Comprehending Leadership Styles – Paving Your Way To Success

Leadership style is the way in which you deal with your subordinates. This is very important in the management of people and the culture of an organization because it helps to get things done and is a source of motivation for the workers. There are 3 main leadership styles. They include authoritative style, democratic style and laissez faire style of leadership.

The authoritative style of leadership of dealing with people is when orders are given by leaders and subordinates have to follow orders without questioning. The sole authority of decision making rests with the leader only. Subordinates are merely restricted to following orders. This style of leadership involves only one way communicated – from top to bottom of the organizational structure. This style of leadership is appropriate when time is short and a decision needs to be taken. In such cases, discussion would take too much time. When you have to respond to disastrous situations or where discipline is required, such as the armed forces and the police, this style of leadership is helpful. However, if this leadership style is used in some cases, it may demotivate employees as well.
The other style of leadership is democratic style of leadership where the employees are consulted before taking a decision. This allows employees to participate in the decision making process and make contribution to it. This style allows two way communications between employers and employees. This sort of leadership is appropriate in situations when staff is skilled in their field of work and can contribute to the decision making process. This style of leadership can be very motivating for employees but is also time consuming, so you need to make sure you have enough time to adopt this style of leadership for decision making. If such a style of leadership is used in situations when there is not enough time to have group discussions, it may have many disadvantages.

Laissez faire means ‘leave to do’. This style of leadership lets the employees of the organization know the broad objectives that they need to keep in mind and then delegates the authority of making decisions to the employees. Employees are free to take whatever decision they feel is needed. This style of leadership is appropriate when creative designing is involved and employees have to use their creativity to make decisions. Even scientists are allowed this style of leadership in organizations. However, some degree of control needs to be exercised to make sure that the employees work according to the objectives of the firm.

What every leader needs to realise is that there is no wrong or right style of leadership. Different circumstances require to be dealt with in different ways. Sometimes a democratic style is appropriate and at other times an autocratic style would be appropriate – that too in the same organization! A good leader varies his/her style of leadership to deal with situations. It is only poor leaders who use just one style of leadership without taking the repercussions of their ways into account.