Leadership Styles and Frameworks you should need to Know
A leadership style always refers to a leader’s behaviors when directing, motivating, leading and managing groups of individuals. Great leaders can easily inspire political movements and social change in the society. they will also motivate others to perform, create, and innovate.
As you begin to think about a number of the those who you think that of as great leaders, you’ll immediately see that there are often vast differences in how all and sundry leads. Fortunately, researchers have developed different theories that allow us to raised identify and give us understanding these different leadership styles.
Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic)
Authoritarian leaders, also referred to as autocratic leaders, provide clear expectations for what must be done, when it should be done, and the way it should be done. This kind of leadership is strongly focused on command by the leader as well as control of the followers. there’s also a transparent division between the leader and therefore the members. Leaders always make decisions independently, with no input from the remainder of the group.
Researchers concluded that decision making was less creative under authoritarian leadership. Abuse of this method is sometimes viewed as controlling, bossy, and dictatorial.Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there’s little time for group decision-making or where the leader is that the most knowledgeable member of the group. The autocratic approach may be a decent one when matters necessitate rapid decisions and decisive actions. However, it tends to make non-functional and even hostile environments.
Participative Leadership (Democratic)
It is concluded that participative leadership, also called democratic leadership.It is often proved the foremost effective leadership style.
1). Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate within the group and permit the input from other group members.
2).Participative leaders encourage the members of the group to participate, but retain the ultimate say within the decision-making process. Group members feel engaged within the process and are more motivated and inventive. Democratic leaders tend to form followers want they’re a very important a part of the team, which helps foster commitment to the goals of the group.
Delegative Leadership (Laissez-Faire)
Lewin found that children under delegative leadership, also called laissez-faire leadership, were the smallest amount productive of all three groups. The youngsters during this group also made more demands on the leader, showed little cooperation, and were unable to figure independently.
Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave the decision-making up to group members. While this style is often useful in those situations which involve highly qualified experts, it often ends up in absence of motivation and poorly defined roles .It is noted that laissez-faire leadership focused on lead to groups .There is lacked for direction and members who blamed one another for mistakes, refused to accept own responsibility, made less progress, and produced less work.
Observations About Lewin’s Leadership Styles
In their book, “The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications,” Bass and Bass note that authoritarian leadership is usually presented solely in negative, often disapproving terms. Authoritarian leaders are normally described as controlling and they are often close-minded, yet this overlooks the potential positives of stressing rules, expecting obedience from members, and taking responsibility.
While authoritarian leadership certainly isn’t the most effective choice for each situation, it may be effective and beneficial in cases where followers need a good deal of direction and where rules and standards must be followed by all. Another often overlooked advantage of the authoritarian style is that the ability to take care of a way of order.
Democratic leadership tends to be centered on the followers and is a good approach when trying to keep up relationships with others.Those who work under such leaders tend to urge along well, support each other, and consult other members of the group before making decisions.
Additional Leadership Styles and Models
In addition to the three styles identified, researchers have described numerous other characteristic patterns of leadership. some of the best-known include:
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership is commonly identified because the single best style. Transformational Leadership was first described during the late 1970s and later expanded upon by researcher Bernard . Transformational leaders are ready to motivate and encourage followers and to direct positive changes in groups.
These leaders should be emotionally intelligent, energetic, and passionate. they’re not only committed to helping the organization achieve its goals, but also to helping group members fulfill their potential.Research shows that this sort of leadership leads to higher performance and more improved group satisfaction than other leadership styles.3 One study also found that transformational leadership led to improved well-being among group members.
Transactional Leadership
This style views the leader-follower relationship as a transaction. By accepting a grip as a member of the group, the individual has agreed to obey the leader. In most situations, this involves the employer-employee relationship, and also the transaction focuses on the follower completing required tasks in exchange for monetary compensation.
One of the most advantages of this leadership style is that it creates clearly defined roles.People know what they’re required to try to to and what they’re going to be receiving in exchange. This style allows leaders to supply a good deal of supervision and direction, if needed.Group members may additionally be motivated to perform well to receive rewards. one amongst the most important downsides is that the transactional style tends to stifle creativity and mentation.
Situational Leadership
Situational theories of leadership stress the many influence of the environment and therefore the situation on leadership. Hersey and Blanchard’s leadership styles is one in every of the best-known situational theories. First published in 1969, this model describes four primary kinds of leadership, including:
1. Telling: Telling people what to try and do
2. Selling: Convincing followers to shop for into their ideas and messages
3. Participating: Allowing group members to require a more active role within the decision-making process
4. Delegating: Taking a hands-off approach to leadership and allowing group members to create the bulk of selections.
Later, Blanchard expanded upon the initial Hersey and Blanchard model to emphasise how the developmental and skill level of learners influences the design that ought to be employed by leaders. Blanchard’s SLII leadership styles model also described four different leading styles:
- Directing: Giving orders and expecting obedience, but offering little guidance and assistance
- Coaching: Giving plenty of orders, but also plenty of support
- Supporting: Offering many help, but little or no direction
- Delegating: Offering little direction or support.
Good Article