Leadership is an essential attribute that we most often take for granted. Being a leader is a challenging task; one needs not only personal qualities but also has to be equipped with proper knowledge about leading a mass.
The pacesetting leadership style has emerged as one of the most tried and tested methods for making an excellent leader. This method will enhance your leadership skills. Let’s discuss it more.
Table of Contents
What Is Pacesetting Leadership?
To define pacesetting leadership style in layman’s terms, it is a leadership process where the leader’s pace determines the pace of the group they are leading.
It is a result-oriented approach where the leader leads from the front, setting examples for the team members. A leader with a pacesetting leadership style will never burden the teammates with goals they cannot achieve.
Steps Involved In The Process Of Pacesetting Leadership:
The pacesetting leadership style may sound simple to you after you have read the definition, but a few steps are taken to achieve that desired result of this process. Written down are the steps in order.
First To Take Initiative
The leader begins by setting out goals and achieving them so that the rest can take this action as a mission they need to accomplish next.
Clear Communication
Communication is the key to anything. However, when it comes to Pacesetting leadership, it is the backbone without which both the team and the leader cannot last.
Since the leader sets goals for the rest of the group in this style, it becomes crucial that the requirements are adequately communicated. The leaders will set the pace, but they will expect you to follow up. For that, there must be a clear understanding between both sides.
Motivation And Drive For The Self
Leaders setting the pace must be highly dependent on themselves because the rest of the team’s behavior depends on their actions. For this reason, the leader must be self-assured and have the drive to guide and control different individuals together.
Vital Features Of Pacesetting Leadership Style
You must have already understood quite a bit about the pacesetting leadership style; however, go through these vital features of the class and see if you have missed any:
- A leader leads the team working from the absolute front and taking all the matters their consideration before the team members start working on them
- A pacesetting leader possesses an extremely goal-oriented style. The leader sets and achieves the goal, leaving very little room for the teammates to make mistakes while doing the same thing.
- People of ages have considered a strong leader who can inspire others as their leaders. This style is practical because the leader strives to set examples to be followed by the rest.
- Pacesetting leaders get high expectations from the team members. There are usually a lot of expectations from the workers who follow the set examples. They need to do better because the leader has already decoded their goal.
- It’s a very competent style of leadership. The pacesetting leadership style makes the leader capable of leading large crowds, and the team members often have the same intellectual capacity required to stay in the race with their leader.
Advantages of Pacesetting Leadership Style
Fast Results
Once the leader has achieved the goal, it becomes easier for the team to navigate their ways, and thus the results are better, faster, and more concrete.
Promotes Growth
In the pacesetting leadership style, the workspace becomes more accessible. Teammates can explore their potential to a great extent because the fear of uncertainty is almost not there. This promotes professional growth. It is practical and helps create a positive environment where people can learn and improve together.
Clarity Of Needs
Due to the nature of this leadership process, there is clear communication between the leader and the teammates. Each party is aware of the strengths and weaknesses and working together becomes more accessible. People can address their issues in settings where the leader has created a positive work environment.
Proper Opportunities
This leadership style works best with a competent group of people who can take instructions, allowing them the proper space to utilize the opportunities without needing to hold back due to a lack of knowledge.
Disadvantages Of Pacesetting Leadership
Lack of confidence in the process
When the leader already sets the examples, there remains a constant need to achieve that standard no matter what. This might lead to a loss of confidence in the worker, who might take more time to complete the task.
Burnout
The constant need to keep up with the pace set by the leader may cause unwanted burnout. The individual speed may vary, and sometimes keeping up with the general pace might reduce the effective working of a team member.
Lack of employee input
Since the goal is already set and achieved by the leader, the team members’ response often does not matter much in this leadership style. This can lead to monotony and prevent better ideas from coming to the surface.
Trust issues
Constantly working in a space where results are set and completed by the leader, the worker might lose trust in their abilities if they cannot keep up, which might lead to a negative evaluation of the group as a whole, thus affecting every corner.
Wrapping Up
Pacesetting leadership style has advantages and disadvantages, but it undoubtedly leads to great results when applied in a controlled and skilled manner.
Team building is the main criterion, and a pacesetting leader will be able to create the best group of working individuals out there. This article has equipped you with the necessary information before hopping onto the pacesetting leadership style.
