I am in the thick of onboarding my new operations manager and asking myself daily what it means to be an effective leader. She is my seventh employee, and as I reflect on my prior experiences, I humbly see that learning to lead gracefully yet powerfully has been quite the process. I’ve been drawing my leadership inspiration from an unexpected source: dogs.
During my last American Dream shoot, I spent the day with a pack of 11 dogs and their pack leader, Toby Joy. Toby owns a business called Wild Pup Adventures, where she takes Portland pups on great outdoor excursions each week. The game plan was to meet at a secret lake in the Oregon coastal range, where we would go kayaking as the dogs swam and played. I knew that I would have a blast, but I didn’t expect a lesson in leadership.
According to a Harvard Business Review article, there are six common leadership styles.
- Coercive
- Authoritative
- Pacesetting
- Affiliative
- Democratic
- Coaching
Experts say that “being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”
While neither Toby nor her pack graduated from Harvard, the emotional intelligence and dynamics that I witnessed among them was profound. I watched her and the pack dynamically demonstrate many of these leadership styles in the short time I spent with them.
Meet the pack
The coercive leader
This leadership style is domineering and “do-what-I-say” in nature. Although perhaps effective in urgent or crisis situations, most people and dogs don’t respond well to being barked at.
Uma, a cute pit bull mix, was the perfect example of this. She demanded being first snarling when another dog got too close or tried to get ahead of her. She led with a “stay-in-your-place and do-what-I-say” attitude. My guess is that though she was out front during our swim, her stint as “lead dog” will be brief.
This is the least effective long-term leadership style. In the workplace, it often leads to disillusionment and high employee attrition.
The authoritative leader
An authoritative leader rallies their pack toward a common goal by setting clear guidelines while simultaneously giving the pack members autonomy to explore and express themselves creatively.
I marveled at Toby’s ability to manage her pack this way. She was laser-focused on providing a safe, enriching and satisfying experience for the pack, establishing the common goal to have fun and burn off excess energy. While constantly offering direction and encouragement, she gave the dogs an enormous amount of freedom to explore, figure things out and make mistakes.
This is the most effective and inspiring leadership style. It promotes high employee engagement and job satisfaction.
The pacesetter
This style involves holding yourself and others to high standards. This is a big one for me. Because I hold myself to such high standards, I have to be careful not to project that onto others. This has backfired on me in the past, causing employees to feel like they couldn’t please me. They became disillusioned, and one of my assistants suddenly burst into tears and quit because of my behavior.
Toby required the pack to follow the basic rules of staying together and respecting one another, but she was a pro at meeting them where they were. Because she blended this style with other leadership styles, her pace-setting came off as encouraging rather than domineering.
The affiliative leader
Experts say that “this leadership style involves building strong emotional bonds, creating a sense of camaraderie and team spirit, and fostering a positive and supportive workplace. This helps team members feel like they belong, can freely share ideas and feedback, and work together towards common goals.”
Coco, a chocolate lab, was the perfect affiliative leader. She was Miss Positivity. She loved climbing on logs and jumping in the water. I watched as the other pups followed her lead repeatedly. She would wait until everyone had climbed up and then would be the first to jump. In the simple act of play, she was encouraging bonding and teamwork.
Although effective in creating a positive environment, this style is best balanced by incorporating other styles that offer important feedback where necessary.
The democratic leader
This leadership style focuses on empowering teammates to feel like they have a voice in decision-making. It involves active listening to opinions and ideas. Employees feel valued in this scenario and are more likely to take ownership of their part of the company’s success.
Although helpful when starting new projects or defining a new direction, this type of leadership doesn’t work as well if an employee lacks the experience to contribute to an important decision.
The coaching leader
Many of us are familiar with this coaching style as it is an integral part of the real estate world. Whether you are an agent being coached by your principal broker or you hire a professional coach for career development, this style lends itself more to a “one-on-one” experience. It often focuses on inquiring about an individual’s short and long-term goals as well as their challenges and strengths.
Expressing genuine interest and asking questions about what motivates someone or why something is working or not working for them can create a ripe opportunity for important conversations and encourage employee self-development. Everyone wants to be heard and understood.
Pawsome parting thoughts
Although I have had many amazing human mentors in my life, observing Toby and her pack left a powerful impression on me.
They reminded me to:
- Be in the moment.
- Keep it simple.
- Don’t take myself too seriously.
- Above all, respect others.
With the changes in our industry and the uncertainty of the times ahead, our teams and communities will be looking to us for guidance. Taking the time to ask ourselves what kind of leader we want to be moving forward is important. Being an effective leader is an art that takes time and experience to refine and develop. If it all feels too complex and overwhelming, I suggest hanging out with a pack of dogs for an afternoon.
Pam Blair is the broker-owner of YogaBug Real Estate in Portland, Oregon. Connect with her on Instagram or LinkedIn.
