In Leadership is a highly debated topic with millions of books being written about what constitutes effective leadership. I want to make it very clear that I don’t have any formal degree in leadership. I have however captained many teams and I can possibly claim a “pavement degree” for having years of experience.
Leadership Styles
There are four clear leadership styles and all of them have combinations that can be adopted. Autocratic, democratic, Laissez-faire, and transformational leadership. I would like to add one which is servant leadership which is biblical. All these styles and their combinations can be effective but not necessarily in the long run.
Autocratic leadership is very effective in the short term because fear is involved. Over time that fear dissipates and with that the results also go. We live in a democratic country and a democratic style of leadership that combines Transformational leadership will be very effective in our situation. Laissez-Faire is not really an option for me as there is no discipline involved. No leader can lead if there isn’t some form of discipline involved.
Transformational leadership is effective when the right person is at the helm. At some point as a leader, you will upset someone, and you might get into a conflict situation. Strong and effective leaders do not shy away from conflict, but they never lose their heads when they are in a conflict situation. I think the key ingredient with all styles of leadership is a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ). Leaders who know when to be hard, know when to be soft and who know when to say the right things at the right time always impressed me.
Effective Leadership: My Personal Mentors
I owe a lot of who I am today and what I achieved in rugby to a handful of people. These leaders had the emotional intelligence to manage me and not break me. The first person I would like to mention is Mr Theo Kleynans, my WP Under 13 Craven Week coach. He had the guts to pick the naughtiest boy in the squad and make him captain. One will often find that the naughty/busy kids get sidelined because it is easier to leave them out of the team than it is to pick them and try and manage them.
Mr Kleynans gave me an opportunity and I took it with both hands. I captained every single team I played for after he took the brave decision to pick me as captain and I will be forever grateful.
The second person is Mr Richard Visagie a teacher at Paarl Boys High my former school. He had the emotional intelligence to discipline me without breaking me in my early years of high school when I really needed it. Discipline at that time wasn’t writing “I am sorry I farted in class” a thousand times. It was two or three shots with a cane that was very painful, especially when Mr Visagie handed out the punishment.
The 3rd person I would like to mention is Nick Mallett the former Springbok Coach. When Gary Teichmann got injured, he asked me if I wanted to be the captain in my debut test and I immediately said yes. We went on to beat Italy with a record score of 101-0. That record was later broken by John Smit and his team. Nick, Mr Visagie and Mr Kleynans all had high levels of emotional intelligence as leaders and that made all the difference.
In Conclusion…
Who are your mentors, friends and advisors and do they have EQ? All of us need effective leaders to help us and guide us on our journey. If you don’t have one, I would suggest that you find someone that can be your sounding board. All the best!
If you would like to get in touch about Debunking Motivation, send an email to corne@cornekrige.com. Visit my website to review my speaker sheet for more info. I also share my story on my social media pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.