Leadership with Style
T. Gale
A Captain’s leadership style is critical to his, or her effectiveness as pilot in command to ensure that all responsibilities are
met in a team/crew environment. To be effective leaders, Captains need to have the cooperation of their crew, at their
best. Cooperation may be gained using different leadership styles tailored correctly to different situations and crew
dynamics. For example, if there is a delay at the gate caused by a systems malfunction, it would not be appropriate to
command over the PA that all passengers remain seated and follow the instructions of the flight attendant due to a
technical malfunction. This is autocratic leadership. On the other hand, this approach and in fact these instructions are
perfectly suited to an In-Flight emergency. However, when preparing for the first flight of the day, a Captain will be more
effective by taking a bureaucratic approach to ensure that other crewmembers follow SOPs in a professional manner. A
pre-flight briefing is where a Captain can use a combination of several other styles: charismatic, democratic, laissez-faire,
people-oriented, servant or transformational in order to set the stage for the rest of the day. The situation at hand and the
dynamics of the crew will require varied leadership styles.
We are learning in CRM this year that each of us falls into certain categories of personality “types”. Each type has defined
general traits as well as communication styles.1 We use this understanding in order to avoid, trap and manage conflict that
is inevitable in our work environment. Further to this analysis there are different types of leadership categories. Each
category has beneficial as well as negative effects on those around us and on our team.
Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership is, where leader has absolute power over his or her employees or team. Employees and team
members have little opportunity for making suggestions, even if these would be in the team or organization’s interest.
Most people tend to resent being treated like this. Because of this, autocratic leadership usually leads to high levels of
stress. For some routine and unskilled jobs, the style can remain effective where the advantages of control outweigh the
disadvantages.
Bureaucratic Leadership
Bureaucratic leaders work “by the book”, ensuring that their team follow procedures exactly. This is a very appropriate
style for work involving serious safety risks.
Charismatic Leadership
A charismatic leader contributes energy and enthusiasm into their team, which is very effective in driving others forward.
However, a charismatic leader tends to believe more in himself than in the team. This can create a risk for a very weak
team that a task or mission might collapse if the leader were to leave: In the eyes of their followers, success is tied up with
the presence of the charismatic leader. This could certainly lead to tragic events after an accident in a survival scenario.
As such, charismatic leadership carries great responsibility, and needs long-term commitment from the leader. Obviously,
for a flight crew driven by procedures and a hierarchy of authority there is no place for a purely charismatic leader. Yet a
Captain with this characteristic can have a positive effect on the overall performance of the crew.
Democratic or Participative Leadership
Although a democratic leader will make the final decision, he or she invites other members of the team to contribute to the
decision-making process. This not only increases job satisfaction by involving employees or team members in what’s
going on, but it also helps to develop people’s skills. Team members feel in control of their own destiny, which cultivates a
sense of pride and accomplishment motivates them to work beyond their specific job description.
Developing an environment for participation may require some probing by the Captain and may take a little extra time, but
often the end result is better. The approach can be most suitable where teamwork is essential, and quality is more
important than speed or productivity. Sometimes it is worth letting a few minutes slip by for the sake of a more functional
crew environment. Especially when difficult conditions are anticipated.
Laissez-faire Leadership
This French phrase means “leave it be” and is used to describe a leader who leaves his or her colleagues to get on with
their work. It can be effective if the leader monitors what is being achieved and communicates this back to his or her team
regularly. Most often, laissez-faire leadership works for teams in which the individuals are very experienced and skilled
self-starters. During a station turn around this approach can prevent unnecessary conflict and allow independent
efficiencies by crewmembers. This is an excellent training approach and may also follow a participative leadership style as
the crew develops trust and self-confidence. Unfortunately, it can also refer to situations where a leader/Captain is not
exerting sufficient control. I.E. Complacency.
People-Oriented Leadership or Relations-Oriented Leadership
The style of leadership is the opposite of “task-oriented” leadership: the leader is totally focused on organizing, supporting
and developing the people in the leader’s team. A participative style, it tends to lead to good teamwork and creative
collaboration.
In practice, most leaders use both task-oriented and people-oriented styles of leadership. Sound familiar?
Servant Leadership
This term, coined by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, describes a leader who is often not formally recognized as such.
When someone, at any level within an organization, leads simply by virtue of meeting the needs of his or her team, he or
she is described as a “servant leader”.
In many ways, servant leadership is a form of democratic leadership, as the whole team tends to be involved in decisionmaking.
Supporters of the servant leadership model suggest it is an important way ahead in a world where values are increasingly
important, in which servant leaders achieve power on the basis of their values and ideals. Others believe that in
competitive leadership situations, people practicing servant leadership will often find themselves left behind by leaders
using other leadership styles. This approach may be found in middle management but will also be recognized as an
unintentional leadership role by someone who is held in high esteem by her peers.
Task-Oriented Leadership
A highly task-oriented leader focuses only on getting the job done, and can be quite autocratic. He or she will actively
define the work and the roles required, put structures in place, plan, organise and monitor. However, as task-oriented
leaders spare little thought for the well being of their teams, this approach can suffer many of the flaws of autocratic
leadership, with difficulties in motivating and retaining staff. There is definitely a time and place for this style when
operating an aircraft or in any other high-risk activity where an emergency is in progress, or imminent.
Transactional Leadership
This style of leadership starts with the idea that team members agree to obey their leader totally when they take on a job:
the “transaction” is (usually) that the organization pays the team members in return for their effort and compliance. You
have a right to “punish” the team members if their work doesn’t meet the pre-determined standard.
Team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction under transactional leadership. The leader could give team
members some control of their income/reward by using incentives that encourage even higher standards or greater
productivity. Alternatively a transactional leader could practice “management by exception”, whereby, rather than
rewarding better work, he or she would take corrective action if the required standards were not met.
This method of leadership is an archaic and unwelcome practice in today’s labour environment but is still recognized by
managers who lack other skills. It also requires the acceptance of the team to continue.
Transactional leadership is really just a way of managing rather a true leadership style as the focus is on short-term tasks.
It has serious limitations for knowledge-based or creative work.
Transformational Leadership
A person with this leadership style is a true leader who inspires his or her team constantly with a shared vision of the
future. Transformational leaders are highly visible, and spend a lot of time communicating. They don’t necessarily lead
from the front, as they tend to delegate responsibility amongst their team. While their enthusiasm is often infectious, they
generally need to be supported by “details people”. In many organizations, both transactional and transformational
leadership are needed. The transactional leaders (or managers) ensure that routine work is done reliably, while the
transformational leaders look after initiatives that add value.
The Transformational style is dominant when considering effective leadership theory in general terms and therefore I
absolutely recommend that other styles be adopted to meet the demands of critical situations.
Style, method, approach, technique, or manner, are the ways in which you deal with people and events. What is your style
and how does it affect the people around you?
Whether dealing with passengers or fellow crewmembers, we all can choose which approach, or style, to take in order to
be effective as leaders. Our goal is to be cohesive as a crew in order to complete our flight, pairing, day, etc., safely and
efficiently with minimal stress. There are a myriad of resources available about leadership from libraries, bookstores and
the good old Internet. (Something for a dark and lonely overnight.)
TGale
Notes:
1. The Merrill-Reid method that we apply is but one of many similar descriptions of the different personality types.
Modern personality analysis tends to categorize people into one of four main types. Although each of us are
unique and form different combinations of these types, we all have one dominant personality type that
characterizes us most accurately.
Four Quadrant Model
There are many different schools of thought extending from ancient times to the present that use four main
groupings or categories of personalities. This is often called a "four-quadrant model", and is used in many
different psychological and employment contexts. A rough mapping of each major known school of thought is
shown in the table below:
Table of Equivalents for the 4 Personality Types
Merrill-Reid
Driver
Expressive
Amiable
Analytical
D.E.S.A.
Dominant
Expressive
Solid
Analytical
Hippocrates Greek Terms (370
BC)
Choleric
Sanguine
Phlegmatic
Melancholy
Western Astrology
Fire
Air
Water
Earth
"What's My Style?" (WMS)
Direct
Spirited
Considerate
Systematic
The P's
Powerful
Popular
Peaceful
Perfect
The S's
Self-propelled
Spirited
Solid
Systematic
The A's
Administrative Active
Amiable
Analytical
LEAD Test
Leader
Dependable
Analyst
Expressor
ARRAY (Jonathan Knaupp)
Production
Connection
Status Quo
Harmony
Biblical Characters
Paul
Peter
Abraham
Moses
Geier
Dominance
Influencing
Competence
Steadiness
DiSC(r)
Dominance
Influencing of
Others
Steadiness
Cautiousness/
Compliance
McCarthy/4MAT System
Common Sense Dynamic
Innovative
Analytic
Merrill / Wilson
Driver
Expressive
Amiable
Analytic
Plato (340 BC)
Guardian
Artisan
Philosopher
Scientist
Kretschner (1920)
Melancholic
Hypomanic
Anesthetic
Hyperasthetic
Sprangler (1930)
Religious
Aesthetic
Theoretic
Economic
From (1947)
Hoarding
Exploiting
Receptive
Marketing
Psycho-Geometrics (1978)
Triangle
Squiggle
Circle
Square/Rectangle
Type A or B
Type B
Motivated
Type B Messy
Type A Casual
Type A
Compulsive
PSI
Controller
Promoter
Supporter
Analyst
Brokenleg Reclaiming Youth at
Risk
Mastery
Achiever
Power
Belonging
Attached
Significance
Generosity
Altruistic
Virtue
Independence
Autonomous
Competence
Enneagram
Adventurer
Achiever
Helper Romantic
Peacemaker
Observer
Asserter
Perfectionist
Animals
Bear
Monkey
Dolphin
Owl
True Colors(r) (1978)
Green
Orange
Blue
Gold
Children's Literature
Rabbit
Tigger
Pooh
Eeyore
Charlie Brown Characters
Lucy
Snoopy
Charlie Brown
Linus
Jane Austen Novel Characters
Emma
Woodhouse
Lydia Bennet
Elizabeth
Bennet
Marianne
Dashwood
Comics
Jason
Snoopy
Cathy
Ziggy
Who Moved My Cheese?
(by Spencer Johnson, M.D.)
Sniff
Scurry
Haw
Hem
The Celestine Prophecy
(by James Redfield)
Intimidator
Poor Me
Aloof
Interrogator
Personality Categories
The method used by most management training workshops and employers is the ever-popular Merrill-Reid
method, which categorizes personality types into:




Driver
Expressive
Amiable
Analytical
Characteristics of Personality Categories




Driver:
o Objective-focused
o Know what they want and how to get there!
o Communicates quickly, gets to the point
o Sometimes tactless and brusque
o Can be an "ends justify the means" type of person
o Hardworking, high energy. Does not shy away from conflict
Expressive:
o Natural salesmen or story-tellers
o Warm and enthusiastic
o Good motivators, communicators
o Can be competitive
o Can tend to exaggerate, leave out facts and details
o Sometimes would rather talk about things than do them!
Amiable:
o Kind-hearted people who avoid conflict
o Can blend into any situation well
o Can appear wishy-washy Has difficulty with firm decisions
o Often loves art, music and poetry Highly sensitive
o Can be quiet and soft-spoken
Analytical:
o Highly detail oriented people
o Can have a difficult time making decisions without ALL the facts
o Make great accounts and engineers
o Tend to be highly critical people
o Can tend to be pessimistic in nature
o Very perceptive
No single personality type outshines the other or is preferable to the other, but all complement each other in
different ways. If you are choosing a team for a difficult or critical task, it is a good idea to have representation
for each on your team for a balanced approach to the task at hand.
Ref.
www.MindTools.com