So, how do you categorize your leadership style? Football coach Jimmy Johnson might not have exactly been the most famous leadership guru, but what he gave us in his 1994-released book were valuable leadership tips. Moreover, being a football coach also does require a lot of leadership skills.

This is the million dollar mantra he had quoted: 'I'm totally consistent; I treat everybody differently.' Johnson then went to explain how different players always respond differently to different stimuli. The stimuli used, ranging from private counseling to public humiliation and effective use of the press, all lead to different responses from his team members. Maybe, we all are not leading a football team and the tools have to be substantially different. But one has to acknowledge that the philosophy given by Jimmy is indeed an effective one.

Textbook Leadership

• In the contemporary world, effective leadership tips should be straight out of Jimmy Johnson's philosophy. Most academics would categorize leadership styles into three styles in the context of decision making.
• Authoritarian/ Autocratic – The leader makes all decisions based on his experience, knowledge and methods.
• Participative -- Leader makes an involved decision, after consulting with staff regarding their ideas and inputs.
• Delegated/ Self managed -- Leader merely sets the strategy and direction and is generally not involved in the process of decision making. All decisions, right from most important to least relevant, are pushed down to lower levels of the organization.

The 80's and 90's witnessed a great deal of emphasis on delegated teams, i.e the third style. The process of giving decision making authority to subject matter experts sounds convincing. However, the problem is that in comparison to generalists, experts tend to make most decisions in a much narrower context.

So, which decision is likely to be better. The one based on the narrow context of the expert or the one depending on the broader view of the generalist? The answer is anything but definite. Mostly, it depends on the situation, and that is exactly why most good leaders recognize the need to adapt everytime they are making crucial.

So, how to decide that who is supposed to decide?

Once you have decided that you will be a situational leader, you need to figure out the different aspects of a situation that you will have to consider. The following are some of these aspects:

• The risk element involved – Everytime you make a decision, you should think about risk-involving factors, such as customers, financials, PR, etc. The more the risks involved, the more should be the personal involvement of the leader. As a leader, you should ensure that you delegate high risk decisions only people in whom you have full confidence.
• Skills and Experience factor – You should take into consideration that who is best qualified to handle the situation and make an effective decision? Only, this person should be delegated with the responsibility. In case it is you, then you should consider these other factors before taking any decision.
• Opportunity –  Does the situation offer someone the chance to a leadership profile and increase their confidence at a reasonable level of risk? Then take it as a chance to build your people's confidence and see their true capabilities.
• Confidence – This is major factor since it can be fatal to delegate critical decisions over to people about whom you are not confident. However, if you're always finding yourself less than confident, then either something's wrong with your team or you.

In case you're hooked on to one particular leadership style, then you are missing out of other ones as well. You need to show flexibility as per the situation. This will be noticed by your juniors, your boss, your board and even your clients.