Global business leaders are over-reliant on a single leadership style, demotivating employees and holding back organisational performance as a result, says new research from global management consultancy, Hay Group. The study is based on an analysis of Hay Group’s Styles and Climate data, covering 95,000 leaders in over 2,200 organisations across the world. 

According to the study, while good leadership is synonymous with flexibly tailoring the approach to suit the situation, one-third (36%) of leaders have mastered none or only one leadership style, compared to a quarter (26%) who are able to adopt a range of four or more styles. 

This has a negative effect on working environments, with over half (55%) of leaders creating de-motivating climates. By contrast, just 19% of leaders are fostering high-performance workplaces. Compared to the global average of 55%, leaders in India are far from the ideal workplace environment, with 70% of leaders found creating a de-motivating climate for their employees. Both Brazil and China were found to have performed better in this aspect. The research also showed that 2 in every 3 Indian leaders (62%) opt for the ‘coercive’ leadership style, compared to just 37% globally. 

Mohinish Sinha, leadership and talent practice leader at Hay Group India said in a release: “The leadership style in place directly affects the way people feel about working for an organisation - by creating what we call a ‘climate’. So the more leaders can improve the climate they create, the higher the performance of their team will be.” According to Sinha: “While the ‘coercive’ leadership style works well in a crisis or during a period of significant change, its overuse may lead to an erosion of innovation. It is the ‘coaching’ style of leadership that is most preferred in the Asian context - 81% of the most high-performing organisations had leaders using it as a dominant style. We find a ‘coaching’ leader focuses on building long-term capability, even at the expense of short-term performance.” 

Leaders in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) are the least flexible, with only one in five (22 per cent) able to use the recommended four or more leadership styles. Consequently, almost 57% are creating de-motivating climates. 

In addition, two-thirds (66%) of Asian leaders create de-motivating climates - the worst of any global region - where just one quarter (24%) have mastered four or more leadership styles. A majority of Asian leaders (48%) have been found to be using the ‘coercive’ style of leadership. North American leaders create the most positive working environments - fewer than half (49%) of employees state that the organisational climate is de-motivating. However, there is still room for improvement. 

(The Economic Times)