The 8 Leadership Styles Every Manager Must Know in 2025

Not every leadership style is suitable for every workplace. While the best leaders are the ones who know how to tailor their leadership to their employees based on their team’s needs, company culture, and other variables, effective leadership is easier said than done. 

Research data shows that trust in those in leadership roles in the workplace has been eroding fast over time. According to a Study by Harvard Business Review in 2016, 58% of employees said they would trust a stranger more than their own boss.

While one would hope for these statistics to improve, 2024 and 2025 research and surveys show there isn’t much improvement:

The best way to improve this trust is by finding the right leadership style for your workplace. This guide covers eight common leadership styles with practical examples and actionable insights you can apply immediately. It also includes a quick but comprehensive free test for you to solve to find your leadership style!

What Are Leadership Styles?

Leadership styles in the workplace are the different approaches managers and people leaders use to motivate and manage their teams. These leadership styles determine how you make decisions, communicate with your team, delegate tasks, and create your work environment.

Types of leadership vary based on:

• How much control the leader maintains
• The level of team involvement in decisions
• Communication patterns and feedback models
• Goal-setting and accountability approaches

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different leadership styles helps you recognize your natural tendencies while developing the flexibility to adapt when circumstances change. 

We know today that modern leadership emphasizes effective communication and emotional intelligence, rather than commanding from the top down. Today's leaders focus on creating a positive employee experience, not by sticking to a single style but by finding the right aspects of each leadership style that work for them.

Why Understanding Leadership Styles Matters in Modern Workplaces

Effective leadership in 2025 is an incredibly nuanced concept that requires leaders to balance a wide range of variables such as remote team management, rapidly changing landscapes, and diversity management.

Leaders who find their voice and management style, especially first-time managers, have a far easier time with key areas such as:

• Team engagement and productivity
• Employee satisfaction and retention
• Cross-functional relationships across departments
• Overall business performance

Further proving this point, we can see that yet another Gallup Study confirms that the impact of leadership and management accounts for 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores.

8 Key Leadership Styles in the Workplace

1. Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership involves centralized decision-making where leaders maintain strict control over team operations. Autocratic leaders make decisions independently, provide clear directives, and expect immediate compliance. While this may seem contradictory with modern perceptions of leadership, there are in fact, areas where authoritarian leaders in the workplace can succeed.

Key characteristics of Autocratic Leadership:

• Makes decisions independently without seeking input from team members
• Maintains strict control over all aspects of work processes and outcomes
• Provides clear, direct instructions with specific expectations for compliance
• Centralizes authority and responsibility within the leadership role

When does autocratic leadership work best?

• Crisis situations requiring quick decisions
• Highly regulated industries with strict compliance requirements
• New teams that need clear direction and structure
• Time-sensitive projects with little room for error

Example of effective autocratic leadership in the workplace: Hospital emergency room directors use autocratic leadership during critical situations. They make rapid, authoritative decisions when there's no time for group consultation, ensuring patient safety and efficient care delivery.

2. Democratic Leadership

Democratic leadership style emphasizes collaboration and shared decision-making. Democratic leaders actively seek team input, encourage open discussion, and work toward consensus on important decisions.

Key characteristics of Democratic Leadership:

• Actively seeks input and feedback from team members before making decisions
• Facilitates group discussions and encourages collaborative problem-solving
• Shares decision-making authority while maintaining final responsibility
• Creates an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are valued

When does democratic leadership work best?

• Creative projects requiring diverse input
• Knowledge work where team expertise adds value
• Situations where team buy-in is crucial for success
• Building long-term team engagement and ownership

Example of effective democratic leadership in the workplace: Satya Nadella transformed Microsoft's culture using democratic leadership. He encouraged cross-department collaboration, sought input from employees at all levels, and created an environment where diverse perspectives were valued, leading to increased innovation and employee satisfaction.

3. Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership focuses on empowering team members to reach their full potential while driving organizational change. Transformational leaders develop others' capabilities, inspire personal growth, and create environments where followers become leaders themselves.

Key characteristics of Transformational Leadership:

• Empowers followers to take ownership of their work and contribute to meaningful change
• Encourages followers to think critically and develop creative solutions independently
• Invests in each individual's personal and professional growth through coaching and mentorship
• Builds followers' confidence and capabilities to become leaders themselves

When does transformational leadership work best?

• Organizations undergoing significant change or transformation
• Teams pursuing ambitious growth objectives and innovation
• Situations requiring high levels of motivation and engagement
• Building next-generation leaders and succession planning.

Example of effective transformational leadership in the workplace: Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, demonstrates transformational leadership by empowering her workforce to embrace electric vehicle innovation. She invests heavily in employee development programs, encourages cross-functional collaboration, and creates opportunities for team members to lead major initiatives

4. Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership operates on clear exchanges between leaders and team members, with specific expectations. Simply put, high performers are rewarded while low performers experience consequences. As the name suggests, fully transactional.

Key characteristics of Transactional Leadership:

• Establishes clear performance expectations and measurable goals
• Uses reward and recognition systems to motivate desired behaviors
• Monitors performance closely and provides corrective feedback when needed
• Focuses on maintaining existing systems and processes rather than driving change

When does transactional leadership work best?

• Operational roles requiring consistency
• Sales teams with clear targets and quotas
• Project-based work with defined deliverables
• Stable environments where reliability is crucial

An example of transactional leadership: Successful sales managers often use transactional leadership by setting clear quotas, providing specific incentives for performance, and implementing structured customer relationship management processes.

5. Servant Leadership

Servant leadership, sometimes referred to as facilitative leadership, prioritizes serving others and helping team members reach their full potential. These leaders focus on removing obstacles, providing resources, and creating environments where others can thrive. 

Key characteristics of Servant Leadership:

• Prioritizes the growth, well-being, and empowerment of team members
• Listens actively and demonstrates genuine empathy in interactions
• Makes decisions based on what best serves the team and organization
• Builds trust by being transparent, authentic, and consistently supportive

When is servant leadership the most effective?

• Service-oriented organizations
• Nonprofit and mission-driven companies
• Teams where collaboration is essential
• Organizations prioritizing employee development

Example of servant leadership:Howard Schultz demonstrated servant leadership at Starbucks by prioritizing employee welfare, offering comprehensive benefits to part-time workers, and consistently advocating for his team members, creating strong company culture and contributing to business success.

6. Laissez-Faire Leadership

Laissez-faire leadership takes a hands-off approach, giving team members significant autonomy to make decisions and manage their work independently. This does come with its own challenges. This form of leadership requires a strong level of trust between the manager and their direct reports. 

Key characteristics of Laissez-Faire Leadership:

• Provides minimal direct supervision and allows high degree of autonomy
• Delegates decision-making authority to team members for most issues
• Offers resources and support when requested but avoids micromanaging
• Trusts team members to self-organize and manage their own work processes

When is laissez-faire leadership the most effective?

• Highly experienced, self-motivated teams
• Creative industries requiring innovation
• Expert professionals who thrive with independence
• Research and development environments

Example of laissez-faire leadership: Many tech companies use laissez-faire leadership with engineering teams, allowing developers significant autonomy in problem-solving approaches, often leading to innovative breakthrough solutions.

7. Bureaucratic Leadership

Bureaucratic leadership emphasizes following established procedures, maintaining consistency, and ensuring compliance with rules and regulations. While it may seem a bit too process-focused rather than people, there is value to be found in well-established processes going without a hitch.

Key characteristics of Bureaucratic Leadership:

• Strictly adheres to established policies, procedures, and organizational hierarchy
• Makes decisions based on rules and regulations rather than personal judgment
• Maintains detailed documentation and follows systematic processes
• Emphasizes consistency, compliance, and standardized approaches to work

When is bureaucratic leadership the most effective?

• Highly regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government)
• Large organizations requiring consistency
• Environments where mistakes have serious consequences
• Situations demanding strict compliance

Example of bureaucratic leadership at work: Hospital administrators employ bureaucratic leadership to ensure healthcare regulation compliance, maintain patient safety standards, and coordinate complex medical procedures while protecting patients and staff.

8. Visionary Leadership

Visionary leadership centers on creating and communicating compelling long-term visions that inspire teams around common goals. Great leaders using this style excel at seeing possibilities others miss and articulating visions that motivate action.

Key characteristics of visionary leadership:

• Strategic thinking combined with emotional intelligence
• Ability to navigate uncertainty and change
• Skill in inspiring commitment to long-term objectives
• Balance between big-picture vision and practical execution

When is visionary leadership the most effective?

• Organizational transformations
• Startup environments
• Major industry disruptions
• Pursuing ambitious long-term objectives

Example of effective visionary leadership in the workplace: Oprah Winfrey built her media empire by envisioning a platform that would inspire personal growth and meaningful connections. Her clear vision of "helping people live their best lives" guided every business decision, from her talk show format to her network programming, inspiring her teams to create content that consistently aligned with this transformative purpose.

Comparing Each Leadership Style

Which Leadership Style Is the Best?

No single leadership style works best in all situations. The most capable leaders develop flexibility across multiple approaches, adapting based on what their team needs at any given moment.

Consider these factors when choosing your approach:

• Team experience level: New teams often need more direction, while experienced teams may prefer autonomy
• Industry requirements: Regulated industries may require more structured approaches
• Organizational culture: Some companies thrive on innovation, others prioritize stability
• Situational urgency: Crisis situations may require quick, decisive leadership.
  

A good leader recognizes that different team members may respond better to different approaches, even within the same organization. The key is developing awareness and skills to match your leadership approach to both situational needs and individual preferences.

How to Find Your Leadership Style

Discovering your natural leadership style starts with honest self-reflection about your instincts and patterns. Consider:

• How you naturally respond to challenges
• Your preferred decision-making process
• How you communicate with team members
• When you feel most energized as a leader

Gather feedback from team members, peers, and supervisors to gain an external perspective on your leadership approach. Ask specific questions about:

• How others experience your communication style
• Your decision-making process and its effectiveness
• The work environment you create
• Areas where you could be more effective

Using platforms that allow you to listen to your workforce, such as pulse survey tools and 360-degree feedback software, can help gain an understanding of what you are good at and what your employees need.

Use the best 360-degree feedback tool for Microsoft Teams

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How to Develop Your Own Leadership Style

Building stronger leadership capabilities requires intentional practice and commitment to continuous learning. Here's how to expand your leadership development:

Step 1: Start with self-awareness:

• Identify situations where you'd benefit from different approaches
• Notice your default responses to various challenges
• Seek regular feedback from team members and peers

Step 2: Practice new approaches:

• Experiment with different styles in low-stakes situations
• Observe great leaders and notice their techniques
• Try more collaborative approaches in team meetings

Step 3: Focus on foundational skills:

• Develop leadership skills and self-awareness
• Improve effective communication across different styles
• Build trust through consistent, authentic leadership

Step 4: Seek structured learning:

• Consider formal leadership development programs
• Work with executive coaches or mentors
• Join peer learning groups with other leaders

The Right Tools for Your Leadership Style

At Teamflect, we’ve built a performance management platform that supports every leadership style, whether you lead through coaching, vision, collaboration, or accountability. From structured performance reviews and OKR management to rewards and recognition, Teamflect helps you put your leadership approach into action inside Microsoft Teams. No matter how your style evolves, you’ll have the tools to lead with clarity, support your team’s growth, and drive meaningful results.