- Introduction
- What exactly is a leadership style?
- Different types of leadership styles with examples
- Best leadership style
- Conclusion
Introduction
In July 2020, Tylt, a Gen Z social polling company, conducted a ‘who is the real leader of the Avengers- Captain America or Iron Man’ survey on social media. It found that an overwhelming majority of 72% voted for Captain America as the ‘real leader of the Avengers.’ The reason for this choice was ‘… because he’s the natural-born leader you root for and don’t mind taking orders from’. If you have seen the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) franchise, one would know that Team Cap (as in Captain America) is all about a more traditional and typical understanding of a leader in contrast to Team Iron Man. Whatever may be the case, let’s discuss the different leadership styles in the MCU and then judge who stands a better chance in the real world of organizations and management systems.
But before that, let’s understand What is Leadership Style?
A leadership style is defined by how a person (in a management or senior position) behaves consistently in decision-making situations and interactions with others.
According to Professors Anthony Mayo and Joshua Margolis from Harvard Business School, a leadership style can be understood with the help of three substructures:
| Imprint | How do the people you work with and lead experience you? |
| Functions | What are the practices you employ to mobilize coworkers and get things done? |
| Motivations | What motivations drive you to a certain course of action? |
Different types of leadership styles constitute these three frameworks in varying capacities.
Different Types of Leadership Styles with Examples
Traditionalist- Captain America
Apart from having good looks and a heart of gold, Captain America has an aura of leadership that compliments his persona.
The Captain America model of leadership style can be called traditionalist. A typical old-school go-getter with a no-nonsense attitude who gets things done comes what may!
In the school of different types of leadership styles, leaders from this set are the ones who are thrilled about succeeding and competing to be the best.
A traditionalist leadership style favors an organization’s intangible values like integrity and quality over the metrics of money, costs, deals, and variables. Yet, in their pursuit of excellence, they achieve the best of both worlds.
The leaders who embody the traditional leadership style are the ones who come up with the best companies in the world with the most simple and genius product hacks ever imagined.
Selling point: Such leaders are humble. They would rather let their team take the credit than say, “I did it.”
Bold & Dramatic- Thor
Thor: “Do I look to be in a gaming mood.”
“Fortunately, I am mighty.”
That’s Thor Odinson for you. An Avenger who is bold and dramatic.
This kind is the most different type of leadership style amongst all.
Unfortunately, leaders who possess this are often very charismatic with unachievable ambitions.
Since the beginning of MCU, Thor is shown as someone who is ambitious enough to bring all realms of the universe together peacefully, a distant future possibility that almost never materializes.
However, leaders exhibiting this leadership style have a strength of mind and motive that bypasses all other leadership styles.
Like Thor, leaders of this school have dominating personalities with the right bend of mind.
Selling Point: When used with a refrain, this leadership style focuses on only one thing but does it best.
Problem Solver- Dr Banner aka Hulk
It is said the more you focus on the problem, the bigger it gets. Likewise, the more one focuses on the solution, the better are the chances of getting it resolved. The Problem Solver leadership style involves reliance on intuition and experience.
Remember the time when Hulk put on the Infinity Stones gauntlet to snap his fingers. That was a tough decision to make, considering that wielding the gauntlet could kill everyone in the room.
So, even if disruptive technologies may be changing the market and the global economic crisis bringing a never seen before a meltdown in business, such leaders fall back upon past success to predict the future of the enterprises they lead.
Selling Point: In their quest to solve problems, such leaders also tend to become super successful product managers who launch one-of-a-kind products.
Coach- Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow
There are two kinds of leaders:
- Who are naturals like Captain America
- Who learn, adapt and delegate according to situations.
Black Widow (also known as Natasha) belongs to the second group and is also from the Avengers gang. People who possess this kind of leadership style are often seen putting up with short-term failures to achieve long-term goals.
They are great delegators with an innovative management style and may go around suggesting “Try this” as a solution to any and every problem.
The ‘problem solver’ and the ‘coach’ kind of leadership style, when amalgamated, produce the best kind of a lot.
Of the different types of leadership styles, this one is the most balanced in mind, body and spirit space.
Selling Point: The Coach leadership style when put into practice can yield enormous work-life balance benefits for all parties involved.
Champion for a Cause- Tony Stark aka Iron Man
Like Tony Stark, the leaders of this set build and implement huge impact projects and companies that positively affect their clientele. Do you recall Iron Man’s famous one-liner: “I have successfully privatized world peace?”
Besides the monetary benefits, such leaders are great at building what is called ‘company culture,’ a one-of-a-kind set of values that are distinct for every organization.
Afterall, most big top-notch companies have employees who talk a lot about no, not their salary packages, but their company culture.
Among the different types of leadership styles discussed, this one is also the most visionary.
Leaders of this group champion causes that benefit the environment or people in intangible ways, and for this reason, they also have the most loyal fanbase everywhere.
Selling Point: Leaders who practice this leadership style often end up becoming CEOs of the organizations they work in.
Best leadership style
Naturally, a perfect leader would practice all of the leadership styles we have discussed.
However, in the world of reality, we come across or identify ourselves as one or the other kind of leader with a different leadership squadron.
Having said that, different types of leadership styles exhibit distinct characteristics, and no one model suits every situation or organization.
In the current times, it is crucial that, as leaders, we identify a leadership style that is best suited for our needs. Because the more we know about ourselves, our ways of interacting with others and conducting business with them, the more effective we will be in achieving our collective goals.
Conclusion
Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk Thor, and Captain America made for fantastic leaders in Avenger’s past. If you wish to match their level of command in the future, then consider looking into our Future Leaders Programme from Asia’s No 1 Business School-the NUS.
Designed in collaboration with the National University of Singapore’s world-renowned faculty, the curriculum of this program covers all aspects of different types of leadership styles in management circles and all other verticals of leadership positions.
Closing question: What do you think is the best leadership style suited for you-Team Cap or Team Iron Man or something else?
Let us know in the comments section below.
