Leadership is a core factor that determines the success of a project to be carried out. It plays a key role in deciding whether a project will be successful or not. In leading people, it is important to choose from among many leadership styles available. Three of them are commonly used by leaders. These are the visionary style, coaching style, and affiliative style. Each style is used depending on the objectives of a project. Examples of projects given below may explain situations under which the above-mentioned leadership styles may be applied.
A project carried out by a non-profit agency involving seeking finances for funding purposes may be best suited to use the visionary style. It would be the best choice because this project involves a non-profit agency and there must be a common shared goal or vision that people have. In this style of leadership, a leader creates a goal or vision that people participate in and engage in. The goal of this project is to give aid and this would motivate people to get involved. In a situation in which a financial institution needs to staff its offices, an affiliative style of leadership would be the best to apply. This style involves a leader bringing people together by creating good relationships thus fostering teamwork and creating a harmonious work environment. In an office, better relationships between people encourage collaborations which lead to good performance, commitment, hard work, and loyalty to the objectives and goals of a project. Lastly, in a situation in which a town council is assessing the need for additional traffic lights at a busy intersection to prevent accidents, the best leadership style to use would be coaching. This style requires a leader to connect the objectives of a project with the needs and wants of people. The objective of this project is to reduce accidents and the human want involved is security. Connecting these two aspects would enable a leader to successfully convince people to support a project without opposition.
A new project leader faces many impediments because people are not conversant with his qualifications and leadership style. They ask questions related to the execution of a project. A project leader must know how to deal with people to gain their confidence and loyalty because these two are necessary for success. The most important thing for a project leader to do is convince people that he is the right person to lead them. Convincing them would include the reason why he was chosen to head them and an explanation of his understanding of challenges and issues facing a project. This would give people reason to trust and believe in him as worthy and capable. Next, a leader should express his intention of treating people with respect and value. This would include recognizing their expertise and explaining how important it is to the success of a project. As a sign of valuing people and their expertise, a leader could establish a reward system to reward those who show commitment and effort. Through such prioritizing, a leader would not experience difficulties leading people in achieving the goals of a project.