Forces that Affect Leadership Styles

Forces that Affect Leadership Styles

A good leader uses all three styles, depending on what forces are involved between the followers, the leaders, and the situation. Some examples include:

· Using an authoritarian style on a new employee who is just learning the job. The leader is competent and a good coach. The employee is motivated to learn a new skill. The situation is a new environment for the employee.

· Using a participative style with a team of workers who know their job. The leader knows the problem well, but he wants to create a team where the employees take ownership of the project. The employees know their jobs and wan to become part of the team. The situation allows time.

· Using a delegative style with a worker who knows more about the job than you. You cannot do everything! The employee needs to take ownership of her job. Also, the situation might call for you to be at other places doing other things.

· Using all three: Telling your employees that a procedure is not working correctly and a new one must be established (authoritarian). Asking for their ideas and input on creating a new procedure (participative). Delegating tasks in order to implement the new procedure (delegative).

Forces that influence the style to be used included a number of things such as:

· How much time is available.

· Are relationships based on respect and trust or on disrespect?

· Who has the information – you, your employees, or both?

· How well your employees are trained and how well you know the task.

· Internal conflicts.

· Stress levels.

· Type of task. Is it structured, unstructured, complicated, or simple?

· Laws or established procedures.

Positive and Negative Leaders

There is also a difference in w...

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...g a democratic style while men typically use a more task-oriented style of leadership.

While understanding what leadership is, it is also important to understand what leadership is not. Almost any one can be elected, selected, promoted or succeeded; there fore leadership is not a position. Giving too much power to one individual can be detrimental to the leader, the employees and the organization therefore leadership is not building a personality cult. Effective leadership is being dispensable and the mark of a good leader is demonstrated by the fact that the show can and must go on with or without that particular individual therefore leadership is not being indispensable although many would like it to be. Lastly, leadership is about being responsible for the decisions you make leadership is not about blaming others when you do not achieve your desired outcome.