Determine Your Leadership Style With The Quiz From Goleman And Boyatzis

The Goleman and Boyatzis Leadership Quiz has a specific goal: to assess the impact certain types of leaders have on our emotions.

The two experts first introduced this quiz in their book Emotional Leadership , published in 2011. Her idea was to highlight one personality in particular: that of the resonant manager.

Daniel Goleman argues that the organizational world and economy need to prioritize the emotional side of human capital. He believes that a good leader is not only able to make a company successful, but also has an impact on every employee. A good manager can therefore have a positive effect on the work environment, well-being and people’s motivation.

So it’s interesting to note that Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee emphasize the idea of ​​the resonant leader. This is a leader with enough confidence to understand the good and bad in a given situation. It is a person who can put their negative emotions aside to inspire enthusiasm, trust, and empathy in others.

Hence, evaluating people’s leadership styles can provide information about what they are passing on to their employees. After all, a good leader is not the one who has the most power or who the board has appointed to lead. Instead, it is the person who is able to get the best out of those around them.

The Goleman and Boyatzis leadership style quiz

In their book Emotional Leadership, Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee discuss six leadership styles. These styles form the basis of the leadership style quiz you developed. This quiz is an extremely useful resource for any manager, HR department, or person interested in understanding and applying leadership.

It’s important to note that good leaders don’t just make their team successful. You do a lot more than just provide the resources, training, and guidance needed to achieve business goals. You also have a powerful influence on everyone else, just as a friend, family member, or neighbor, for example, would.

Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee believe the leaders with the greatest positivity and response know how to nurture colleagues and encourage them to improve. They don’t just guide their colleagues and issue orders. As a result, this holistic approach leads to positive change and creates a work environment that benefits everyone.

As a result, the leadership style quiz doesn’t just provide information about the type of leader we are. At the same time, it also offers instructions for personal improvement.

What is the leadership style quiz made of?

The Goleman and Boyatzis leadership style quiz consists of a scale divided into six areas. Each area measures one type of leadership with nine questions. The test participant can score low, medium or high for each leadership style.

The quiz contains a total of 54 questions that can be answered with a yes or no. Below, let’s take a look at the six different leadership styles that the quiz identifies.

1. The visionary leadership style

The visionary manager uses their experience, motivation and enthusiasm to inspire their employees. People who use this leadership style know their priorities and communicate them in a positive way. This executive also tends to give their employees considerable freedom. This allows employees to achieve their goals in their own way.

2. The advisory manager

This type of leader acts as a personal training advisor. These leaders work with each individual on a personal level. They listen to their employees and help them with their personal development within the organization.

3. The empathic leadership style

This leadership style is defined by empathy. These managers are sensitive to the problems of others and prioritize people over goals. You are good at creating a harmonious and balanced work culture.

4. The democratic leader

This style revolves around the need to always reach consensus. The democratic manager promotes flexibility and quality within a team. They care about everyone’s needs and are incentivized to get results.

5. The performance-oriented management style

These leaders, or so-called pacemakers, see themselves as the example to be followed. They expect everyone else to follow them and do what they do because they go ahead with superiority and effectiveness. Your goal is to achieve short term goals. Also, they are prone to micromanaging and trying to control every move their team makes.

6. The commanding leader

This manager uses and abuses their power. People with this leadership style ask others to obey them and respect their authority. They are demanding that whatever they want be done as soon as possible.

It is important to note that commanding leaders do not listen to other people’s opinions. The things that are done are done based on tradition and obedience. Innovative or original ideas are seen as a threat to their authority.

How can we interpret the leadership style quiz?

The results of the quiz provide different types of information. First of all, people usually get relatively high scores in some areas. In general, a person who scores high in the commanding leadership category will score high in the visionary style too. Others, on the other hand, will tend towards advisory and democratic leadership styles.

According to Goleman, a successful leader is characterized by at least three of these six styles. The most respected are the visionary manager, the democratic manager and the advisory manager. It is therefore worth thinking about these styles and taking them into account for other facets of our life as well.

After all, we are all part of a social group (friends, family, co-workers) and we exert some influence on other people. When we work on our personal leadership style, we can be the person who inspires others and brings out the best in them.