Famous Examples of Different Leadership Styles

Famous Examples of Different Leadership Styles

written by: Kristina Dems • edited by: Ginny Edwards • updated: 1/30/2011

This article narrates the 7 different leadership styles - namely charismatic, participative, situational, transactional, transformational, servant and quiet leadership. At least one famous example of each leadership style is provided for better understanding.

• Leadership Styles

  There are different types of leadership styles, each proving effective depending on the given circumstances, attitude, beliefs, preferences and values of the people involved. In this article, we're going to discuss 7 of these leadership styles. Each item in the following list contains at least one famous example of each leadership style. Every famous example of each leadership type showcases the fact that different kinds of leaders can implement the same kind of leadership. The first style of leadership on this list demonstrates this in an extreme way.

  For more detailed descriptions of each method, be sure to check out Bright Hub's collection of articles that analyze all leadership styles.

• Charismatic Leadership

  Charismatic Leadership is one of the modern leadership styles in the changing world. In this kind of leadership, the leader uses charm to get the admiration of their followers. They show concern for their people and they look after their people's needs. They create a comfortable and friendly atmosphere for their followers by listening to them and making them feel that they have a voice in the decision making. Famous examples of charismatic leaders are Winston Churchill, Bill Clinton, Mother Teresa and Adolph Hitler.

• Participative Leadership

  This kind of leadership is usually seen in corporate settings. Leaders act more like facilitators rather than dictators. They facilitate the ideas and the sharing of information with the end goal of arriving at a decision. The final decision ultimately rests on the leader but all considerations and factors of a decision come from the collective mind of the group under this leadership. A famous example of a participative leader is Donald Trump.

• Situational Leadership

  In situational leadership, three factors affect the leader's decisions: the situation, the capability of the followers and the capability of the leader. The leader adjusts to whatever limitation is laid out in front of him by his subordinates and the situation itself. Adaptability is key here. The leaders need to be as dynamic as the different situations they are faced with. A famous example of this leadership style is Dwight Eisenhower.

• Transactional Leadership

  In this kind of leadership, a clear chain of command is established. The leader motivates his subordinates by presenting them rewards and punishments. All requirements for a subordinate are clearly stated with corresponding rewards. If they fail to satisfy those requirements, they will receive a corresponding punishment. A couple of famous examples of transactional leaders are Joseph McCarthy and Charles de Gaulle.

• Transformational Leadership

  Transformational leaders lead by motivating by their followers. Leaders appeal to their followers' ideals and morals to motivate them in accomplishing their tasks. Basically, these kinds of leaders empower their followers using their own beliefs and personal strengths. Simply put, they inspire their followers. Famous transformational leaders include Martin Luther King Jr. and Walt Disney.

• The Quiet Leader

  The quiet leader leads by example. They do not tell people what to do. They do not force people to do things that they are not willing to do. They do not give loud speeches, sweeping statements and clear cut orders. They do what needs to be done, inspiring their followers to do the same. Famous examples of the Quiet Leader are Rosa Parks, King George VI, Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson.

• Servant Leadership

  In servant leadership, the leader takes care of the needs of his followers first before they take care of their own. Instead of acting like a king to their subordinates, leaders act as servants. The leader feels that they need to serve their followers rather than force upon them what they want. Famous examples of servant leaders include George Washington, Gandhi and Cesar Chavez.

  
  

Microsoft Word

Tools in Technical Writing (Contd..)

Let us have a brief introduction and usage of Technical Writing tools.

Microsoft Word

The first and most used tool for writing is Microsoft Word. It is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It is the most user friendly tool for creating, editing and publishing documents.

Main Features of Microsoft Word includes:

• User Interface, technically called Fluent User Interface with user friendly ribbons and menu styles.
• Wide variety of formatting styles.
• Tables and graph features with different format and pre-defined designs.
• Shapes and Smart Arts for creating images as scientific diagrams, flow diagrams and data flow diagrams.
• Screenshot option to take a screen shot of available windows for a document.
• Bookmark and Cross-reference options to navigate easily through large documents.
• Different Page Layouts and designs for designing the document.
• Options like Mail merge and Envelops and Labels to maintain database of addresses and to draft a mail accordingly.
• Dictionary and Thesaurus with updated information and live spelling and grammar check useful for writers to check thoroughly the entire document.
• Macros to make lots of manual steps easier.
• Publishing to different file types as PDF or XPS and exporting to HTML easily.
• Auto save and Versioning option.

With all the above mentioned Features and Functions, Word is a favorite tool for writers who work with small documents and simple diagrams.

Technical Writing Tools

Tools in Technical Writing

Technical writers create documents in various formats like electronic publishing, print, online help, etc. The various tools used to produce technical documents are described below.

Publishing Tools (Microsoft Word, FrameMaker) - Microsoft Word is actually the most popular tool for publishing in spite of its bugs and limitations. It is easy to use, review, and makes changes. But with larger documents (more than 500 pages), Word behaves a bit inconsistently and may get corrupt. Here, FrameMaker creates more stable documents. Styles are very consistent and rigid in FrameMaker and it can handle large amount of text and graphics.

Help Authoring Tools (RoboHelp, Epic Editor, AuthorIt) - With the increased use of the Internet, users have become more accustomed to using online information. Online help is searchable and helps the users to resolve their problem or query easily rather than going through pages and pages of manuals. Help Authoring Tools like RoboHelp, Epic Editor, AuthorIt are used to create online help.

Template Designer (Indesign, PageMaker, QuarkExpress) - Template designing tools are used for creating documents that require a flexible layout or strict typography demands. It is easy to create and design datasheets, whitepapers, brochures, solution sheets and other marketing and technical documents using these template designer tools.

Image Editor (Photoshop, SnagIt, CorelDraw, Illustrator) - Graphics are an important part of any document. As it is rightly said ‘a picture is worth more than words to say’. Image editors are used for image designing, capturing, cropping, morphing and all sorts of image editing.

Web Design Tools (Dreamweaver, FrontPage) - Web design tools are created to deliver content to end users in the form of web pages. You can create both static and dynamic web pages using web design tools.

Screen Recording Tools (Camtasia, Captivate) - Recording tools like Camtasia and Captivate are used to create product demos, engaging simulations, scenario-based training, and randomized quizzes. In addition, it doesn't require programming knowledge or multimedia skills.

Multimedia Tools (Flash, Max 3D) - Multimedia tools are used to create audio and video content. Multimedia tools like Flash and Max 3D can be used to create interactive animations and demonstrations.

These are some of the basic tools used in technical writing. Other tools like Teamsite, Lectora, Visio, and so on are also used to create content and graphics.

Technical Writing Concepts

Technical Writing

Technical writing, a form of technical communication, is a style of writing used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, engineering, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. Technical writers begin by forming a clear understanding of the purpose of the document they will create.

Technical writing comprises of DDLC (Document Development Life Cycle). Before learning about DDLC, let us know what is Software Development Life Cycle and how is it related to DDLC and Technical writing.

Software Development Life Cycle

SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) is the process of developing software through business needs, analysis, design, implementation and maintenance. Software has to go through various phases before it is born which are as follows:

(i)Generating a Concept – A concept comes from the users of the software. For example, a Pizza Hut may need software to sell pizza.

An Indian store may need software to sell its newly arrived movies or grocery. The owner of the company feels that he needs software that would help him in tracking his expenses and income as well as enhance the selling process. This is how the concept is generated. The owner will specifically tell the software company what kind of software he would need. In other words, he will specify his requirements.

(ii) Requirements analysis – After the owner (user) knows his requirements, then it is given to a software team (company) who will analyze the requirement and prepare requirement document that will explain every functionality that are needed by the owner. The requirement document will be the main document for developers, testers and database administrators. In other words, this is the main document that will be referred by everyone. After the requirement documents, other detailed documents many be needed. For example, the architectural design which is a blueprint for the design with the necessary specifications for the hardware, software, people and data resources.

(iii) Development: After the detailed requirement documents (some companies have design documents instead of requirement documents), the developers start writing their code (program) for their modules. On the other hand, the testers in the QA (Quality Assurance) Department start writing Test Plans (one module=1 test plan), test cases and get ready for testing.

(iv) Testing: Once the code (programs) are ready, they are compiled together and to make a build. This build is now tested by the software testers (QA Testers)

(v) Production: After testing, the application (software) goes into production (meaning, it will be handed over to the owner).

(vi) End: And one day, the owner will have say bye to the software either because the business grows and this software does not meet the demand or for some reason, the he does not need the software. That’s the end of it.

Fig: SDLC

Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC)

The Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC) is a sequential collection of various phases that are used by a technical writer to create a well structured and information rich technical document. To achieve success in the field of technical writing, one should have conceptual knowledge of DDLC. Various phases of DDLC are:

Project Analysis
It is the first phase of DDLC in which a technical writer analyze the project requirement, audience level, and tools that will be used in the project. The project requirement helps to know about the type and use of the technical document. The audience level informs a technical writer about the reader level i.e. who will be the reader of the document. On the basis of the reader level complexity of the document is decided. For example, if the reader level is beginner or beginner to intermediate then the document will be scripted in a very simple language including lots of illustrations. But if the audience level is intermediate, intermediate to advance, or advance then the language can be flowery. The tools are decided on the basis of the project type. For example, if the document is an online user guide then RoboHelp should be used while in case of user manual MS-Word is used.

Project Designing
This phase includes the content collection and content representation that is how the content should be represented, what should be the format to represent the content, what should be page numbers for the required document, projects completion date, and so on. A technical writer has many sources to collect the content, such as his/her knowledge about the technology, audience research, Subject Matter Expert (SME), and Internet. The best source for a technical writer to collect the information is Internet and SME. Therefore, a technical writer must have good idea about the project requirement to use these resources. A good bunch of information helps a technical writer to prepare good, concise, and information rich document on the projected time.

Developing the Content
In this phase of DDLC, the actual content is scripted on the basis of the project design, which has been created in the preceding phase. The required illustrations and graphics are also prepared and inserted in the document.

Editing the Content
This phase of DDLC includes the document’s editing, which is done on the basis of the format designed/selected in the project designing phase.

Proof-Reading the Content
In this phase of DDLC, a technical writer reads the scripted document to find and correct the spelling errors and maintain the data consistency.

Content Maintenance
In this phase, a backup of the document is taken for future use.

Fig: DDLC

Relation between SDLC and DDLC

Although there are many steps in SDLC, this article lists out only the important stages of SDLC. They are

1. Requirement Gathering
2. Analysis & Design
3. Coding
4. Code Review & Testing Phase
5. Launch (Alpha & Beta releases)
6. Maintenance

Every software project has its own customized SDLC framework.

All the proprietary framework versions are dependent upon the skeleton structure of the above SDLC framework.

Just like how every software project is dependent on SDLC, in the same way, every documentation project also is dependent on Document Development Life Cycle (DDLC). The DDLC framework is divided into the following steps.

1. Understand Product/project requirements
2. Doing Audience Analysis
3. Deciding about Output formats (.PDF, Online Help) & Documentation deliverables
4. Zeroing on Documentation & Graphic tools
5. Gathering the base or source documents
6. Template Designing
7. Time frame & Estimate
8. Identifying Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) & points of contact
9. Identifying peer, technical, and editorial reviewers
10. Creating the Documentation Plan
11. Draft Table of Contents (TOC)
12. Doing Content Development
13. Managing Review Cycles
14. Incorporating Review Comments
15. Final Output

All the preceding DDLC framework steps can be summarized into five subcategories, which in turn can be mapped to every step of SDLC. The five summarized subcategories are

1. Preparation of the Documentation Plan
2. Writing the content
3. Reviewing the content
4. Document Delivery
5. Document Maintenance

Since every Documentation project in software field depends upon the corresponding project/product, the SDLC framework of the same has to be mapped with the DDLC of the corresponding Documentation project.

Mapping of SDLC vs. DDLC

1. Analysis & Design Preparation of Documentation Plan
2. Coding Writing the content
3. Code Review & Testing Phase Review the content
4. Launch (Alpha & Beta releases) Document release
5. Maintenance Document maintenance (incorporating functionality enhancements & modifications)

As you can see from the preceding mapping, every process in SDLC is mapped with the corresponding process in DDLC. Most of the companies, particularly product companies, want the documentation ready by the time the product hits the market.

For the companies following Agile methodology, when the product is under development stage, there will be frequent enhancements, corrections, etc, during each iteration. Just like how the changes are incorporated in the code, in the same way, changes have to be done to the corresponding documentation to keep the deliverables up-to-date as per the client/market requirements.