LEADERSHIP STYLES

                  By Shishir Tyagi                         

Adapted from “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Management” by Alan Murray, published by Harper Business.

Leadership is 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.

Management styles are characteristic ways of making decisions and relating to subordinates. Management styles can be categorized into two main contrasting styles, autocratic and permissive. Management styles are also divided in the main categories of autocratic, paternalistic, and democratic. This idea was further developed by Robert Tannenbaum and Warren H. Schmidt (1958, 1973), who argued that the style of leadership is dependent upon the prevailing circumstance; therefore leaders should exercise a range of management styles and should deploy them as appropriate.

TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLES:-

*Autocratic

*Consultative

*Persuasive

* Democratic

*Paternalistic

*Asian paternalistic

 

 

 

 

 

Autocratic:-

An Autocratic style means that the manager makes decisions unilaterally, and without much regard for subordinates. As a result, decisions will reflect the opinions and personality of the manager; this in turn can project an image of a confident, well managed business. On the other hand, strong and competent subordinates may chafe because of limits on decision-making freedom, the organization will get limited initiatives from those "on the front lines", and turnover among the best subordinates will be higher.

There are two types of autocratic leaders in this world:

§  the Directive Autocrat makes decisions unilaterally and closely supervises subordinates;

§  the Permissive Autocrat makes decisions unilaterally, but gives subordinates latitude in carrying out their work

Consultative:-

A more paternalistic form is also essentially dictatorial; however, decisions take into account the best interests of the employees as well as the business. Communication is again generally downward, but feedback to the management is encouraged to maintain morale. This style can be highly advantageous when it engenders loyalty from the employees, leading to a lower labor turnover, thanks to the emphasis on social needs. On the other hand for an autocratic management style the lack of worker motivation can be typical if no loyal connection is established between the manager and the people who are managed. It shares disadvantages with an autocratic style, such as employees becoming dependent on the leader.

A good example of this would be David Brent or Michael Scott running the fictional business in the television show The Office.

Persuasive:-

A persuasive styled manager shares some characteristics with that of an autocratic manager. The most important aspect of a persuasive manager is that they maintain control over the entire decision making process. The most prominent difference here is that the persuasive manager will spend more time working with their subordinates in order to try to convince them of the benefits of the decision that have been made. A persuasive manager is more aware of their employees, but it wouldn't be correct to say that the persuasive style of management is more inclusive of employees.^[3]

Just as there are occasions where the use of an autocratic style of management would be appropriate, there are also instances where a company will benefit from a persuasive style of management. An example of this being, if a task that needs to be completed but it is slightly complicated it may be necessary to rely upon input from an expert. In such a situation as this, the expert may take to time to explain to others why events are happening in the order in which they will occur, but ultimately the way in which things are done will be that person's responsibility. In those circumstances, they are highly unlikely to delegate any part of the decision making process to those who are lower down in the hierarchy.

Advantages to a persuasive style of management:

1. Decisions are able to be made quickly. This is also true with the autocratic style of management, persuasive managers are able to make decisions very quickly because they don't use a consultation process with employees.

2. The employees will have a clear understanding of what's likely to happen and what their role will be. As all of the decisions are made centrally and the communication is entirely top-down, employees will be able to perform their tasks in an efficient manner.

3. Difficult or tedious situations ae able to be managed effectively. Just as an autocratic manager will be able to navigate through challenging situations, a persuasive manager will be in a position which allows them to steer an organization towards a challenging outcome as well.

Disadvantages to a persuasive style of management:

1. There may not be enough or even an entire lack of support from employees for management. Seeing as how the employees will have no input into the decision making process. They also may not trust the decisions that are made.

2. A system that has no input from employees minimises access to one of the most valuable resources that a business has; the ideas of the people who are working on the "front line". As a result, employees will show no initiative, which can reduce productivity.

3. One-way communication models are unlikely to be effective when compared to Two-way communication.

Democratic:-

In a democratic style, the manager allows the employees to take part in decision-making: therefore everything is agreed upon by the majority. The communication is extensive in both directions (from employees to leaders and vice-versa). This style can be particularly useful when complex decisions need to be made that require a range of specialist skills: for example, when a new ICTsystem needs to be put in place, and the upper management of the business is computer-illiterate. From the overall business's point of view, job satisfaction and quality of work will improve, and participatory contributions from subordinates will be much higher. However, the decision-making process could be severely slowed down unless decision processes are streamlined. The need for consensus may avoid taking the 'best' decision for the business unless it is managed or limited. As with the autocratic leaders, democratic leaders are also two types i.e. permissive and directive.

 

 

 

Paternalistic:-

An autocratic style means that the manager makes decisions unilaterally, and without much regard for subordinates. As a result, decisions will reflect the opinions and personality of the manager; this in turn can project an image of a confident, well managed business. On the other hand, strong and competent subordinates may chafe because of limits on decision-making freedom, the organization will get limited initiatives from those "on the front lines", and turnover among the best subordinates will be higher.

 

Asian paternalistic:-

Like consultative and easily confused with autocratic and dictatorial; however, decisions take into account the best interests of the employees as well as the business, often more so than interests of the individual manager. Communication is downward. Feedback and questioning authority are absent as respect to superiors and group harmony are central characteristics within the culture. This style demands loyalty from the employees, often more than to societies' rules in general. Staff turnover is discouraged and rare. Worker motivation is the status quo with East Asians often having the world's highest numbers of hours worked per week, due to a sense of family duty with the manager being the father, and staff being obedient children, all striving for harmony, and other related Confucian characteristics. Most aspects of work are done with a highly collectivist orientation. It shares disadvantages with an autocratic style, such as employees becoming dependent on the leader, and related issues with seniority based systems.

An Asian Paternalistic style means that the manager makes decisions from a solid understanding of what is desired and best by both consumers and staff. Managers must appear confident, with all answers, and promote growth with harmony, often even if hiding harmful or sad news is required.