The affiliator style of leadership is especially
well adapted to the role of counselor. It is also
effective when you need to recognize someone for
doing a good job. However, the affiliator has a
negative effect when the work center has a tight
deadline or when you are in a leadership role for
long periods.
People who use the democratic leadership style
listen to subordinates. Therefore, you could
benefit from this style when showing a new
maintenance procedure or how a new piece of
equipment works. You would also find it helpful
when planning social events based on a consensus
of opinion. Using this style when preparing for
an inspection would be harmful because you
would lack control. It would also be harmful
during drills or combat because you would not
have time to hold meetings. You would have to
tell subordinates what to do or the entire
command could be lost.
Using the pacesetter style of leadership is
helpful when you are working with a new work
center or teaching a new maintenance procedure
by example. However, if you begin doing other
people’s work, rather than training, monitoring,
and developing subordinates, the pacesetter style
becomes harmful to the work center.
The coach style of leadership is helpful when
a worker is attempting to learn a new procedure
or master a new technique. It is also effective
when you need to counsel a subordinate who
frequently arrives late at the work center.
However, this style of leadership has no effect on
a subordinate who knows how to perform a job
or task but refuses to do the work.
Factors Affecting Leadership Styles
The following six elements interact to deter-
mine your leadership style:
• Motives and values
• Past experiences
• Past and present supervisors
• Jobs or tasks
• Organizational culture and norms
• Situations
MOTIVES AND VALUES. —Your leadership
style reflects those motives and values you see as
important. If power is important to you, you may
emphasize the coercer style of leadership. If you
value friendship, you may tend to emphasize the
democratic or affiliator style of leadership.
PAST EXPERIENCES. —If a particular
leadership style has worked in the past, you will
probably use it again in similar situations. If a
certain style didn’t work, you will avoid using it
again. Therefore, past experiences influence your
leadership style.
PAST AND PRESENT SUPERVISORS. —
Since supervisors serve as role models, subor-
dinates frequently imitate their behavior;
therefore, your supervisors influence your
dominant leadership style.
JOBS OR TASKS. —The job or task your
work center performs affects your leadership
style. A new procedure or the installation of a
piece of equipment may call for the pacesetter
style of leadership. An emergency situation may
cause you to be coercive.
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURES AND
NORMS. —Civilian businesses provide a service
or product to society. Since the products and
services provided by businesses differ, the needs
and requirements of their workers also differ. The
same is true for the Navy. The Navy provides a
service to its country. Each organizational level
of the Navy performs a specific job or provides
a product that contributes to that service.
Therefore, the needs and requirements of the
workers at each level also differ. This difference
creates different work environments (cultures) and
different relationships (norms) between the
workers. The culture of your organization has a
great impact on your leadership style. Your
leadership style changes to fit the organizational
culture of your work center. In short, you will
change your leadership style to meet the
expectations of your superiors.
SITUATIONS. —Specific situations determine
your leadership style because each one could
involve a different number of people and a
different amount of pressure or stress. For
example, you might use the democratic style when
assigning a daily task because you would have
time to explain the "why" of doing it. However,
you would be unable to use that style during an
emergency. Can you imagine explaining why you
want the electrical power secured during a fire
aboard ship?
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