It is generally accepted that the supportive leadership style takes into account not only the thoughts but also all the feelings of employees. However, a logical question arises: is this management style truly called effective even in cases where employees prefer remote work?

But even in situations where a demonstration of authority is unavoidable, company owners should not use a micromanagement style. After all, this style excludes any support or communication with employees. If the owner respects and trusts their remote team, then the principles of supportive leadership provide them with the following advantages: ensuring a support system. In this review, we will examine current methods of how to effectively implement such leadership in practice in the digital age and what advantages and disadvantages can be obtained.

What is supportive leadership?

Supportive leadership is a special type of leadership through which employees receive all the necessary resources and mentoring in order to achieve set goals and desired results. The role of supportive leader is performed by managers or company owners, various enterprises, who offer a proven set of tools and recommendations for work and create favourable conditions. All this is necessary so that employees can perform tasks and work on projects with minimal or absolute absence of control over a long period of time.

An integral component of supportive leadership is called task delegation. But in this case, the company owner abandons the format where they distribute tasks to everyone and only worry about the final result. Instead, they focus on working together with their employees, providing assistance until the moment when they feel the strength and confidence to independently cope with all tasks.

Supportive leadership in the digital work environment: distinctive features

All leadership styles, and supportive leadership is no exception, look and work completely differently in the digital environment than in traditional spheres. After all, in this case, an effective combination of systems thinking with a set of tools necessary for collaborative work is applied.

For example, systems thinking considers the close interconnection of all business aspects: starting from daily operations and ending with larger-scale projects. No less significant is also the creation of an employee support system, for which the capabilities of software, coaching, and training are used. Thus, employees receive everything necessary for their own success, to become more confident in their abilities and develop professional skills. All this is aimed at improving modern business in the near future.

An important feature of supportive leadership is the fact that its functions are applied exclusively when necessary. To do this, it is effective to use the following balance: collaboration + project management + a set of communication tools. But when choosing and further applying such tools, one should be extremely careful, as these tools should not suppress the entire business. Only the leader makes decisions regarding the selection of tools, the accessibility of all recommendations, and the provision of opportunities for establishing information exchange.

What a leader providing support should be like

To apply the capabilities of supportive leadership in practice, it is necessary to understand: is there a set of appropriate qualities for this. To do this, each owner and company manager must actively work on developing existing positive qualities and improving the behaviour of others.

A supportive leader must have the following set of skills and correspond to such important characteristics:

• Check that each employee has the necessary set of tools in their arsenal to complete assigned tasks. This is important to do before the employee receives the assignment and proceeds to its immediate execution.
• Demonstrate concern and empathy towards their employees regarding their personal life and professional experience.
• Always remain confident in their own abilities.
• Have trust in their employees regardless of who is working on which project – large-scale projects or small tasks.
• Create a positive atmosphere within the work team that promotes cohesion and raises morale.

Even if the manager previously used completely different forms of leadership, it is always appropriate to implement supportive leadership, regardless of what stage of development the company is at.

Supportive leadership: advantages and disadvantages

Today, supportive leadership has received many enthusiastic reviews and high ratings from managers, their remote teams, as well as business sphere experts. But before implementing this leadership style, company owners and managers must weigh all the advantages and disadvantages to evaluate this approach in practice.

Main advantages

Among the huge number of advantages, several key ones are worth considering:

• Thanks to the time allocated for professional development of staff, it is possible to form the necessary level of loyalty.
• It will be possible to establish two-way exchange of constructive information and establish feedback between management and employees.
• An open forum that is conducive to productive collaboration during the resolution of complex tasks, as well as for improving daily work – active development of non-standard thinking is noted.
• Creating a positive atmosphere in the workplace and in the team, which contributes to improving morale and increases employee engagement.

Main disadvantages

Despite many positive characteristics, some drawbacks are also noted, which one should become familiar with in advance:

• This leadership style was not created for those who include themselves in the list of perfectionists or impatient people. After all, all failures and setbacks in this case need to be viewed as a normal course of affairs. Managers who are not accustomed to “losing” or experiencing failure at work will not be able to use this style, as it will constantly throw them off their usual balance.
• Managers and company owners whose main focus is a specific result often face uncertainty. This concerns sales department managers, where everything must be precise and fast.
• When launching new projects or in conditions of adapting new employees to the team, this leadership style is called maximally labour-intensive.
• To ensure success in the process of implementing this style, one cannot do without a deep level of expert knowledge from the company’s management.
• Before implementation, it is recommended to spend effort and time on preliminary establishment of boundaries of “reasonable accessibility”, which is necessary not only for the company’s management but also for all employees.

Supportive leadership and boundaries

Among the important requirements of supportive leadership are transparency and maximum openness. This is precisely what employees perceive as sincerity, frankness, and foundations conducive to productive work. But at the same time, compliance with these requirements should not hinder effectiveness in other areas. One must remember that such a leader is, first and foremost, the head of the company.

Today, supportive leadership confidently leads, occupying first places in the list of the most effective and modern leadership styles. After all, company employees receive the necessary arsenal of tools to achieve desired success and thereby eliminate all possible obstacles in their path. Moreover, we are talking about such obstacles that lead to operational inefficiency.