While some may think that good leadership takes no more than telling people what to do and having them actually do it, there are many different styles in the field of leadership that any manager, employer, or community organizer can study. Relational leadership style is a relational process of people working together in an attempt to accomplish change or make a difference in the interest of the common good. There are five main components of relational leadership that you need to know in order to be an effective leader: inclusion, empowerment, purposefulness, ethical behaviors, and process orientation.
- Inclusion: This first component means that in the relational model, the leader involves everyone and everyone’s ideas. The leader thinks about the various viewpoints of the group and takes all perspectives into account for any decision or change they make. Being inclusive means that the leader truly believes that everyone can make a difference and that the leader can actively listen to everyone in the group.
- Empowerment: Empowering others is an extremely important quality when it comes to a leader’s success. To empower others, a leader needs to give them the ability to be involved as well as the feeling of being involved in group decision making. A leader using the relational leadership style needs to have a true concern for the growth and development of others and the tools to encourage that growth.
- Purposefulness: A relational leader knows exactly for what they are working. Purposefulness in the relational leadership style of leading is defined as having an individual commitment to a goal or activity while setting a common ground with others who share a similar purpose. The leader can not only identify the group’s goals and have a vision of the outcome, but fully involve others in the vision-building process.
- Ethical Behaviors: Practicing ethical behaviors is slightly vague, but it means that moral values and standards drive the leader. These values should be used to make ethical decisions and to model the behaviors that the rest of the group needs to follow.
- Process Orientation: This orientation is focused on how the group decides to function as a team, including how everyone stays together, communicates, solves problems, and achieves the communal goals. For the leader to be process-oriented, the need to believe that the process is as important as the outcome and they need to encourage collaboration and reflection throughout the process.
Whether a leader is trying to settle workplace disputes or simply lead a group in a collaborative project, these components are essential for every effective leader. Be conscious of promoting these qualities, and the style of relational leadership will quickly form.