6 leadership styles to achieve successful employee engagement

The Level Up Leadership model is a theory based on specifying a leader’s style or trait that best fits the relationship between the follower and the organizational-work environment. Its goal is to help meet and exceed the strategic goals of both the organization and the follower.

Level Up Leadership identifies six factors that contribute to follower success and engagement: professional communication and authentic leadership, decision-making, motivating people, managing people, leading people and leading change.

This article outlines the six styles of Level Up Leadership.

Professional development and authentic leadership

Oral presentations and an authentic presence can help leaders persuade employees by inspiring them. The model argues that this trait, when used effectively, produces the most positive effect. When used inadequately it can cause followers to rebel and disconnect, leaving them unsatisfied.

The most predominant use of this trait is during times of crisis. When a leader uses professional communication and authentic leadership by remaining steadfast, calm and honest about current and future situations, it tends to alleviate anxiety and win the hearts and minds of followers.

Decision-making leadership

This refers to situations where the leader sets an environment for challenging decision-making responsibility for followers, expecting them to perform at their highest level while avoiding groupthink. It provides confidence in their ability to make decisions at their level and offers a clear justification of empowerment.

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This fosters organizations with a flat structure where decisions can be made at lower levels, as opposed to tall structures and centralized decision-making.

Motivational leadership

This involves leaders as assessors of followers’ status-quo and making suggestions for improvement. It is predominant when employees are high on the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs – esteem, self-efficacy and self-actualization. Employees at the lower levels will still be motivated if the leader can address their needs.

People management leadership

This is directed towards the four functions of management by addressing the followers’ needs and preferences. The leader shows concern for the amount of control the follower needs, the individual leadership ability of the follower, how organized the followers are and their ability to plan accordingly.

This leadership trait is especially needed in situations where tasks are challenging, ambiguous and antiquated, or the relationship between the leader and followers is psychologically or physically distressing.

Core leadership principles

This refers to situations where the leader lets employees know what is expected of them by determining the tasks that the follower will perform, assessing follower-readiness levels and picking the most appropriate leadership style, for example telling, selling, participating or delegating.

The theoretical foundation and models attributed to this trait originate in 1930, with Kurt Lewin. This leadership application has the most positive effect when the followers want to be led but are driven toward becoming a leader themselves for intrinsic satisfaction.

Leading change leadership

This refers to change agents, visionaries and mission-driven leadership. Leaders let employees fend for themselves when the leader is not available, in order to build a transformational leadership presence in an organization.

Related content: How businesses are conquering change in hybrid-work models

This model argues that change is a moving target and circles back to authentic leadership, revealing a need for a proactive response to change as it happens. Recent focus has been on contingency planning and resilience. The most positive effect of this trait is when the followers have buy-in, feel empowered and are acting as agents of change themselves.

These six styles are designed to increase and build rapport between leaders and employees, so they are inspired and have increased satisfaction with their careers, becoming engaged and productive. Follower satisfaction is contingent upon the leader’s performance as both a facilitator and inspirer.

Which leadership style do you use in your organization? Let us know in the comments below.