By definition, a leader is someone who controls or influences other people’s actions. He is someone who leads a group, organization or country. If you are in charge of a group of people who are working towards a certain goal then you are considered a leader. You have the responsibility of looking out for the members of that group. As a business leader or manager, you have to ensure that they are doing their tasks correctly and are satisfied with their jobs. The question is how do you go about performing those duties?
Different people have different attitudes and personalities. The same thing applies to leadership. There are leaders who are more hands-on than others. There are others who let their staff have the freedom to get things done their way. While others are somewhere in the middle. They still get into the nitty-gritty of things but give their people limited freedom to do things their way. With that said, what leadership style do you have? Do you see other leaders within your company who have the same style as yours?
Facilitative Leadership
This style of leadership is all about the outcome or results. It puts heavy emphasis on monitoring the group dynamics. A facilitative leader will offer suggestions and if need be intervene to help the group achieve its goals. If the team is performing well, then the leader will just use the light hand approach. Not interfering too much and will only give out suggestions once in a while. If the team is not performing up to standards, then the leader will be more directive in the approach to put the team back on track. Basically, it is a more reactive type of leadership.
Laissez-faire Leadership
If the facilitative type of leadership is about reacting to the group’s performance, the laissez-faire style leadership is on the extreme end of the spectrum. This style of leadership is about giving the team members the freedom to choose how they work with little to no interference. The biggest advantage of this leadership style is that you are giving your team the chance to shine and showcase their skills and abilities. This freedom allows them to be more creative and take risks for greater rewards. The laissez-faire leadership style works best if your business relies heavily on being creative and innovative.
Democratic Leadership
Communication is the strongest aspect of the democratic leadership style. Since everyone is involved in the decision-making, communication is very open and is encouraged. Although the final decision would still be on the leader, everyone is still empowered since their say affects the final decision. This is the most preferred type of leadership since great ideas can be gathered from back and forth communication between the leaders and subordinates.