Styles of Leadership

Autocratic Leadership

• Main Feature: The leader takes all decisions and closely supervises workers.
• Communication: One-way, from leader to workers.
• Issues:
  • Demotivating for staff who desire responsibility.
  • Decisions may lack valuable staff input.
• Possible Use:
  • Armed forces, where rapid decisions are crucial and discussion is limited.
  • Times of crisis or when sudden change is necessary.

Democratic Leadership

• Main Feature: Participation is encouraged, and workers' input is valued.
• Communication: Two-way communication is utilized, allowing feedback from staff.
• Workers are provided with complete information about the business operations.
• Workers actively contribute to the decision-making process.
• Issues:
  • Can be time-consuming.
  • May not be suitable when quick decisions are required.
  • Some sensitive issues may not be appropriate for this approach.
• Possible Use:
  • Experienced and flexible workforce.
  • Situations where innovative thinking and approaches are needed.
  • When workers expect to fully contribute to the decision-making process, satisfying their ‘higher’ order needs.

Paternalistic Leadership

• Managers make decisions they believe are in the best interest of the workers.
• Some consultation with workers, but the final decision rests with the managers.
• Issues:
  • Can be demotivating for some workers as their ideas may be ignored.
• Possible Use:
  • Useful when workers are young or inexperienced.

Laissez-faire Leadership

• Managers delegate almost all decisions and authority to the team.
• Staff are given wide boundaries within which to operate.
• Issues:
  • Some workers may dislike the lack of structure and clear direction.
  • Lack of feedback may be demotivating.
• Possible Use:
  • Where managers are too busy to intervene.
  • Appropriate in research establishments or new tech businesses where expert workers are allowed freedom to self-manage and direct.