Essay Example on The Different Styles of Leadership Autocratic

The Different Styles of Leadership Autocratic democratic and Laissez faire These three leadership practices are considered the most commonly used as well as classic forms of leadership seen in traditional companies and organizations Understanding the role that authoritarian democratic and laissez faire leadership styles may assist in understanding the type of leader you are John C Maxwell has defined leadership as having a genuine willingness and a true commitment to lead others to achieve a common vision and goals through positive influence Laws of Leadership What type of leader do you think you are Before you can decide grab your snorkel flippers and reading glasses so we can dive into what each type of these leadership styles are and what makes them unique and different form one another The autocratic leader The autocratic leader is keen in understanding the strength of authority Autocratic leadership also known as authoritarian leadership is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members www verywell com 

These leaders are identified as the leaders who see their subordinates as nothing more than robots part of a bigger machine vital yet valuable mechanisms but mechanisms nonetheless These types of leaders hold no interest in the opinions ideas or suggestions of their minions and most certainly not interested in opening up the decision making process to the respective groups Instead they choose to bear the weight of leadership completely alone while they expect nothing less than for those who fall under his absolute authority to either learn to fold and follow orders or make space for the ones who can It can be said that this type of leader is known to improve effectiveness and productivity by restructuring the work process They enforce deadlines and in general have a clear set of expectations for their subordinates Unfortunately the disadvantage is that due to their reluctance to delegate autocratic leaders cut down on the types of misunderstandings that may arise when information and orders are passed through the management pipeline This may also result in subordinates who are better qualified and more productive because the autocratic leader has been able to supervise his or her team directly The draw back to these autocratic leaders are that their only willing to draw from their own ideas and experience and are generally unwilling to accept advice from what he would look at as inferiors 

The Democratic leader Democratic leaders are known to arouse the free exchange of ideas through a group In this setting the each group or team member each member all have equal value and voice and the leader acts as more of a representative or facilitator ensuring that conclusions are reached and goals are met The democratic leader depend on the participation and investment of the team and put a great deal of value and competence in each member of the team As we know a democracy is in absence of a one all powerful leader Instead each employee shares the independences and responsibilities of leadership equally All things aside this can cause difficulty in a democratic workplace in reference to identifying those employees who are not fulfilling their own responsibilities since it is much easier for them to simply camouflage themselves within the group Laissez faire leaders Laissez faire leaders can be described as the hands off type leader In essence they exist to allocate tasks to their employees but once the task has been dispersed and necessary resources have been given these types of leaders simply quit being involved That being said it is then up to the employees to decide on the best tactic in order to fulfill their responsibilities The laissez faire leader will put a great deal of faith in their subordinates trusting that they will remain self motivated focused and maintain accountability In case of a situation where task accomplishment doesn t take place the best laissez faire leaders are known to remain available in order to offer direction to their team members when needed 

The laissez faire will give you enough rope to use but enough to hang yourself with per se while allowing each member of his or her team to succeed or fail based upon their own abilities An advantage to this style of leadership gives the skilled and self motivated employees an opportunity to reach their fullest potential Additionally laissez faire leadership has been known to raise employee morale within the workplace The disadvantage is there is no absolute direction made clear and this can cause deadlines to be missed critical steps in the process may be missed and the overall quality of work may suffer due to a lack of guidance Conclusion Autocratic democratic and Laissez faire Now that you know the difference which one do you most identify with Are you any of these I feel it is necessary to have a highbred version a mash up of each of these leadership styles by knowing when where and how to implement each of these into your work environment I tend to lean more toward the democratic leader I believe to the best effective leader you need to know each approach as we know different circumstances can bring about a different need for leadership You can be a multifaceted leader but I believe we all have one type of leadership style that we all gravitate toward Since every person is different and does not respond the same leadership should be as versatile and diverse as the personalities of the ones he or she is providing the leadership for