Similarly, the nature of a task or the processes of decision-making in the enterprise may change. Decision-makers must shift gears when entering varying situations. If they are effective, however, decision-makers will also influence these situations. As a result, decision-makers may be forced to shift roles precisely because they have helped to bring about a change in context. This is a give-and-take process that requires guidelines regarding the contexts in which each of the four styles is most (and least) appropriate. We offer some preliminary ideas regarding these guidelines and suggest that executive coaching often focuses on these guidelines. A thoughtful and reflective entrepreneur can readily identify her own preferred style. She can also identify one or more of the strengths associated with each of the four styles, particularly as these strengths are used in an appropriate or inappropriate manner by this decision-maker in the multiple contexts in which she finds herself every day in her closely-held enterprise.
