Six styles of leadership were defined by Daniel Goleman with Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee in their 2002 book, Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Goleman and his team based this model of leadership on Goleman’s earlier (1995) work on emotional intelligence. The current, more refined version of the model states that there are four domains or dimensions of emotional intelligence which, in turn, are comprised of twenty competencies. The four domains are Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management.

The most effective leaders not only have strong cognitive competencies, they also have well-developed emotional competencies. These leaders are able to get individuals to resonate together as an effective team. Resonance is created by the exercise, in the appropriate context, of each of the six leadership styles: Coercive (or Commanding), Authoritative (or Visionary), Affiliative, Democratic, Pacesetting, and Coaching. Goleman says that the most effective leaders are adept at four or more of the six styles (especially Authoritative, Democratic, Affiliative, and Coaching) and use most of the six during the course of a week, switching between them to fit the situation. Leaders who are strong in the emotional competencies not only outperform others, they also raise the performance of the organization.

Click the View button above to download a four-page summary of the model (PDF format), complete with a ManyWorlds commentary that discusses the effectiveness of the model.