A few weeks back, I gathered with around 25 leaders in the Metro Detroit Area for a two day training. A portion of the training focused on leadership styles. I must admit that this portion of the training was my favorite seeing that I am constantly trying to strengthen my personal leadership skills along with my staffs.
We dissected three major leadership styles.
1. Autocratic Leader-In the autocratic style, the leader takes decisions without consulting with others. The decision is made without any form of consultation. An autocratic style works when there is no need for input on the decision, where the decision would not change as the result of input, and where the motivation of people to carry out subsequent actions would not be affected whether they were or were not involved in the decision-making.
2. Democratic-In the democratic style, the leader involves the people in the decision-making, although the process for the final decision may vary from the leader having the final say to them facilitating consensus in the group. Democratic decision-making is usually appreciated by the people, especially if they have been used to autocratic decisions with which they disagreed. It can be problematic when there are a wide range of opinions and there is no clear way of reaching an equitable final decision.
3. Laissez-Faire-The laissez-faire style is to minimize the leader's involvement in decision-making, and hence allowing people to make their own decisions, although they may still be responsible for the outcome. Laissez-faire works best when people are capable and motivated in making their own decisions, and where there is no requirement for a central coordination, for example in sharing resources across a range of different people and groups.
We each guessed what we thought was our own leadership style that we tend to practice. Then, we took a questionnaire that pointed us to what style we are prone to using.
At that point, we had an in depth discussion with the strengths and weaknesses of every style. We tend to view the autrocratic style of leadership as a negative approach. However, there are times when it is needed.
I believe that it is extremely important that all three leadership styles are used in some way when it comes decision-making in the work environment, volunteer environment, or even church environment. There are times the leader must rise and make an autcratic decision. While there are other times, the leader needs to trust their team and empower their team in making the right decision.
Leadership is everybody’s business, as it is an issue that affects all of us. Not only are we impacted by it, but we are all called upon to exercise it in any number of temporary situations. Whether we are called upon to be involved in leading government or business, coaching a team, educating young minds, leading a family, organizing a dinner party, a carpool, a household, or standing for what is right; everyone participates in leadership roles.
Posted by: Everything Counts | June 03, 2009 at 02:04 AM