Different leadership styles are the characteristics that critically define the leaders in our

organisations. They‟re a mix-and-match of various traits, and will in some way, influence the
culture of the whole company.
There are 5 major leadership styles, and we‟ll talk through them in this article.
Democratic Leadership Style
The democratic leadership style is probably the most popular leadership style in the 21st
century management arena. It‟s a style that remains popular due to the positive reaction
employees have towards it. If you lean torwards the democratic leadership style, this means
that you seek to consult your employees or team members over decisions that will effect
them. Naturally, followers prefer this strategy for several reasons. Either their self-interest
attracts them torwards managers that allow them to make the choices that benefit them, or it‟s
the euphoric confidence bounce they experience when they‟re allowed to make decisions that
were previously „above‟ them.
However, be warned. The democratic leadership style isn‟t perfect in every occasion.
Democratic decisions aren‟t perfect, in the sense that they take longer to make. When one
only has to consult oneself, a decision can be made almost instantaneously. In a war-time,
life-threatening or high-risk situation, „democratic‟ debate simply isn‟t relevant. It simply
isn‟t optimal. Examples of these high pressure decision-making jobs include surgeons, army
generals, fire-marshals and air traffic controllers.
The democratic process is used best in simple manufacturing sectors, where a respite from
the harsh and „robotic‟ leadership styles recommended by Ford or other factory managers of
times gone by.
The Autocratic Leadership Style
Management may not be the worlds „oldest profession‟, but the autocratic leadership
style is probably the original type of management style ever employed. Simple at heart, the
autocratic style of management involves making the decisions yourself and passing them onto
subordinates. In the autocratic world, leaders are there to make the decision, and followers
are there to follow. This promotes an „obedient‟ style of follower present in the army, and
perhaps some of the „tougher‟ working cultures such as farming, logging, haulage and
fishing.
This isn‟t to say that an autocratic leader would fail miserably in, say, customer service.
However, the more that workers are left to do imaginative or creative tasks largely on their
own, the less likely an autocratic leadership style would really „bring the best‟ out of the
average worker.
The Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
Laissez-Faire literally means „leave alone to act freely‟. It‟s the complete opposite to the
autocratic style, and you‟d expect as a result to find leaders in completely different industries.
As I said above, autocracy doesn‟t apply well to creative industries, so as you‟d expect,
fashion designers, film directors and photographers are given plenty of „room‟ by their
managers to do their day-to-day work, but the laissez faire leadership style isn‟t just great
for creative industries, it‟s also useful in the professional jobs.
I‟m talking about lawyers, doctors, accountants, surveyors, architects and also teachers.
These are individuals whom have spent upwards of 3 years in a training contract and have
emerged into either a well paid or respected job. As a result, they expect a certain degree of
„laissez faire‟ from management in the way they work. In other words, they expect to be
entrusted with plenty of responsibility and be left to discharge their professional duties with
less supervision than say, a sous chef.
The Bureaucratic Leadership Style
Bureaucratic leadership is often met with a wince from a management team. (Almost)
everybody dislikes the idea of bureaucracy. Almost by definition, bureaucracy involves time-
intensive and often time-wasting rules and procedures within a rigourous and slow
framework. Employees operating within a bureaucracy are given very little choice as to how
they perform their work. The vast majority of their day-to-day tasks will be governed by the
rule book. You may be wondering who this actually benefits. The answer is you, as the
bureaucratic manager! Forcing employees to perform tasks in an efficient and prescribed
manner will usually faciliate in a speedy review by yourself, or perhaps lower maintenance
costs, or even more productivity of workers who use the data further in the process. The
restraint and „discipline‟ put in by your bureaucratic workers will have the exact effect you
designed the procedures have, therefore you have great control. The drawback is that your
employees feel that they‟re being controlled, each rule at a time. Also, in a high-wage
economy, bureaucracy can be a very expensive use of employee time.

http://www.leadership-blog.co.uk/leadership-styles/

Leadership styles are often an extension of the personality of a leader and are shaped by the
needs of the position. Example: Bill Clinton was considered one of the most charismatic
leaders of out times. Idi Amin could not have been a democratic leader and still rule over
Uganda.

The position of leadership is not just limited to an office, a rank or a family. Leadership is a
gift to influence the people positively towards a direction which is for the common good.
While there is not point in arguing about an all encompassing definition of leadership, for
functionality let‟s assume the above definition works.

Let‟s put it the old fashioned way

"Leadership is the art of influencing fellow human beings towards a direction which is
of common good"

As we have already established, there are no schools of leadership so you won‟t find a
particular style of leadership used by everyone. By default, most leaders would prefer to
follow their own style rather than adapt a commonly accepted standard.

Let us take a look at some of the observations that have been carried out on the various
leadership styles. A word of caution: while we may try hard to „box‟ or „categorize‟ a style.
No one will exhibit the same kind of behavior at all points of time… translation… Humans
are very flexible and will respond differently to different situations.

Some of the commonly recognized styles of leadership are:

Autocratic leadership
Bureaucratic leadership
Charismatic leadership
Democratic leadership or Participative leadership
Servant leadership
Transactional leadership
Transformational leadership

Let us take them one by One and dissect to what they are made of

Autocratic Leadership Style

Autocratic leadership can be roughly translated as "A person with unlimited power or
authority". Autocracy is not a thing of past. You can still see it at work in many types of
governments, organization, industries and of course the Military.

While many people may believe Autocracy has no place in a modern day society which is
envisioned to be moving towards a socialistic phase, I disagree. There are certain
functionalities in many organizations where autocracy is required.

For example, it would be a lot better to have the Major in the army take the decision on
whether or not to fire, than have a vote of hands of all those involved. Many
corporateorganizations and small time business run successfully due to an authoritarian
andautocratic boss.

Another example would be a supervisor in an unskilled sector where he will have to dictate
and get the work done. Else all the laborers might vote in for a day off and not turn up for
work.
Many management gurus oppose the idea of autocracy in corporate sectors. When a leader
has absolute power over his employees, there are chances for disturbances and disagreements
which might be valid. Employees and team members have little opportunity for making
suggestions, even if these would be in the team or organization‟s best interest.

List of autocratic leaders is pretty huge. Most of the dictators like Hitler, Stalin, Saddam
Hussein and kings ruled with complete and unquestioned powers. Some of them were good
and some were tyrannical and the power of tyranny came from their unlimited autocratic
power.

Bureaucratic Leadership style

Max Weber was one of the first to describe the Bureaucratic Leadership Styles in 1947 along
with charismatic leadership and traditional leadership styles. The bureaucratic leadership
style is based on following normative rules and adhering to lines of authority.

The characteristics of the bureaucratic style include:

a. Leaders impose strict and systematic discipline on the followers and demand business-like
conduct in the workplace
b. Leaders are empowered via the office they hold - position power
c. Followers are promoted based on their ability to conform to the rules of the office.

Followers should obey leaders because authority is bestowed upon the leader as a part of
their position in the company/organization. Bureaucratic leaders work “by the book”,
ensuring that their staff follow procedures exactly. This is a very appropriate style for work
involving serious safety risks (such as working with machinery, with toxic substances or at
heights) or where large sums of money are involved (such as cash-handling).

By word, it is not difficult to imagine the number of lousy and lazy pubic servants working
for the federal or state governments. If you get to see one of these, especially in a developing
nation, you will understand why “Bureaucratic” style is not well favored by many segments
of business and commerce or for that matter by public in general.

Charismatic leadership style

"A rare personal quality attributed to leaders who arouse fervent popular devotion and
enthusiasm." A definition of Charisma

Fmr. President John F Kennedy and his look-alike Fmr. President Bill Clinton have often
been called “The most charismatic leaders of 2020th century” Another good example would
be Adolf Hitler. While looking in retrospect, Hitler was a tyrant. But the primary reason for
him to raise from a “Bohemian corporal” to “Herr Führer” was his ability to captivate people
into following him (right into the grave, I might add).
It is interesting to watch a Charismatic Leader ' work the room' as they move from person to
person. They pay much attention to the person they are talking to at the moment, making that
person feel like they are, for that time, the most important person in the world.

Charismatic leaders, who are building a group, be it is a political party, a cult or a business
team, will often focus strongly on making the group very clear and distinct, separating it from
other groups. They will then build the image of the group in the minds of their followers,
as being far superior to all others. – This is exactly what Hitler and his Aryan Superiority
Theory did.

The Charismatic Leader will typically attach themselves firmly to the identity of the group,
such that to join the group is to become one with the leader. In doing so, they create an
unchallengeable position for themselves.

Throughout history we can see example of how some leaders have used the Charismatic
leadership style to reach their objectives. Be it Hitler‟s dream to be the leader of Germany or
Martin Luther King Jr. for equality movement or L. Ron Hubbard or A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada for the Krisna consciousness.

http://www.communication-skills-4confidence.com/leadership-styles.html

Leadership Styles

Many organizations require from leaders the ability to set and communicate goals, motivate, inspire initiative
empower the followers and facilitate change. Such style of leadership is known astransformational. On the ot
they may require effectively coordinating the subordinates in accordance with procedures and standards; this
leadership is typically referred as transactional.

The attributes of transformational and transactional styles are further explained below. There is a link betwee
individual‟s personality and the leadership style individuals are most comfortable with and more likely to use
connection between personality and leadership style was noted by several researchers and leadership specialis
Bass, 2000, 2008; Pillai, Schriesheim, & Williams, 1999; de Charon, 2003).

It is important to understand your natural leadership style so you can capitalize on your natural leadership stre
aware of and address your natural weaknesses) for your career development, self-fulfillment and success at th
workplace.

Jung Typology Profiler for Workplace™ determines the most likely natural leadership style of an individual b
personality type and the expressiveness of various behavioral qualities such as vision, power, resourcefulness
and other behavioral qualities. Based on your personality assessment, the JTPW Career Development Profile
practical tips for becoming a more effective leader (or a more content worker if leadership is not your strength
indicates possible pitfalls.

Transactional Leadership
Transactional leaders achieve set goals by acting within established procedures and standards. This leader ass
specific, well-defined tasks to subordinates and requires that they fulfill their responsibilities and meet standa
as prescribed or agreed upon.

Transactional leadership emphasizes the exchange that occurs between the leader and the follower. This invo
directives from the leader (or a mutual discussion between the leader and the subordinate) regarding the requi
objectives (Bass, 2008).

As far as reward and correction methods are concerned, think of the “carrot and stick” approach. Rewards are
on successful completion of the “transaction”. Meeting the objectives typically leads to rewards and reinforce
successful performance. The transactional rewards are material (e.g. raise, award or “job security”). However
psychological rewards are also present in transactional leadership (explicit positive feedback, praise).

Corrective actions are typically more reactive than proactive - the leader monitors the deviations, mistakes an
the performance of the subordinates. Failure to reach the objectives will bring disappointment, dissatisfaction
psychological (e.g. negative feedback, disapproval, disciplinary actions) or material punishment (Bass, 2008)

When might such leadership be useful? The transactional leadership style may, for example, be useful in crisi
management or in emergency response, and in situations when activities must be carried out efficiently and ex
planned.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership generally aims at higher goals than transactional does. Transformational leaders
goals by inspiring and motivating followers and encouraging their initiative. Transformational leaders are abl
vision. They are able to establish a shared vision and sense of purpose among team members.

Transformational leaders motivate their followers by raising their concerns from basic needs (e.g. security) to
achievement and self-fulfillment; by moving them beyond self-interest to concerns of the group, project or or
(Bass, 2008, Burns, 1978). They bring charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individualized cons
(Bass, 2008). They address an individual‟s self-worth and capitalize on an individual‟s unique capabilities.

Like with transactional leadership, contingent rewards are present with transformational leadership and includ
psychological and material ones (Bass, 2008). Transformational leadership however, puts a great emphasis on
psychological rewards. The follower‟s self-actualization, rising above basic needs, positive feedback and prai
leader are example of a psychological reward that transformational leadership brings.

Transformational leadership goes beyond just monitoring the performance of the followers and being reactive
negative feedback and corrective action when noticing an issue). It also puts a great emphasis on being proact
establishing long term goals, facilitating change, seeking continuous improvement, and giving the followers a
opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

http://www.personalityexplorer.com/home/FREEResources/WhatLeaderAreYouoryourboss.a
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What is Autocratic Leadership?

Autocratic leadership is a classical leadership style with the following characteristics:

1. Manager seeks to make as many decisions as possible
2. Manager seeks to have the most authority and control in decision making
3. Manager seeks to retain responsibility rather than utilise complete delegation
4. Consultation with other colleagues in minimal and decision making becomes a solitary
process
5. Managers are less concerned with investing their own leadership development, and prefer
to simply work on the task at hand.
The autocratic leadership style is seen as an old fashioned technique. It has existed as long as
managers have commanded subordinates, and is still employed by many leaders across the
globe. The reason autocratic leadership survives, even if it is outdated, is because it is
intuitive, carries instant benefits, and comes natural to many leaders. Many leaders who start
pursuing leadership development are often trying to improve upon their organisations
autocratic leadership style.
What Are The Benefits Of The Autocratic Leadership Style?

Despite having many critics, the autocratic leadership styles offer many advantages to
managers who use them. These include:
Reduced stress due to increased control. Where the manager ultimately has significant
legal and personal responsibility for a project, it will comfort them and reduce their stress
levels to know that they have control over their fate.
A more productive group ‘while the leader is watching’. The oversight that an autocratic
manager exerts over a team improves their working speed and makes them less likely to
slack. This is ideal for poorly motivated employees who have little concern or interest in the
quality or speed of work performed.
Improved logistics of operations. Having one leader with heavy involvement in many areas
makes it more likely that problems are spotted in advance and deadlines met. This makes
autocratic leadership ideal for one-off projects with tight deadlines, or complicated work
environments where efficient cooperation is key to success.
Faster decision making. When only one person makes decisions with minimal consultation,
decisions aremade quicker, which will allow the management team to respond to changes in
the business environment more quickly.
What Are The Disadvantages Of The Autocratic Leadership Style?

Short-termistic approach to management. While leading autocratically will enable faster

decisions to be made in the short term, by robbing subordinates of the opportunity to gain
experience and start on their own leadership development, and learn from their mistakes, the
manager is actually de-skilling their workforce which will lead to poorer decisions and
productivity in the long run.
Manager perceived as having poor leadership skills. While the autocratic style has merits
when used in certain environments (as highlighted below), autocratic leadership style is easy
yet unpopular. Managers with poor leadership skills with often revert to this style by default.
Increased workload for the manager. By taking on as much responsibility and involvement
as possible, an autocratic leader naturally works at their full capacity, which can lead to long
term stress and health problems and could damage working relationships with colleagues.
This hyper-focus on work comes at the expense of good leadership development.
People dislike being ordered around. They also dislike being shown very little trust and
faith. As a result, the autocratic leadership style can result in a demotivated workforce. This
results in the paradox that autocratic leadership styles are a good solution for demotivated
workers, but in many cases, it is the leadership style alone that demotivates them in the first
place. Generation Y employees particularly dislike this style.
Teams become dependent upon their leader. After becoming conditioned to receive orders
and act upon them perfectly, workers lose initiative and the confidence to make decisions on
their own. This results in teams of workers who become useless at running operations if they
loose contact with their leader. This is the result of a lack of time dedicated to leadership
development on the employees part.
When is the Autocratic Leadership Style Effective?

Following on from the merits and drawbacks listed above, the autocratic leadership style is
useful in the following work situations:
1. Short term projects with a highly technical, complex or risky element.
2. Work environments where spans of control are wide and hence the manager has little time
to devote to each employee.
3. Industries where employees need to perform low-skilled, monotonous and repetitive tasks
and generally have low levels of motivation.
4. Projects where the work performed needs to be completed to exact specifications and/or
with a tight deadline.
5. Companies that suffer from a high employee turnover, i.e. where time and resources
devoted to leadership development would be largely wasted. Although one could argue that a
lack of leadership development in the first place caused the high turnover.
What is Democratic Leadership?

Democratic Leadership is the leadership style that promotes the sharing of responsibility, the
exercise of delegation and continual consultation. The style has the following
characteristics: 1. Manager seeks consultation on all major issues and decisions. 2. Manager
effectively delegate tasks to subordinates and give them full control and responsibility for
those tasks. 3. Manager welcomes feedback on the results of intiatives and the work
environment. 4. Manager encourages others to become leaders and be involved in leadership
development.
What Are The Benefits Of The Democratic Leadership Style?

Positive work environment. A culture where junior employees are given fair amount of
responsibility and are allowed to challenge themselves is one where employees are more
enthused to work and enjoy what they do. Successful initiatives. The process of consultation
and feedback naturally results in better decision making and more effective operations.
Companies run under democratic leadership tend to run into fewer grave mistake and
catastrophes. To put it simply – people tell a democratic leader when something is going
badly wrong, while employees are encouraged to simply hide it from an autocrat. Creative
thinking. The free flow of ideas and positive work environment is the perfect catalyst for
creative thinking. To further their leadership education, people often check the online MBA
rankings to see whether MBA online is a match for them. The benefits of this aren‟t just
relevant for creative industries, because creative thinking is required to solve problems in
every single organisation, whatever it‟s nature. Reduction of friction and office politics.By
allowing subordinates to use their ideas and even more importantly – gain credit for them,
you are neatly reducing the amount of tension employees generate with their manager. When
autocratic leaders refuse to listen to their workers, or blatantly ignore their ideas, they are
effectively asking for people to talk behind their back and attempt to undermine or supercede
them. Reduced employee turnover. When employees feel empowered through leadership
development, a company will experience lower rates of employee turnover which has
numerous benefits. A company that invests in leadership development for its employees, is
investing in their future, and this is appreciated by a large majority of the workforce.
What Are The Disadvantages Of The Democratic Leadership Style?

Lengthy and ‘boring’ decision making. Seeking consultation over every decision can lead
to a process so slow that it can cause opportunities to be missed, or hazards avoided too
late. Danger of pseudo participation. Many managers simply pretend to follow a
democratic leadership style simply to score a point in the eyes of their subordinates.
Employees are quick to realise when their ideas aren‟t actually valued, and that the manager
is merely following procedure in asking for suggestions, but never actually implementing
them. In other words, they‟re simply exerting autocratic leadership in disguise.
When Is The Democratic Leadership Style Effective?

Now you‟ve heard about the benefits and drawbacks of this leadership style, let‟s look at
where its actually implemented in the business world. 1. Democratic leadership is applied to
an extent in the manufacturing industry, to allow employees to give their ideas on how
processes can become leaner and more efficient. While „Fordism‟ is still applied in some
factories across the country, truth is that production managers are now really starting to
harness the motivational bonuses associated with not treating employees like robots
anymore. 2. Democratic leadershp is effective in proffessional organisations where the
emphasis is clearly on training, professional & leadership development and quality of work
performed. Democratic procedures are simply just one cog in the effective leadership
mechanisms firms like The Big Four have created over the years. 3. Non profit organisations
also tremendously benefit from drawing upon the creative energies of all their staff to bring
about cost cutting techniques or fund raising ideas. 4. As previously mentioned, creative
industries such as advertising and television enjoy alot of benefits from the free flow of ideas
that democratic leadership brings.
What Is Bureaucratic Leadership?

The bureaucratic leadership style is concerned with ensuring workers follow rules and
procedures accurately and consistently. Bureaucratic leadership normally has the following
characteristics: 1. Leaders expect a employees to display a formal, business-like attitude in
the workplace and between each other. 2.Managers gain instant authority with their position,
because rules demand that employees pay them certain priveledges, such as being able to sign
off on all major decisions. As a result, leaders suffer from „position power‟. Leadership
development becomes pointless, because only titles and roles provide any real control or
power. 3. Employees are rewarded for their ability to adhere to the rules and follow
procedure perfectly. 4.Bureaucratic systems usually gradually develop over a long period of
time, and hence are more commonly found in large & old businesses.
What Are The Benefits Of The Bureaucratic Leadership Style?

Increased safety. In dangerous workplaces where procedures save lives, a bureaucratic

management style can help enforce health and safety rules. Quality work. Some tasks, such
as completing proffessional work or medical examinations, need to be done in a meticulous
fashion to be done correctly. Laziness can result in poor work, and hence one solution is to
enforce the rules via the bureacratic leadership style. Ultimate control. An environment
whereby employees are intrinsically motivated to follow rules in order to be promoted and
succeed results in the tightest control management can ever assume over a company. This
control can be used to cut costs or improve productivity.
What Are The Disadvantages Of The Bureaucratic Leadership Style?

Dehumanises the business. Bureacratic companies tend to remove as much potential for
„human error‟ out of the picture as possible. Unfortunately this also has the effect of
removing all the enjoyment and reward that comes from deciding how to do a task and
accomplishing it. Lack of self-fulfillment. The bureaucratic way of working hampers
employees efforts to become successful and independent, because the system becomes too
contraining. Parkinson’s Law. Cyril Northcote Parkinson made the scientific observation
that the number of staff in bureaucracies increased by an average of 5%-7% per year
“irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done.”". He explains this
growth by two forces: (1) “An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals” and (2)
“Officials make work for each other.” Parkinson‟s findings suggest that
bureaucratic leadership encourages inefficiency and waste of internal resources in the long
run. ‘Position power’ obessession. After working in an environment that reinforces the idea
that authority is created by rules which in turn support senior positions. Employees become
attached to the idea that simply being in a job position creates authority. This can lead to
intense office politics, arrogant leaders and little incentive to perform well once an employee
has landed a top job. Lack of creativity. It goes without saying that a rule-based culture
hinders creativity and encourages workers to simply perform puppet-like work rather than
think independently. This may result in a lack of growth in the business due to employees
simply not thinking out of the box or looking for new areas to develop. Poor
communication. A common feature of a bureaucratic system is a complicated network of
communication lines. Managers who don‟t want to be „bothered‟ by junior staff simply
create procedures that allow them to avoid communicating with those below them. „Go
through the formal process‟, „Talk to my secretary‟ and „My schedule is full‟ are common
rule-based excuses for blocked contact. Barriers to communication can hinder the success of
any company. For example, the board may be charging ahead with a doomed product simply
because their shop floor workers cannot pass on the message that customers are giving very
negative feedback.
When Is The Bureaucratic Leadership Style Effective?

Bureaucratic leadership is found in extremely large corporations such as General Electric,

Daimler and General Motors. However these cultures have evolved due to the age and size of
these companies, and are generally blamed for the slow growth and recent failures at these
companies. 1. Governmental bodies often have bureaucratic systems, and while these are
often despised by the public, they ensure accountability to the tax payer and fair treatment for
all. Excessive form-filling also serves the purpose of passing effort from the government
authority (with a tight budget) onto the individual, helping to save costs. 2. Dangerous
workplaces such as mines, oil rigs, construction sites and film sets all benefit from the tight
control over health and safety that rules offer.

http://www.leadership-expert.co.uk/leadership-styles/

Most common Leadership Types

 Autocratic leadership.
 Bureaucratic leadership.
 Charismatic leadership.
 Democratic leadership or participative leadership.
 Laissez-faire leadership.
 People-oriented leadership or relations-oriented leadership.
 Servant leadership.
 Task-oriented leadership.
 Transactional leadership.
 Transformational leadership.

Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where a leader exerts

high levels of power over his or her employees or team members. People within the team are
given few opportunities for making suggestions, even if these would be in the team's or
organization‟s interest.

Most people tend to resent being treated like this. Because of this, autocratic leadership
usually leads to high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover. Also, the team's output does
not benefit from the creativity and experience of all team members, so many of the benefits
of teamwork are lost.

For some routine and unskilled jobs, however, this style can remain effective where the
advantages of control outweigh the disadvantages. Learn more...
Bureaucratic Leadership

Bureaucratic leaders work “by the book”, ensuring that their staff follow procedures exactly.
This is a very appropriate style for work involving serious safety risks (such as working with
machinery, with toxic substances or at heights) or where large sums of money are involved
(such as cash-handling).

In other situations, the inflexibility and high levels of control exerted can demoralize staff,
and can diminish the organizations ability to react to changing external circumstances. Learn
more...

Charismatic Leadership

A charismatic leadership style can appear similar to a transformational leadership style, in

that the leader injects huge doses of enthusiasm into his or her team, and is very energetic in
driving others forward.

However, a charismatic leader can tend to believe more in him or herself than in their team.
This can create a risk that a project, or even an entire organization, might collapse if the
leader were to leave: In the eyes of their followers, success is tied up with the presence of the
charismatic leader. As such, charismatic leadership carries great responsibility, and needs
long-term commitment from the leader.

Democratic Leadership or Participative Leadership

Although a democratic leader will make the final decision, he or she invites other members of
the team to contribute to the decision-making process. This not only increases job satisfaction
by involving employees or team members in what‟s going on, but it also helps to develop
people‟s skills. Employees and team members feel in control of their own destiny, and so are
motivated to work hard by more than just a financial reward.

As participation takes time, this style can lead to things happening more slowly than an
autocratic approach, but often the end result is better. It can be most suitable where team
working is essential, and quality is more important than speed to market or
productivity. Learn more...

Laissez-Faire Leadership

This French phrase means “leave it be” and is used to describe a leader who leaves his or her
colleagues to get on with their work. It can be effective if the leader monitors what is being
achieved and communicates this back to his or her team regularly. Most often, laissez-faire
leadership works for teams in which the individuals are very experienced and skilled self-
starters. Unfortunately, it can also refer to situations where managers are not exerting
sufficient control. Learn more...
People-Oriented Leadership or Relations-Oriented Leadership

This style of leadership is the opposite of task-oriented leadership: the leader is totally
focused on organizing, supporting and developing the people in the leader‟s team. A
participative style, it tends to lead to good teamwork and creative collaboration. However,
taken to extremes, it can lead to failure to achieve the team's goals.

In practice, most leaders use both task-oriented and people-oriented styles of leadership.

Servant Leadership

This term, coined by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s, describes a leader who is often not
formally recognized as such. When someone, at any level within an organization, leads
simply by virtue of meeting the needs of his or her team, he or she is described as a “servant
leader”.

In many ways, servant leadership is a form of democratic leadership, as the whole team tends
to be involved in decision-making.

Supporters of the servant leadership model suggest it is an important way ahead in a world
where values are increasingly important, in which servant leaders achieve power on the basis
of their values and ideals. Others believe that in competitive leadership situations, people
practicing servant leadership will often find themselves left behind by leaders using other
leadership styles.

Task-Oriented Leadership

A highly task-oriented leader focuses only on getting the job done, and can be quite
autocratic. He or she will actively define the work and the roles required, put structures in
place, plan, organize and monitor. However, as task-oriented leaders spare little thought for
the well-being of their teams, this approach can suffer many of the flaws of autocratic
leadership, with difficulties in motivating and retaining staff. Task-oriented leaders can
benefit from an understanding of the Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid, which can help them
identify specific areas for development that will help them involve people more.

Transactional Leadership

This style of leadership starts with the premise that team members agree to obey their leader
totally when they take a job on: the “transaction” is (usually) that the organization pays the
team members, in return for their effort and compliance. As such, the leader has the right to
“punish” team members if their work doesn‟t meet the pre-determined standard.

Team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction under transactional leadership.
The leader could give team members some control of their income/reward by using
incentives that encourage even higher standards or greater productivity. Alternatively a
transactional leader could practice “management by exception”, whereby, rather than
rewarding better work, he or she would take corrective action if the required standards were
not met.

Transactional leadership is really just a way of managing rather a true leadership style, as the
focus is on short-term tasks. It has serious limitations for knowledge-based or creative work,
but remains a common style in many organizations.

Transformational Leadership

A person with this leadership style is a true leader who inspires his or her team with a shared
vision of the future. Transformational leaders are highly visible, and spend a lot of time
communicating. They don‟t necessarily lead from the front, as they tend to delegate
responsibility amongst their teams. While their enthusiasm is often infectious, they can need
to be supported by “detail people”.

In many organizations, both transactional and transformational leadership are needed. The
transactional leaders (or managers) ensure that routine work is done reliably, while the
transformational leaders look after initiatives that add value.

The transformational leadership style is the dominant leadership style taught in the "How to
Lead: Discover the Leader Within You" leadership program, although we do recommend that
other styles are brought as the situation demands.

Using the Right Style – Situational Leadership

While the Transformation Leadership approach is often highly effective, there is no one
“right” way to lead or manage that suits all situations. To choose the most effective approach
for you, you must consider:

 The skill levels and experience of the members of your team.

 The work involved (routine or new and creative).
 The organizational environment (stable or radically changing, conservative or
adventurous).
 You own preferred or natural style.

A good leader will find him or herself switching instinctively between styles according to the
people and work they are dealing with. This is often referred to as “situational leadership”.

For example, the manager of a small factory trains new machine operatives using a
bureaucratic style to ensure operatives know the procedures that achieve the right standards
of product quality and workplace safety. The same manager may adopt a more participative
style of leadership when working on production line improvement with his or her team of
supervisors

http://www.vectorstudy.com/management_topics/types_of_leadership.htm
 Autocratic Leadership Style

Autocratic leadership style is often considered the classical approach. It is one in which the
manager retains as much power and decision-making authority as possible. The manager does
not consult employees, nor are they allowed to give any input. Employees are expected to
obey orders without receiving any explanations. The motivation environment is produced by
creating a structured set of rewards and punishments.

This leadership style has been greatly criticized during the past 30 years. Some studies say
that organizations with many autocratic leaders have higher turnover and absenteeism than
other organizations. Certainly Gen X employees have proven to be highly resistant to this
management style.

Studies say that autocratic leaders:

--Rely on threats and punishment to influence employees

--Do not trust employees

--Do not allow for employee input

Yet, autocratic leadership is not all bad. Sometimes it is the most effective style to use.

Autocratic leadership style is effective when:

--New, untrained employees who do not know which tasks to perform or which procedures to
follow

--Effective supervision can be provided only through detailed orders and instructions

--Employees do not respond to any other leadership style

--There are high-volume production needs on a daily basis

--There is limited time in which to make a decision

--A manager‟s power is challenged by an employee

--The area was poorly managed

--Work needs to be coordinated with another department or organization

The autocratic leadership style should not be used when:

--Employees become tense, fearful, or resentful

--Employees expect to have their opinions heard

--Employees begin depending on their manager to make all their decisions

--There is low employee morale, high turnover and absenteeism and work stoppage

Bureaucratic Leadership Style

Bureaucratic leadership is where the manager manages “by the book¨ Everything must be
done according to procedure or policy. If it isn‟t covered by the book, the manager refers to
the next level above him or her. This manager is really more of a police officer
than a leader. He or she enforces the rules.

Bureaucratic leadership style can be effective when:

--Employees are performing routine tasks over and over.

--Employees need to understand certain standards or procedures.

--Employees are working with dangerous or delicate equipment that requires a definite set of
procedures to operate.

--Safety or security training is being conducted.

--Employees are performing tasks that require handling cash.

Bureaucratic leadership style is ineffective when:

--Work habits form that are hard to break, especially if they are no longer useful.

--Employees lose their interest in their jobs

and in their fellow workers.

--Employees do only what is expected of them and no more.

Democratic Leadership Style

The democratic leadership style is also called the participative style as it encourages
employees to be a part of the decision making. The democratic manager keeps his or her
employees informed about everything that affects their work and shares decision making and
problem solving responsibilities. This style requires the leader to be a coach who has the final
say, but gathers information from staff members before making a decision.

Democratic leadership can produce high quality and high quantity work for long periods of
time. Many employees like the trust they receive and respond with cooperation, team spirit,
and high morale.

Typically the democratic leader:

--Develops plans to help employees evaluate their own performance

--Allows employees to establish goals

--Encourages employees to grow on the job and be promoted

--Recognizes and encourages achievement.

Like the other styles, the democratic style is not always appropriate. It is most successful
when used with highly skilled or experienced employees or when implementing operational
changes or resolving individual or group problems.

The democratic leadership style is most effective when:

--The leader wants to keep employees informed about matters that affect them.

--The leader wants employees to share in decision-making and problem-solving duties.

--The leader wants to provide opportunities for employees to develop a high sense of personal
growth and job satisfaction.

--There is a large or complex problem that requires lots of input to solve.

--Changes must be made or problems solved that affect employees or groups of employees.

--You want to encourage team building and participation.

Democratic leadership should not be used when:

--There is not enough time to get everyone‟s input.

--It‟s easier and more cost-effective for the manager to make the decision.

--The business can‟t afford mistakes.

--The manager feels threatened by this type of leadership.

--Employee safety is a critical concern.

Laissez-Faire Leadership Style

The laissez-faire leadership style is also known as the “hands-off¨ style. It is one in which the
manager provides little or no direction and gives employees as much freedom as possible. All
authority or power is given to the employees and they must determine goals, make decisions,
and resolve problems on their own.

This is an effective style to use when:

--Employees are highly skilled, experienced, and educated.

--Employees have pride in their work and the drive to do it successfully on their own.

--Outside experts, such as staff specialists or consultants are being used

--Employees are trustworthy and experienced.

This style should not be used when:

--It makes employees feel insecure at the unavailability of a manager.

--The manager cannot provide regular feedback to let employees know how well they are
doing.

--Managers are unable to thank employees for their good work.

--The manager doesn‟t understand his or her responsibilities and is hoping the employees can
cover for him or her.

http://www.essortment.com/styles-leadership-36149.html