4 Types of Leadership
Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership is a form of leadership where decisions are made by the leader alone. These leaders don't consider their teams' thoughts and opinions before making a decision or heading a new direction with training, processes, or otherwise.
An example of an autocratic leader is someone who changes the schedules of several employees without consulting anyone, let alone the affected employees.
This leadership type is not effective and is not recommended for organizations if they want to retain and empower their employees.
Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership is based on a leader that asks for the thoughts and opinions of staff members when making a decision or executing a project plan. The leader makes the final decision, of course, but they take other team members' viewpoints into consideration before doing so.
This is an effective leadership style because it encourages collaboration and prepares employees for future leadership positions they may take on.
Let's say there's a leader that has to make a decision about some new software for their team to use. A democratic leader will give the team a few options, and they'll have a discussion about it before a decision is made for new software to be implemented.
Laissez-Faire Leadership
This is one of the least intrusive forms of leadership that can be effective in some instances. The translation of laissez-faire is "let them do," which means leaders who apply this style give a good amount of authority to their employees.
A good example of a laissez-faire leader would be a founder of a startup who doesn't make any rules, guidelines, or deadlines and puts full trust in his employees to get things done.
This type of leadership encourages trust, but it may fall short because it limits an employee's development and overlooks growth opportunities.
Strategic Leadership
Leaders that adopt the strategic leadership style are often at a crossroads between growth opportunities for their company and daily operations.
This leader essentially accepts executive level interests while supporting lower-level employees to make sure the work environment is stable for them.
Many companies like this form of leadership because it supports a variety of employees at one time. However, this type of leadership can cause problems in regards to how many people a leader can actually support at one while maintaining a clear direction or stability.
*** From Blueadz.com