Integrative Leadership Practices in Today’s World

Title: What Type of Leadership is Needed Now?

Author: Carlos Nevarez

A new report from the Samuel Dewitt Proctor Institute at Rutgers University focuses on leadership skills needed in today’s society.

The report identifies three leadership styles that can be utilized together for an integrative approach: 1) management that maximizes institutional efficiency and effectiveness by working with others, 2) democratic leadership, which follows a shared-authority model that encourages stakeholders to work together to achieve solutions, and 3) transformative leadership, which challenges organizational structures to advance equitable and inclusive practices. The paper provides an overview of each management strategy, including examples of current institutional leaders who employ these leadership styles.

The author includes recommendations that frame each leadership approach around the following factors for consideration: the complexity of the task(s), skills, urgency, resource allocation, and organizational culture. These factors will influence how leaders employ certain techniques within the various management styles.

For example, leaders are required to analyze the best avenues to resolve or address the task at hand based on the complexity of an issue they faced. This will require leaders to examine their team’s skills and identify the various levels of knowledge and competencies each member brings, and employ these strategically to help address the task at hand. Lastly, they note that selecting a leadership style will be heavily influenced by institutional culture, existing processes and procedures, leadership values, and strategies towards change management.

To read the full report and explore leader profiles, click here.

—Ángel Gonzalez