitate toward participative styles; introverts toward more reserved approaches. But style can be developed beyond personality—leaders can learn approaches that don't come naturally.
Leadership style directly affects team performance through multiple mechanisms:
Engagement impact: Different styles produce different engagement levels. Research shows leadership approach affects whether employees invest discretionary effort or do minimum required.
Climate creation: Style creates team climate—the emotional atmosphere people work within. Supportive styles create positive climates; harsh styles create negative ones.
Motivation mechanism: Style determines whether you motivate through inspiration, incentive, authority, or fear. Different mechanisms produce different performance patterns.
Trust building: Style affects trust development. Consistent, fair, transparent styles build trust; unpredictable, unfair, secretive styles destroy it.
Capability development: Style affects whether teams develop capability. Coaching styles develop people; directive styles may accomplish tasks without building capability.
Research documents significant performance differences across leadership styles:
Engagement outcomes: Studies show dramatic engagement differences based on leadership style. Styles emphasising involvement, recognition, and development produce higher engagement than styles emphasising control and compliance.
Productivity patterns: Engaged teams demonstrate 21% higher productivity. Since leadership style affects engagement, style indirectly produces substantial productivity differences.
Quality variations: Leadership style affects quality through its impact on attention, care, and commitment. Teams led by leaders who inspire take more pride in their work.
Innovation capacity: Styles creating psychological safety enable innovation; styles creating fear suppress it. Innovation outcomes vary dramatically with leadership style.
Retention effects: "People leave managers, not companies" reflects style impact. Leadership style quality determines whether talent stays or goes.
Your leadership style shapes your team's culture powerfully:
Modelling effect: Your style models acceptable behaviour. If you communicate openly, team members do likewise. If you avoid difficult conversations, they learn avoidance.
Permission granting: Your style grants permission. Leaders who demonstrate vulnerability permit vulnerability; leaders who maintain facades require facades.
Standard setting: Your style sets implicit standards. What you tolerate becomes acceptable; what you demonstrate becomes expected.
Reinforcement patterns: Your style determines what gets reinforced. Leaders who recognise collaboration build collaborative cultures; leaders who reward individual competition build competitive cultures.
Response norms: How you respond to success, failure, conflict, and challenge establishes response norms throughout your team.
Team culture affects outcomes because:
Behaviour guidance: Culture guides behaviour in ambiguous situations. Strong cultures aligned with performance produce consistent high performance.
Coordination enablement: Shared cultural expectations enable coordination without explicit direction. Teams with strong cultures work together more effectively.
Adaptation capacity: Cultures either enable or resist change. Adaptive cultures navigate challenges; rigid cultures struggle.
Talent fit: Culture attracts people who fit and repels those who don't. Your style shapes who thrives on your team and who leaves.
Sustained performance: Culture sustains performance through individual departures. Strong cultures maintain standards regardless of specific personnel.
Effective style development involves:
1. Self-awareness foundation
Understand your current style. What patterns characterise your leadership? How do others experience you? Self-awareness provides development foundation.
2. Style assessment
Use assessment tools and feedback to understand your natural tendencies. 360-degree feedback reveals how others perceive your style.
3. Gap identification
Compare current style to required style. What does your context need? Where do gaps exist between what you do and what would be most effective?
4. Deliberate practice
Develop new style elements through practice. Consistent application builds new patterns; sporadic attempts produce inconsistency.
5. Feedback integration
Seek ongoing feedback on style effectiveness. What's working? What's not? Adjustment requires information.
6. Continuous refinement
Style development is ongoing. Contexts change; capabilities grow; refinement continues throughout leadership careers.
Several factors make style development difficult:
Habit strength: Existing patterns feel natural and comfortable. Changing established habits requires sustained effort against ingrained tendencies.
Self-perception gaps: Leaders often perceive their styles differently than others do. Without accurate self-awareness, development lacks direction.
Context complexity: Different situations may require different approaches. Developing style flexibility adds complexity beyond developing a single approach.
Feedback scarcity: Many leaders receive limited feedback on their style. Without feedback, calibration proves difficult.
Pressure interference: Under pressure, leaders often revert to natural tendencies regardless of intent. Maintaining developed style under stress challenges most leaders.
Style flexibility matters because contexts vary:
Situation requirements: Different situations call for different approaches. A crisis may require directive leadership; a creative challenge may require participative leadership.
Individual differences: Different people respond to different styles. One team member may need autonomy; another may need close guidance.
Development stages: Teams at different development stages require different leadership. New teams may need more direction; mature teams may need more delegation.
Organisational culture: Different organisations have different leadership expectations. Style must fit organisational context.
Time constraints: Time pressure affects style appropriateness. Urgency may require more directive approaches than leisurely timelines.
Developing style flexibility involves:
Repertoire building: Develop capability in multiple styles. Learn approaches beyond your natural tendencies to have options when situations require them.
Context reading: Develop skill in reading contexts. What does this situation require? What style would be most effective here?
Transition skill: Build ability to shift between styles appropriately. Moving from directive to participative—or vice versa—requires deliberate capability.
Authenticity maintenance: Develop flexibility while maintaining authenticity. Adapted style should still feel genuine, not performed.
Practice across contexts: Deliberately practice different styles in appropriate contexts. Experience builds capability and confidence.
Leaders often wonder whether style development compromises authenticity:
The authenticity concern: If leadership style can be developed, is any style authentic? Are you "being yourself" or "performing a role"?
The resolution: Authenticity means alignment between your values and your behaviour, not restriction to your natural tendencies. You can authentically develop approaches that serve your values better than your instincts.
The growth frame: Style development is growth, not pretence. Just as you can authentically develop new skills, you can authentically develop new leadership approaches.
The integration process: Developed styles become authentic through integration. Initially, new approaches may feel awkward; with practice, they become genuinely yours.
The values anchor: Authenticity anchors in values, not behaviours. You can change how you lead while remaining true to what you believe leadership should accomplish.
Style adaptation becomes problematic when:
Value violation: When adapted style requires behaving inconsistently with your core values, adaptation becomes inauthenticity.
Performance feeling: When you consistently feel like you're acting rather than leading, the style may not suit you.
Sustainability challenge: When maintaining a style requires unsustainable effort, it may represent poor fit rather than growth opportunity.
Trust erosion: When others perceive style as manipulation rather than leadership, adaptation has crossed into inauthenticity.
Energy drain: When leading leaves you consistently depleted rather than energised, style fit deserves examination.
Leadership style affects career progression significantly:
Effectiveness perception: Your style shapes how others perceive your effectiveness. Styles that produce visible results and positive relationships advance careers.
Relationship building: Style determines relationship quality with superiors, peers, and subordinates. All three groups affect career advancement.
Promotion readiness: Promotion often requires demonstrating style appropriate for the next level. Styles effective for individual contribution may not suit management.
Senior leader fit: Senior leaders promote people whose styles complement their own. Style fit affects sponsorship and advancement.
Reputation creation: Style shapes leadership reputation. Reputation as an effective leader accelerates advancement; reputation as a problematic leader constrains it.
Effective style evolves with career progression:
Early career: Focus on credibility establishment. Demonstrate competence while building relationship skills.
First leadership role: Develop team leadership style. Learn to achieve through others rather than individual contribution.
Middle management: Add coordination and influence skills. Lead through other leaders; influence without direct authority.
Senior leadership: Develop strategic and cultural leadership style. Shape direction and values beyond direct team management.
Executive level: Master stakeholder leadership. Balance multiple constituencies while setting overall direction.
Leadership style is important because it determines how you influence, motivate, and direct others—affecting engagement, performance, culture, and results. Research shows managers account for 70% of engagement variance, with much of that variance reflecting leadership style differences. Your style shapes how people experience your leadership and whether they commit to following you.
Leadership style is the characteristic pattern of behaviours, attitudes, and approaches you use to lead others. It encompasses how you make decisions (alone versus collaboratively), how you communicate (directive versus consultative), how you motivate (inspiration versus authority), and how you relate to those you lead. Style emerges from consistent patterns that become recognisable.
Leadership style can absolutely be developed. While personality influences natural tendencies, leaders can deliberately develop new approaches and capabilities. Development requires self-awareness, feedback, deliberate practice, and sustained commitment. Initially, new styles may feel uncomfortable, but with practice, they become integrated and genuine.
Leadership style affects team performance through engagement (styles emphasising involvement produce higher engagement), climate (styles create emotional atmosphere), trust (consistent styles build trust), capability development (coaching styles build team capability), and retention (style quality determines whether talent stays). Engaged teams show 21% higher productivity, directly linking style to performance.
Leaders should develop style flexibility while maintaining authentic core. Different situations, individuals, and development stages benefit from different approaches. Effective leaders read contexts and adapt accordingly. However, adaptation should enhance effectiveness, not violate values or create unsustainable pretence.
You identify your leadership style through self-reflection (examining your consistent patterns), 360-degree feedback (understanding how others experience you), assessment tools (structured style evaluation), observation comparison (comparing your approach to style frameworks), and outcome analysis (connecting your patterns to your results). Multiple perspectives provide more accurate style understanding.
Leadership style significantly affects career advancement by shaping effectiveness perception, relationship quality with superiors and subordinates, promotion readiness assessment, senior leader fit evaluation, and leadership reputation. Styles that produce visible results while maintaining positive relationships advance careers most effectively.
Leadership style is important because it represents the choices you make about how to lead—choices that determine your impact on people, teams, and organisations. The style you bring to leadership shapes engagement, builds or erodes trust, creates or constrains culture, and produces or prevents results.
For leaders, the implication is clear: style deserves deliberate attention. Understanding your current style, recognising its effects, and developing your capabilities enables leadership improvement that pure skill development cannot provide. How you lead matters as much as what you know about leading.
The research confirms this importance: 70% engagement variance from leadership, dramatic performance differences across styles, culture creation through style demonstration. These findings establish that style isn't peripheral to leadership—it's central.
Your leadership style isn't fixed. It can be developed, refined, and adapted. The leader you become depends significantly on the style you develop. That development represents both opportunity and responsibility.
Every interaction with your team demonstrates your style. Every demonstration shapes their experience. Every experience affects their engagement, their performance, and their development.
Leadership style is important because it's how leadership actually happens—one interaction, one decision, one response at a time.
Choose your style deliberately. Develop it continuously. Lead with intention.