Participative or democratic style

LEADERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP STYLES

Over the years the philosophical terminology of "management" and "leadership" have, in the organizational context, been used both as synonyms and with clearly differentiated meanings. Leadership is believed to be less about your needs, and more about the needs of the people and the organization you are leading. Leadership styles are not something to be tried on like so many suits, to see which fits. Rather, they should be adapted to the particular demands of the situation, the particular requirements of the people involved and the particular challenges facing the organization.

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Leadership is also viewed as the process of "organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal". Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others.

In the 20^th century, theorists began to research leadership as a set of behaviors, evaluating the behavior of successful leaders, determining a behavior taxonomy, and identifying broad leadership styles. Leadership style refers to a leader's behavior. It is the result of the philosophy, personality, and experience of the leader. Different situations call for different leadership styles The style adopted should be the one that most effectively achieves the objectives of the group while balancing the interests of its individual members.

Autocratic or authoritarian style

Under the autocratic leadership style, all decision-making powers are centralized in the leader, as with dictators. Leaders do not entertain any suggestions or initiatives from subordinates. The autocratic management has been successful as it provides strong motivation to the manager. It permits quick decision-making, as only one person decides for the whole group and keeps each decision to him/herself until he/she feels it needs to be shared with the rest of the group.

Participative or democratic style

The democratic leadership style favors decision-making by the group. Such a leader gives instructions after consulting the group.

They can win the cooperation of their group and can motivate them effectively and positively. The decisions of the democratic leader are not unilateral as with the autocrat because they arise from consultation with the group members and participation by them.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14