Problem: Select a leader from your personal or work experience and

determine which of the six leadership styles that individual demonstrates. Is

there one or are there several? In what situation(s)? Why? If possible,
conduct a short interview of this leader and discuss your assessment of
his/her leadership style.
In my 4 year stint in a couple of organizations I have come across quite
a few leaders but Rufin Alikhan, my manager at Mu Sigma stood out because
of some strong leadership qualities and he was one person who motivated
me to keep working in the organization and had a significant role in kick
starting my career. As presented in the article Leadership that gets Results
(Goleman, LEADERSHIP THAT GETS RESULTS) there are six leadership styles
that an individual demonstrates. My manager, Rufin, demonstrated
Democratic, Pacesetting and Coaching styles of leadership.
Democratic: This leadership style was demonstrated by Rufin during
most part of my interaction with him on the project. He kept the team
members involved in the discussion and always used to spend time listening
to ideas brought in by various team members and that led to the building of
trust, respect and commitment within the team. There were instances when
he was unable to take a decision and he would come up to the team and ask
for their opinions and suggestions which made the team feel special and
valued and always kept the morale of the team high. He also made sure that
the suggestions I made were heard and implemented exemplifying leading

from a chair aspect of leadership (Zander). This encouraged me to come up

with fresh ideas. This kind of leadership style required a very able and a wellinformed team who could provide sound advice in case of any issues that he
would have faced.
Pacesetting: A very important quality of Rufin was that he led by
example. There have been numerous examples of pacesetting that he
demonstrated during my stint in the organization. The organization had
started a new policy of arriving at office by 8:00 A.M. which was not
incorporated earlier (a drastic change from the earlier flexible timings). Rufin
always made sure he was on time and the team used to look upon to him as
a role model. He used to set high performance standards and tried to do the
things in a better way. A disadvantage of this kind of leadership style was
that the team sometimes used to feel run over by him and they felt that he
was trying to micro manage the team and at times the team lost interest in
their work. The same leadership style had different implications in different
situations.
Coaching: Rufin was very good at mentoring people and giving them
the right direction. He used to prepare the resources (people) for the future.
He would act as a counselor to me. He would talk to me regarding my career
ambitions and helped me in my professional growth. He suggested the
learnings, knowledge and skill set that I needed to acquire so that I could
grow professionally. He had different aspects of emotional intelligence (self-

awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill) (Goleman,

What Makes a Leader) that made him a great leader. I remember when I got
a job offer from a different organization he spoke to me about the prospects I
had in my current organization and how I could grow over there. Within the
next few months, I was given an added responsibility of leading a team and I
got promoted eventually. Rufin, like most effective leaders, used to switch
flexibly among the leadership styles as needed and that was evident in his
rise in the organization

References
Goleman, Daniel. "LEADERSHIP THAT GETS RESULTS." Harvard Business
Review (2013).
Goleman, Daniel. "What Makes a Leader." HBR (1998).
Zander, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin. "The Art of Possibility:
Transforming
Professional and Personal Life." Zander, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin. The
Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. 2002. 1-11.