LEADERSHIP July-Sept 2024

The aim of this teaching is to understand your leadership style and make adjustment where possible.

1. Democratic Leadership: A democratic leadership style is where a leader makes decisions based on the input received from team members. It is a collaborative and consultative leadership style where each team member has an opportunity to contribute to the direction of ongoing projects. However, the leader holds the final responsibility to make the decision. Democratic leadership is one of the most popular and effective leadership styles because of its ability to provide lower-level employees a voice making it equally important in the organization. It is a style that resembles how decisions are made in company boardrooms.

Democratic leadership can culminate in a vote to make decisions. Democratic leadership also involves the delegation of authority to other people who determine work assignments. It utilizes the skills and experiences of team members in carrying out tasks. The democratic leadership style encourages creativity and engagement of team members, which often leads to high job satisfaction and high productivity. However, establishing a consensus among team members can be time-consuming and costly, especially in cases where decisions need to be made swiftly.

2. Autocratic Leadership: Autocratic leadership is the direct opposite of democratic leadership. In this case, the leader makes all decisions on behalf of the team without taking any input or suggestions from them. The leader holds all authority and responsibility. They have absolute power and dictate all tasks to be undertaken. There is no consultation with employees before a decision is made. After the decision is made, everyone is expected to support the decision made by the leader. There is often some level of fear of the leader by the team.The autocratic type of leadership style can be very retrogressive as it fuels employee disgruntlement since most decisions would not be in the employees’ interests.

An example can be a unilateral increase in working hours or a change in other working conditions unfavorable to employees but made by leadership to increase production. Without employee consultation, the manager may not be fully aware of why production is not increasing, thereby resorting to a forced increase in working hours. It can lead to persistent absenteeism and high employee turnover. However, autocratic leadership can be an effective approach in cases where the leader is experienced and knowledgeable about the circumstances surrounding the decision in question and where the decision needs to be made swiftly. There are other instances where it is also ideal such as when a decision does not require team input or an agreement to ensure a successful outcome.