You should always try to be yourself - although a more professional version of yourself - at work. If you are not naturally authoritative, suddenly dishing out orders to your team will seem very strange and is unlikely to earn you the respect of those you manage. Instead, think about your natural manner, strengths and skills, and how you can use the authority you have in a positive way.

Flexibility

It's always best to adopt different leadership approaches in different situations. Obviously you will need to do this discretely! For example, if you are leading a change initiative, it is important to be inspiring and engaging, in order to ensure others' buy-in and commitment.

In a crisis situation, however, you will need to be far more directive in order to convey an appropriate sense of urgency. As well as adapting your style to different situations, you should also be sensitive to the motivations, needs and personalities of individual team members.

Different styles

While everyone has their own idea of what makes a good leader, there are some recognised leadership styles. You might find that you are comfortable moving between different styles, but it is useful to know what the different approaches.

These can include:
- Autocratic: a traditional top-down approach, which is highly directional
- Democratic: a more consultative and participative leadership style
- Transformational: this leadership style is concerned with vision and driving change
- Collaborative: a leadership approach based on a willingness to share knowledge, power and credit
- Servant leadership: is based on a sense of community and shared decision-making
- Transactional leadership - a behaviour-based approach that is concerned with the interaction between leader and followers

If you are a relatively new to managing, then it's a good idea to talk with a more experienced manager or leader about their experiences. Ask them about leadership styles and approaches they have used. Find out what worked for them, and what advice they could pass on to you.

Emotional intelligence

There will be times when it's important to be emotionally aware. Emotional intelligence helps you to tune in to what is happening in your environment, while also being self-aware. You might feel that you are already tuned in to the situations and concerns of others, but you need to take it further.

For example, there might be a threat of redundancy in your department. You should be empathetic, but also careful not to offer false hope or to make assurances that cannot be met.

Aim for a balance

When you lead others, it's important to balance the motivations, needs and wants of individual team members against what is best for your department or organisation.

Think about the following when deciding on the most appropriate leadership approach:
- The nature of the work you and your team are doing
- The different skills, experience and personalities within your team
- Your departmental or organisational culture

Experiment

One of the most exciting things about finding what leadership style suits you and in what circumstances us by trying out some different approaches. Find a leadership training course as this is a safe environment in which to do this. Volunteering to lead an initiative or special interest group is also a great way to try out different leadership approaches. You could do this either within or outside your organisation.

Get feedback

Many of us find it difficult to be objective about our own leadership style and how well it's working, so getting constructive feedback is a good idea. You can do this using an online assessment tool or even by asking senior colleagues for their opinions. You might even want to ask your team members for their feedback at individual catch-up meetings or as part of a more formal performance review process. Ask and address questions such as "what else do you need me to do?" or "what could I do differently to help support you in your role?". These are direct and can reveal a lot about how you could adapt or fine-tune your leadership approach.

Get support

If you leading a team is a new skill, it can be daunting learning to take on a multitude of tasks, issues and demands that are now part of your managerial role. So it's a good idea to have a someone you can call on to get some external support. This could be a coach or mentor, someone to help you benchmark your progress, talk through your leadership ideas with, and identify areas for ongoing development.