All leaders have a different style and way that they go about things. This article is going to describe 5 of those styles and a little about what they mean. On our next blog, we will cover the other 6.
There are different types of leadership styles in each work environment. There are advantages and disadvantages with each style. The culture and goals of an organization determine which leadership style fits best.
Laissez-Faire
A leader that is laissez-faire in style, lacks direct supervision of employees and fails to provide employees with feedback on a regular basis to help them improve. This leadership style hinders the production of employees needing supervision. It also can lead to poor production, lack of control and increasing costs for the company.
Autocratic
The autocratic leadership style allows managers to make decisions without consulting with others first. These managers possess total authority and impose their will on employees. No one challenges their decisions. This style benefits employees who require close supervision. On the other hand, creative employees who thrive in group functions strongly dislike this leadership style.
Participative
This style of leadership is often referred to as democratic leadership, and it values the input of team members and peers, while still leaving the responsibility of making the final decision with the participative leader. Participative leadership boosts employee morale because employees are actively making contributions to the decision-making process and feel involved and engaged. When a company needs to make changes within the organization, the participative leadership style helps employees accept changes easily because they play a role in the process.
Transactional
Managers using the transactional leadership style have certain tasks that need to be performed and they then provide rewards or punishments to team members based on results of their performance. Managers and team members set predetermined goals together, and employees agree to follow the direction and leadership of the manager to accomplish those goals. The manager has the power to review results and train or correct employees when goals are not met. Employees receive bonuses when they accomplish goals in this style.
Transformational
The transformational leadership style depends on high levels of communication from upper management in order to meet goals. Leaders motivate employees and enhance productivity and efficiency with communication and high visibility. This style requires involvement from management in order to meet goals. Leaders focus on the big picture and delegate tasks to the team to accomplish goals in the time frame they need to be met by.
On our next blog, we will go over another 6 types of styles and the characteristics of them.
Think about your own type of leadership style…do you relate to one of the above styles? Are you a combination of them? I would be interested in hearing your thoughts!
