In this episode, hosts Merv Jersak and Tim Jerome delve into various leadership styles and their applicability in project management, emphasizing the importance of adapting leadership approaches to project needs and team dynamics. They explore laissez-faire, transactional, transformational, charismatic, interactional, and servant leadership styles, discussing how each can be leveraged for project success. The conversation underscores the significance of practical application over theoretical knowledge, highlighting the art of leadership and its critical role in ensuring project delivery and team development.

Main Take-Aways

1)   Introducing six varying leadership styles and their application.

2)   Certain leadership styles are superior to the others, but all have their benefits depending on the situation. The project manager will learn and practice each style to give them useful options to apply on their project as warranted.

Show Notes

Today’s Project Managers Coffee Chat: Exploring Leadership Styles in Project Management

00:27 Exploring Leadership Styles in Project Management

01:03 Diving Deep into Leadership Styles:

01:36 The laissez-faire leadership style: does this imply hand-off management? self-organizing teams? teams making their own decisions? related to Agile methodology?

When is laissez-faire management style ok?

06:42 Transactional leadership: tactical but not strategic; plays on rewards-based human behavior.

08:26 Servant leadership: aspirational in style, currently in vogue. Service first, leadership second.

10:56 Transformational leadership: empowering, inspiring, motivating, encouraging those they lead. Inspiring change.

13:15 Charismatic leadership: speaking with emotion to influence, self-confident, high energy, enthusiastic.

15:36 Interactional leadership: the art of leadership in combining leadership styles for major impact.

16:42 Each leadership style has its application depending on the team, the project, the circumstances, the customer, and other such factors.