Autocratic, Laissez-Faire and Democratic

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http://blog.readytomanage.com/category/leadership-management

Three Leadership Styles

March 21, 2013 by Dr. Jon Warner

Leadership style is the approach individual in a supervisory or managerial position chooses to give direction, to organize people, to achieve team goals, to deal with problems and conflicts and to generally motivate team members.  An effective team leader appreciate the needs of each team member, thus choosing the leadership style that is appropriate for the situation and the people.  Kurt Lewin, with the assistance of Ron Lippitt and Robert White suggested that there are three main leadership styles:

 

1. Autocratic

·         the leader takes most decisions without consulting others

·         works when

o   there is little or no need for input on the decision,

o   the decision would not change as a result of input,

o   the motivation of people to carry out subsequent actions would not be affected, whether they were or were not involved in the decision-making.

2. Laissez-Faire

·         the leader’s involvement in decision-making is usually kept till last

·         people are largely left alone to make their own decisions, although the leader may still be the ultimately accountable person.

·         often works best

o   when people are capable and motivated to make their own decisions, and

o   where there is no requirement for central coordination.

 

3. Democratic

·         the leader involves people in discussions and final decision-making, although the process may vary from the leader having the final say to working to find consensus in the group

·         People usually appreciate being consulted, especially if they have been used to more autocratic decisions with which they disagreed in the past.

·         this style can be problematic

o   when there are a wide range of opinions and there is no clear way of reaching consensus or

o   when there is a lot of time pressure.

These three styles represent a progression from being highly directive, or essentially telling people what to do, to letting people make most of the decisions for themselves.  There is another way to look at leadership styles.  Some leaders have a style that tends to be very task or performance-focused.  Other leaders have a style that is very people-focused.  Much recent research suggests that leaders need to move between these two styles.  Leaders should try to “flex” their style according to the task requirements and the needs of the particular individual being asked to carry it out.  There are a number of different styles that a leader can adopt in the workplace in order to provide direction, implement plans, manage problems or conflict and to motivate people.