Leadership styles
Looking to gain a better understanding of the various leadership styles? You've come to the right place!
The term leadership style refers to the method or approach adopted by a leader to motivate, influence and guide team members in an organisation towards achieving set goals. There are many different leadership styles developed through studies and practical applications over time. Each style has its own set of benefits and challenges, and certain styles may work better in different situations or with different types of teams.
Here we dive into each of the universally recognised leadership styles.
Leadership styles
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Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership, involves a single leader making all decisions with little to no input from the group. The leader exercises total control and full authority, determining policies and procedures, deciding on goal achievement, and directing all activities without any meaningful participation by the subordinates. This leadership style is typically less popular with the team members as it allows minimal opportunities for staff to make suggestions or decisions.
This style is used when leaders tell their employees what they want done and how they want it accomplished, without getting the advice of their followers. They make decisions based on their own ideas and judgements and rarely accept advice from followers.
Autocratic leadership can be beneficial in situations where decisions need to be made quickly, when there's no need for team agreement for a successful outcome, or when team agreement isn't possible due to a lack of expertise or time.
However, autocratic leadership can often result in lack of creativity, resentment among team members, high levels of staff turnover, and dependency on the leader. Hence, this leadership style is not always appropriate and is considered less favorable compared to more participative forms of leadership.