Looking back at some relatively old styles, laissez-faire leadership: best, servant leadership: best, democratic leadership: best, transformational leadership: best, charismatic leadership: best. This list extends. Looking at some of the relatively new terms and styles, which are increasing their popularity. Self-disruptive leader: best, transpersonal leader: best, altrocentric leader: best, leadership 4.0: best, agile leader: best, technoversal leader: best. For prospective leaders, this list extends much further.

But one second! Imagine prospective leaders searching for a style to adopt and employ. Would it be easy? This much plethora may be one of the reasons for research indicating there is not enough number of business leaders raising. Because which one would prospective leaders choose in so many options? Would not it be contradictory to choose from too many since they all are the best? More importantly, would this choice be a clear path to leadership excellence in an age with these many variables and challenges?

Adopting a leadership style

To adopt a particular style, it should be with a determined framework and clear guidance to prospective leaders. A style answering to world’s one of actual issues, and a style giving simple solutions to complex problems. Except for this, any of them would go in the long list of leadership styles. These styles typically spin in the circle of leader-follower interactions, or how a leader can better motivate for more growth and profit. Perhaps, these factors most mattered a hundred, fifty, or even twenty years ago, yet the reality and priority of the world have changed.

Leaders need to think of further issues such as resource scarcity, social responsibility. They also need to consider ethics since there is a debate that digital work style inflicts work overload on employees. And above all, they must seriously be aware of climate change and inspire their followers to act to rectify it. Unless a specific leadership offers unique elements to solving such a requisite aspect of the world’s real problems ordered above, a prospective leader should benefit from focusing on behaviours and skills rather than obsessing about styles.

If there is no such specific element in the core of leadership, taking a leader ahead of profit-making or leader-follower interaction of businesses. Then, this leader will circle in conventional business concerns, which skills and behaviours will be enough to answer these concerns. Especially when we consider each distinctive style has its own distinguishing characteristics, it looks more rational to adopt a skillset and behaviours in demand rather than a leadership style. In a word, leadership must offer vital aspects all along with well-defined qualities, for a prospective leader must pick it in tens of different leadership styles.

APARTS Versus VUCA

Again, unless the essence of a particular leadership is vital for businesses with all livings, environment, and society together, gaining skills and behaviours seems more practical.

So, what are these behaviours?

APARTS Behaviors, Agility, Problem-Solving Efficiency, Adaptation, Respect, Tech-Savviness, Seeking-Different Perspectives are the findings of recent research answering this question. These are the behaviours and skills that will take the leader ahead in the competition. Coming to VUCA, many of the leadership readers might have lately seen this overused acronym. The good news is that VUCA or a VUCA world’s explanation will not be here. But how to solve and overcome VUCA and many more issues like it may sound more appealing.

APARTS Versus VUCA

Adapted from ‘’Technology Effect on the Leader Behaviors in the Digital Era.’’1 The author has produced the diagram.

According to the research, these are must-have behaviours for leadership success. And they are genuinely logical while the problem and how a leader can solve it with a responsive behaviour are considered together in a problem-solution base.

You will possibly hear a prospective leader talking about leadership or asking about a style. In the end, the matter is simply asking the following question. Will your adopted leadership style offer a vital element and make you think outside the box? If the answer is yes, then it certainly is worth trying. If the answer is no, the above content will be a good choice for beginning to gain the skills and behaviours.

References

[1] Kapucu, H. (2020). Technology effect on the leader behaviours in the digital era. Business&IT, 10(2), pp. 12-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14311/bit.2020.03.02

  • About the Author
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Hakan Kapucu has approximately 20 years of work experience as of 2021, early seven years of the last eleven in International Commerce, and the following four in Investment. As a firm believer in science and education everywhere, the author ceaselessly learns and wishes to spread his learning. Besides his work life, he researches or designs pieces on leadership, technology concepts, and environmental issues. He experienced multicultural environments while he was traveling to many countries. He has strong analytical skills with competency in speaking several languages. Hakan is the creator and contributor of some new concepts, terms, and styles to the literature. He also holds reviewer positions for scientific Journals. He believes that knowledge is strength, and this strength is for all.