Organizational Management Guide : Management Leadership Styles
August 21st, 2009 at 09:17pm Under General
In this installment of our guide to organizational management we look at leadership in organizations…
There are three generally-accepted leadership styles that organizational leaders will use to carry out their duties and responsibilities; autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire, or a combination of any of these styles.
An autocratic leader supervises in a manner that denies employees an opportunity to provide input or make suggestions, even those suggestions that could be of benefit to an organization. Autocrats lead by exerting unchallenged power over their staff, and, while this may be warranted in situations where staff is providing routine or unskilled labor, generally, most people resent being treated in such a manner. Such resentment will typically result in a high turnover rate and a higher-than-usual employee absentee rate.
Democratic leaders, on the other hand, will seek input from staff prior to making a decision, even though the democrat will ultimately make the final determination. Employees appreciate being provided with an opportunity to contribute, which, in turn, results in greater job satisfaction. This approach, however, can slow things down a little more than an autocratic approach, but results in better employee retention, increases employees knowledge and skills, and overall, has a more positive benefit to the organization.
In situations where an organization has a team of workers who are highly skilled and experienced, and who are self-motivated, a Laissez-faire leadership style can be very effective. French for leave it be, laissez-faire leaders do not typically micro-manage their employees, but instead allow them to work toward organizational goals on their own. A good laissez-faire leader will continually monitor staffs progress and achievements and provide good communication to his or her team. The downside is where a laissez-faire type leader does not exert sufficient influence and loses control over where his or her team is heading.
An organizations structure and environment will dictate the most effective style of leadership, and there really is no cookie-cutter answer for which type of leader works best. In fact, the leaders who consider all the factors (skill and experience level of workers, the type of work being performed, and the culture of the environment, whether stable or in flux, bold or conservative), will have the best impact on productivity.
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