<section><h2>What's your management style?</h2><p><p>Firm leader or creative collaborator? Do you lead from the front - or are you someone who gently guides your team to achieve your objectives? </p><p><br></p><p><strong>Take our quiz</strong> to learn more about your managerial approach.</p></p></section><section><h2><h2><strong>Collaborative</strong></h2></h2><p><p>You have a <strong>more democratic style</strong> of leadership - where you make it a point of soliciting feedback from each member of your team. After all, you know that if every team member feels valued - you’re far more likely to get the best out of them to accomplish your team’s goals.</p><p> </p><p>The good news is that this collaborative style of management can be powerful at building a sense of teamwork and buy-in for any big decisions. </p><p> </p><p>However, you should take extra steps to ensure that collaboration doesn’t slow your team down. Sometimes as a manager, you need to be decisive - and with deadlines looming, make the quick and occasionally unpopular decision.</p><p> </p><p>But as a collaborative manager, your team should be okay with this - they’ll know that their opinions matter, and that you will reach out to them as circumstances allow.</p></p></section><section><h3><h2><strong>Authoritarian</strong></h2></h3><p><p>Now at first glance, you might think the word authoritative has a bit of a negative connotation. But we disagree - there’s always a place in teams for <strong>calm, firm leadership</strong> to keep things on track.</p><p> </p><p>Sure, collaboration and cooperation all have their place - but carried too far, teams can be at risk of losing their way. In this increasingly fast-paced world, managers that embrace these traits can prove incapable of making the quick decisions required to succeed.</p><p> </p><p>A word of caution however - it can be tempting to adopt a ‘I know best’ attitude, and try and make ALL the decisions. Continuous micromanagement can demotivate high performers, especially in the creative and high tech industries. </p><p> </p><p>We recommend a ‘less is more’ approach - where you save your authoritarian moments for the most critical or time-sensitive situations. Your teams will stay flexible, happy, while on track towards their objectives.</p><p> </p></p></section><section><h3><h2><strong>Mentoring</strong></h2></h3><p><p>You’re the type of manager who’s a born coach. Your team members are important to you on a personal level, and you excel at <strong>encouraging all of your reports</strong> to grow, strive, and improve.</p><p><br></p><p>Mentoring works best with small teams - as it requires a level of 1:1 attention that can prove difficult to scale up into larger organizations. If you have more than 7-8 direct reports, we recommend you adopt a different style to suit your bigger team.</p><p><br></p><p>One thing to watch out for - coaching only works where you have noticeably more skills and experience than your team. Certain personality types also can be resistant to the mentoring approach - so you might need to adjust your approach based on who are on your team.</p><p> </p></p></section><section><h2><h2><strong>You'll be leading the quarterly company meeting. You plan on:</strong></h2></h2></section><section><h3><h2><strong>When you were in school, you:</strong></h2></h3></section><section><h3><h2><strong>After a group discussion, you have final say over the decision. What is your next step?</strong></h2></h3></section><section><h3><h2><strong>A good day at work would consist of:</strong></h2></h3></section><section><h3><h2><strong>How would you describe your managerial approach?</strong></h2></h3></section><section><h3><h2><strong>A big project has come up - how do you get your team on board?</strong></h2></h3></section><section><h3><h2><strong>What’s the best way to motivate your team to success?</strong></h2></h3></section><section><h3><h2><strong>What’s your biggest weakness as a manager?</strong></h2></h3></section>