Advantages And Disadvantages Of Leadership Styles

According to Webster Dictionary, leadership style is defined as a manner or approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people (n.d.) Finding the right leadership style that best fits the dynamic of an organization is crucial to success. Implementing these styles around your main objectives and goals is necessary in order to be effective and receive full participation and acceptance from your staff. There are many different types of leadership styles such as: autocratic/authoritative, democratic/participative, bureaucratic, transactional, laissez-faire and paternalistic. This paper will discuss in detail the different types of leadership styles along with the advantages and disadvantages associated with each approach.

According to experts Rahbi, Dana Al, et al., this type of leadership style is gained through demands, punishments, regulations, rules and orders (2017).Although this type of leadership style is known to have a very structured work environment, there are many advantages and disadvantages associated with this approach. The first advantage associated with the autocratic leadership style is that it involves quick decision making. Since there is only one person making all of the decisions for the organization, the decision making process is quick and painless, and planning/organizing needs no initiative. Another advantage to this approach is that it is good for inexperienced workers or staff members. Most inexperienced staff members are not at a position to make critical decisions for the company and require a more structured environment where they are simply told what to do, and they do it. Lastly, implementing this type of approach gives total control to this individual to accomplish any goals and visions for the future success of the company. There are also many

This leader relies heavily on their staff for their input and opinions. This type of leader has a “two heads are better than one” philosophy, and focuses their attention more to the group as opposed to a boss-centered approach. A democratic leader is also more present with the staff, and has an open door policy. They tend to talk to their staff more frequently gathering their feedback about possible decisions and see where they stand on possible company issues. However, just because a democratic leader expresses their desire for a more open communication forum with the staff, doesn’t necessarily mean that they completely hand over all their power and responsibility. A democratic leader will still ultimately make all the final decisions. However, they will do so, with all the input needed from all staff members in order to make a calculated decision that is best for the company. One of the biggest advantages associated with a democratic leadership style is staff acceptance. When the projects are delegated and the decisions are handed out amongst the organization, people can see themselves in those decisions, and realize that their input and opinions were considered, which helps them take ownership over all company projects or tasks. With the sense of ownership, staff members are able to carry on the responsibilities of completing the task at hand in the absence of the