Group Behaviour - Leadership Styles
Different leadership styles exist in
work environments. The culture and goal of an organization determine which
leadership style fits best. Some organizations offer different leadership
styles within an organization, depending on the necessary tasks to complete and
departmental needs.
We find five different leadership styles
in the corporate world. They are as follows −
1. Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
A laissez-faire leader does not directly
supervise employees and fails to provide regular updates to those under his
supervision. Highly experienced and trained employees with minimal requirement
of supervision fall under the laissez-faire leadership style.
But not all employees possess these
features. This leadership style blocks the production of employees needing
supervision. The laissez-faire style implements no leadership or supervision
efforts from managers, which can lead to poor production, lack of control and
increasing costs.
Laissez
faire or Free Rein Leader: A free rein leader does not lead, but leaves the
group entirely to itself. He is represented by the chairman of the board who
leaves all responsibility for most of the work to his subordinates. The free
rein manager avoids using power. He depends largely upon the group to establish
its own goals and work out its own problems. Group members work themselves and
provide their own motivation. The manager serves as a contact man with the
outsiders to bring for his group the information and resources it needs to
accomplish its goals.
This
type of leadership is evident in research laboratories where the scientists are
fairly free to conduct their research and make their decisions. Similarly, in a
college, the principal does not interfere in the faculty teaching methods, but
only assigns the courses to be taught. From then onwards, the faculty members
are free to decide about the method of teaching, books to be recommended and
various teaching aids to be used.
The
possible advantages of free rein style of leadership are as under:
(a)
It creates an environment of freedom, individuality as well as team spirit
(b)
With a free and informal work environment, it is highly conducive to creative
work.
(c)
It is very suitable where people are highly motivated and achievement oriented.
2. Autocratic Leadership Style
The autocratic leadership style permits
managers to make decisions alone without the input of others. Managers access
total authority and impose their will on employees. No one opposes the
decisions of autocratic leaders. Countries like Cuba and North Korea operate
under the autocratic leadership style.
This leadership style benefits those who
require direct supervision. Creative employees who participate in group
functions detest this leadership style.
Autocratic
Leader: It is also known as authoritarian or directive style of leadership. The
autocratic leader gives orders which must be obeyed by the subordinates. He
centralises decision-making power in himself. He takes decisions for the group
without consulting the group members and simply tells the group what the
members have to do. The autocratic leader gives personal praise or criticism to
each member on his own initiative and remains aloof from the group for most of
the time. There are three categories of autocratic leaders as follows:
(a)
Strict autocrat: He relies on negative influences and gives orders which the
subordinates must accept. He follows negative motivational style to get the
work done. Negative motivation includes imposing penalty, criticising
subordinates, and so on.
(b)
Benevolent autocrat: An autocratic leader may also follow positive style of
using his power to disburse rewards to the subordinates. A benevolent autocrat
is effective in getting higher productivity in many situations and developing
elective human relationships.
(c)
Manipulative autocrat: Such a leader makes the subordinates feel that they are
participating in decision-making, but he takes all the decisions himself.
Autocratic leaders have proved to be
successful in many cases. In particular, subordinates who depend upon the boss
and do not want to take any initiative get satisfaction from this style.
Autocratic style has also proved successful in cases where there is a need of
quick decisions. Autocratic style is not liked by the people who are
enlightened and want to participate in decision-making. Autocratic style of
leadership may jeopardise the organisational efficiency. Another drawback of autocratic
leadership is that it does not help develop future leaders in the organisation.
3. Participative Leadership Style
This is also known as the democratic
leadership style. It values the input of team members and peers, but the
responsibility of making the final decision rests with the participative
leader. Participative leadership motivates employee morale because employees
make contributions to the decision-making process. It accounts to a feeling
that their opinions matter.
When an organization needs to make
changes within itself, that is internally, the participative leadership style
helps employees accept changes easily as they play a role in the process. This
leadership style meets challenges when companies need to make a decision in a
short period of time.
Participative
or Democratic Leader: A democratic leader is one who gives order after
consulting the group. He sees to it that policies are worked out in group discussions
and with the acceptance of the group. He never asks people to do things without
sketching out the long-term plans on which they are working and makes it clear
that praise or blame will be shared by all the group members. His decisions are
not unilateral because they arise from consultation with followers and
participation by them. Unlike an autocratic manager who controls through the
official authority, a participative manager exercises control mostly by using
forces within the group.
Participative
leadership increases the acceptance of management's ideas and reduces
resistance to change. It increases their morale. It also leads to reduction in
the number of grievances of the workers.
Participative
leadership may lead to the following advantages:
(a)
Active participation in decision-making by the employees ensures greater
productivity and satisfaction.
(b)
Workers develop a greater sense of self-esteem, due to importance given to
their ideas and their contribution.
(c)
Workers become more committed to changes that may be brought about by policy
changes, since they themselves participated in bringing about these changes.
(d)
The leadership induces confidence, cooperation and loyalty among the employees.
(e) The morale of the employees is
increased.
4. Transactional Leadership Style
Transactional leadership style is formed
by the concept of reward and punishment. Transactional leaders believe that the
employee's performance is completely dependent on these two factors. When there
is an encouragement, the workers put in their best effort and the bonus is in
monetary terms in most of the cases. In case they fail to achieve the set
target they are given a negative appraisal.
Transactional leaders pay more attention
to physical and security requirements of the employees.
5. Transformational Leadership Style
Transformational leadership has the
ability to affect employee's perceptions through the returns that organization
gets in the form of human capital benefits. These leaders have the ability to
reap higher benefits by introducing knowledge management processes, encouraging
interpersonal communication among employees and creating healthy organizational
culture.
It helps in flourishing organizational
innovation by creating a participative environment or culture. It promotes a
culture where the employees have autonomy to speak about their experiences and
share knowledge.
It has been seen that transformational
leaders are more innovative than transactional and laisse-faire leaders.
Traditional
Theory
Traditional theory is a theory based on
different traits of a human beings. It assumes that leaders are born and not
made. According to this theory, leadership behavior is the sum total of all
traits that a leader possess.
Thus, this theory gives the profile of a
successful and complete leader. According to this theory, there are five human
traits. They are −
·
Physical
trait − it
includes energy, activity, appearance, and height.
·
Ability
trait − it
includes judgement, knowledge, and fluency in speech.
·
Personal
trait − it
includes self-confidence, creativity, and enthusiasm.
·
Work
trait − it
includes organization and achievement.
·
Social
trait − it
includes interpersonal skill, cooperativeness, popularity and prestige.
Drawbacks
Following are the major drawbacks of
this theory −
·
Traits are not arranged according to their
importance.
·
There is no quantitative tool to judge the
human traits.
·
This trait can’t be used universally.
·
This trait can be achieved and developed.
·
Situational factors are avoided.
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