Visionary leaders inspire a group to innovate and experiment. They motivate followers to reach for a general goal without laying out specific steps – essentially setting their imagination free and letting the group take risks.

The main focus for coaching leaders is to develop each individual them. Their one-on-one style of leading can greatly improve followers’ abilities. However, this can also result in micromanaging which decreases people’s confidence in themselves overall.

Democratic leaders, slightly similar to the visionary one, establishes a common goal for the group without making set decisions. The reason they’re called democratic shows through their use of each group member’s input and knowledge to make choices. Giving everybody an equal voice succeeds in increasing morale, however it can fail in times when hard decisions need to be made fast.

Embodying some classically bossy traits – possessing high standards, striving for efficiency, and coming across as slightly aggressive – pacesetting leaders get things done. On the downside, this dictatorship-like strategy where followers receive little praise often times causes followers to feel like they’re failing somehow by not meeting extremely high performance standards.

Slightly similar to the pacesetting leader, commanding leaders rely on a military style leadership. They use criticism and neglect to praise followers. The Wall Street Journal states that this is the least effective form of leadership because it decreases morale and confidence. Yet, in a situation which calls for immediate action and quick decisions, possessing the qualities of a commanding leader can be beneficial.