So you just got promoted to your first management or leadership position. Congratulations! The fact that you were given the job already speaks to the skills and experience you’ve gained that will help you in the position. But if you’ve never been in a management position before you may find yourself wondering how to go about it. 

There are plenty of management styles out there, and they all have their own pros and cons. It may take a little time to find the right management style for you. At the same time, you want to do some consideration beforehand so that you can present yourself in a consistent way to your team. In this blog, we’ll discuss different management styles and which might be right for you.

Visionary Management Style

A visionary manager is great at seeing the big picture. When beginning a project, visionaries don’t let themselves get tripped up by all the mess and the steps it will take to get there. Instead, they focus on what the project will become. More importantly, they can help their team see their vision. Visionary managers motivate. They get the team excited about the project, and they ensure that everyone has the same vision of what they’re working towards.

Visionary managers are extroverted, with excellent communication skills, and often creative people. To quote the musical Hadestown, they “can make you see how the world could be in spite of the way that it is.” If you have a talent for seeing the end goal and don’t tend to get hung up on the details, you may be a visionary manager.

Democratic Management Style

A democratic manager understands that their voice is not the only voice that matters on the team. They are less of a decision maker who passes down orders to their team and more of a moderator who takes in everyone’s opinions and forms the team’s agenda from there. With a democratic management style, most important decisions are made by vote, and the best work gets done through collaboration.

If you pride yourself on being a team player, consider adopting a democratic management style. You will still have the final say or final vote on all decisions, but that will be influenced by what the team as a whole wants to do.

Transformational Management Style

A transformational manager is constantly seeking to improve, both themselves and their team. These are the managers who keep their team on the “cutting edge.” They identify the weaknesses in the team and take steps to strengthen those areas. They take steps to make the workspace a fulfilling, optimized place for the team with high quality, innovative work to present to customers and executives.

If you’re the sort of person who is constantly striving, you may be a transformational manager. If you spent many of your days before your promotion thinking of ideas that would improve the company, a transformational management style could be a good fit.

Consultative Management Style

A consultative management style is a branch off of the democratic management style. In this style, you are still the one to make the decisions for the team. However, those decisions are made after speaking to your team and getting their ideas and contributions. You “consult” with the team to make sure they have input in the decisions that affect them. However, you don’t have to take a vote on every decision or cede to the majority vote if you have an idea that you think would better suit the team. 

This is another great choice if you want to make everyone on your team feel valued and included, but don’t want to be at the mercy of your multiple different opinions. 

Affiliative Management Style

An affiliative management style focuses on the human element of managing. An affiliative manager works to build a strong team that works together in harmony and trusts that once they have that, the work will fall into place. Affiliative managers encourage clear communication, encourage employees and show appreciation for their hard work, and try to resolve conflicts between different team members. In exchange, affiliative managers often have great talent retention with a loyal team working under them.

If you like to make the people around you feel special, you may be an affiliative manager. Affiliative managers are empathetic, patient, and great at problem solving and conflict resolution. If your favorite part of your job is the people you work with, consider taking an affiliative approach to management in your new position.