Leadership Essay

The author's intent for this article seems straightforward, specially when looking at the title -Six styles of leadership and when it is best to execute them. Instead Benincasa (2012), also a top female inspirational speaker decides to give us a little more. She delves into the difference between a Leader and a Manager, roles that normally are used interchangeably, but arguably have different meaning for the author. First she defines a leader as anyone with a "particular talent" or strenght who is capable of contribuing to the team at any given time, and the latter, as the one person that can give purpose and motivation and is able to bring the team together towards one common goal.

Benincasa points out, "good leaders should focus more on creating leaders instead of followers" (2012). In order to do this, Benincasa use data obtained from a 2000 Harvard Business Review conducted by Daniel Goleman, titled: Leadership that gets results. She discusses the top six leadership styles from research that lasted over 36 months and leveraged the experience from 3,000 middle-level managers. For the author, it is very important to highlight what a leader is capable of accomplishing, and where that leader, can best be utilized by a manager:

1. The pacesetting leader - "do as I do", great when the team is dedicated and experienced, could deter innovation.

2. The authoritative leader - "follow me" has the big picture in mind. Great during new inititatives, not so great when the leader is not the SME.

3. The affiliative leader - "caring and emphatetic", one that is there for others in time of need, has to be careful not to give under-performers an excuse for mediocre labor.

4. The coaching leader - a "mentor" who offers suggestions often, and empowers subordinates, not useful if mentee is unwilling to change, or if leader is not technically astute.

5. The