There are a number of ways to classify leadership styles. One approach categorizes styles according to emotional intelligence competencies, some of which work better than others in specific situations, and affect the organization or group in different ways. These styles are:

• Coercive: This "do what I say" style demands immediate compliance. It is especially useful in turnaround situations, in a crisis, and with problem employees. However, using this style inhibits your organization's flexibility and can dampen employee motivation.
• Authoritative: This style mobilizes people toward a vision. Specifically, it provides an overarching goal, but gives others the freedom to choose their own way of reaching it. This approach is most effective when a business is at sea and needs direction, or during an economic or business downturn. This style is less successful when the leader is working with a team of experts who may have more experience — and may disagree with his approach.
• Affiliative: This "people-first" style engenders the creation of emotional bonds and team harmony. It is best used when team coherence is important or in times of low employee morale. But this approach's focus on praise may permit poor performance among employees to continue unchecked, and employees may lack a sense of overall direction.
• Democratic: This style builds consensus through participation. It is most appropriate when organizational flexibility and a sense of individual responsibility is needed. The downside of this style, however, is that it may result in indecision, and some people may be left feeling confused and leaderless.
• Pacesetting: This style expects excellence and self-direction. It works best for highly skilled and motivated people who work well on their own. Other people, however, may feel overwhelmed by a pacesetting leader's demands for excellence. Their self-esteem, trust, and, ultimately, their morale may drop under the regime of this type of leader.
• Coaching: This style focuses on personal development. Coaching leaders help people identify their strengths and weaknesses, and tie them to their career aspirations. While this style is highly successful with people who want to change or improve professionally, it is largely unsuccessful with those who are resistant to learning or changing their ways.

While some styles may be more comfortable for you to adopt than others, the more you stretch yourself to learn a range of styles, the more effective you will be as a leader. Generally speaking, being able to switch among four styles — authoritative, affiliative, democratic, and coaching — as conditions dictate tends to create the optimal work environment.

When leading people in a one-on-one situation, the style you adopt should reflect the needs and personality of the individual you are working with. It is important to remember that everyone has different capabilities and strengths which will likely fluctuate on a project-by-project basis. Therefore, the same person may need you to provide a different leadership style, depending on the task at hand.