Different Types of Leadership Styles
Those of us who have already grown a position in the professional world can usually judge their own boss very well. The dominant style of management in the company is characteristic for our work day. What type of leadership would we assign to our own boss? And most importantly, what type of leadership is most personal to us?
The classic way of classifying leadership styles are today according to Max Weber, or Kurt Lewin. Both in their investigations came to the autocratic (according to Weber) or authoritarian (according to Lewin) leadership style. While Weber continues to differ in charismatic and bureaucratic style, Lewin focuses on the decision-making process and calls it a more co-operative and relaxed style of leadership.
7 Different Types of Leadership styles are as follow
- Autocratic /Authoritarian leadership style
- Charismatic leadership
- Bureaucratic leadership style
- Cooperative, democratic leadership style
- Laissez-faire leadership style
- Participatory leadership style
- Situational leadership style
below I have explained these types one by one with examples.
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Autocratic/authoritarian Leadership Style
Decisions are dictated from above. The leadership, which has more experience, or higher status, makes all decisions alone. There is clear hierarchical thought here. Who is the boss, decides everything, the employees have to do so. The clear advantage of this is, of course, the speed of decision-making and the clear direction.
The disadvantage is that there is little room for creativity, just as new ideas cannot be realized. The authoritarian style of leadership is particularly popular among the military and in large, government-like groups. The motivation of the employees is mainly controlled by the salary.
Charismatic Leadership
Although the relationship between the employee and the supervisor is similar to one’s authoritarian style, the leadership style derives much more from the charisma than from the status, or from the supervisor’s experience. Employee motivation is held to the point that many see leadership as a model.
Bureaucratic Leadership style
As the name already betrays, the bureaucratic style of management is used mainly in public authorities and large conglomerates. The corporate guidelines have a legal character. Anyone who wants to know all the regulations must have already worked in the company for 20 years, or have studied law. The status of employees is governed by guidelines, job descriptions, and service instructions. The employees are rewarded by better remuneration and responsibilities if you have many years of service.
Cooperative, democratic Leadership Style
The key difference between the cooperative leadership style and the others is the fact that leadership is deliberately involving employees in decision-making processes. Since this is very helpful to the creativity and the independence of the employees, the cooperative management style is particularly popular in the media sector and the creative agencies.
Disadvantages are lengthy decision-making processes and the lack of clear structure and direction.
Laissez-faire leadership style
The Laissez-fair leadership style gives the employees the greatest possible freedom. The employees themselves determine their tasks, organize themselves, information flows randomly. The supervisor, if he is known by name at all, does not intervene and does not penalize the employees for mistakes.
The laissez-fair style of leadership is only possible with very experienced teams and only in those in which the skill and the creativity of each individual person are strongly demanded. Otherwise, the organization can quickly sink into chaos with this style of leadership.
Participatory leadership style
Less is known, Lewin also defined a participatory leadership style. This is a kind of mixing between the authoritarian and the cooperative leadership style. Finally, in practice, none of the above-mentioned leadership styles are in a pure form. The participatory leadership style, in contrast to the authoritarian leadership style, integrates the employees into the decision-making process.
The degree of participation is restricted in the participative style of leadership, while the cooperative management style is used to involve the employees unconditionally in all decisions. The employees are tied more closely to the company, for example through occupational retirement provisions, material allowances, or the company canteen.
Situational leadership style
Each of the leadership styles examined by Weber and Lewin has strengths and weaknesses. In addition, none of these types of leadership in practice is in its pure form. Later examinations of leadership styles were oriented on the situational style of leadership. This means that the manager has to weigh the management style according to the situation. The situation can be dealt with differently depending on the basic conditions, such as the relationship to the employee, his degree of maturity, however, studies have shown that the degree of success is not valid.
