TR has recently been promoted to his first management position. In the past, he very much enjoyed working as part of a team, but is having some difficulty in adapting to his new role as leader of a team. In his recent appraisal he has acknowledged that his style of management is not effective in all instances. In particular, he feels that he has not been very flexible in dealing with some of the issues that he has faced. He has identified that he would benefit from leadership training to help him better understand the alternative styles of management that he could adopt to help him develop to become more effective in his role. 

Explain to TR, with reference to theory, the different management / leadership styles he could adopt to help him to become more effective in his role.

A number of researchers have contributed to theories which have been developed to help describe the dissimilar leadership styles that managers can adopt. Single such theory which could help TR in understanding the alternative styles he could use is Tannenbaum and Schmidt's continuum of leadership behaviours. The continuum is based on the degree of authority used by a manager and the degree of freedom for the subordinates in decision making.   Tannenbaum and Schmidt identified a range of several styles along the continuum ranging from boss-centred to employee-centred. Boss-centred tends to be associated with an authoritarian approach while employee-centred is associated with a more democratic or participative approach.