Tag Archives: Autocratic Leadership

Leadership

A Holistic Approach To Executive Leadership Development

Leadership has been a much discussed and debated subject over the last several decades and is under contention even today as to whether it falls under the category of Art or Science. Historically leadership programs tended to focus on creating a standard set of parameters or rules that candidates in training were meant to comply with. In recent years however, declining levels of leadership success has opened the eyes of the industry to what seemed a rather simple yet non-apparent problem – every individual was different and was not setup for success under a rigid system of compliance. Thus was born the paradigm of leadership training modeled around individual leadership styles. Corporate leadership programs today understand this and have taken steps to customize their setup to accommodate these changes.

So exactly how do these companies do this? In this article we will look at the modus operandi of leadership development programs run by companies that are actually structured according to the leadership style of the individual participating in the program, geared toward developing strategic leadership skills. Here are some leadership styles that such programs cater to:

Autocratic Leadership

These candidates generally tend to have intense or abrasive personalities and tend to make decisions on their own without feeling the need to consult with their team members. While they absolutely get things done, they tend to think that their judgment is in everyone’s best interest and it would be in everyone’s best interest to follow suit. For such a leader, training programs work to build their trust and relationship with fellow peers. Learning to delegate and share responsibilities in the crux of the training.

Democratic Leadership

This type of leader gives his team plenty of say and encourages everyone to share their opinion and judgment, but tends to make the final decisive judgment himself. While this does produce a good degree of satisfaction and camaraderie, it does not serve as a good model for when urgent and quick decisions need to be made. For this type of leader, programs are designed to take the weight of decision making so that the leader is equipped to handle difficult cases.

Laissez-faire

This type of leadership style tends to give full powers and abilities to the team, while playing a supporting role as a counsel or expeditor from the side. While this may encourage team satisfaction because of the trust factor, it still assumes that the worker or team knows best and is impervious to faults or errors. This can be problematic in the event of a team member making a drastic mistake or oversight. These type of leaders are trained to act as checks and balances to provide accountability for the team at all times.

Bureaucratic Leadership

This type of leader tends to go by the book and is a stickler for detail. Everything and everyone needs to follow a rigid pattern of adherence to a pre-conceived set of guidelines. Objectives and targets are achieved by meticulously conforming to these parameters. This leadership style however does not work in all environments. These type of leaders need to be trained to think out of the box and learn to trouble shoot creatively in the event of an unforeseeable circumstance or situation.

For more information on Leadership Training Program, please refer to the following article – global leadership development.

MMM Training Solutions conducts executive coaching, soft skills, leadership and presentation skills training programs for corporates in India and abroad. Our programs are customized based on the objectives, experience of the target audience and the type of industry. We have been in business since 2005 and some of our clients include Daimler, Standard Chartered Bank, Microsoft, Novartis, McKinsey, Boeing, Cipla, Deloitte, Caterpillar and many more.
Pramila Mathew, Owner and Founder of MMM, has a dual background in Business and Psychology and has significant work experience in both India and USA. Please visit our website http://www.mmmts.com to know more about our programs and our trainers.

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Leadership

Types of Leadership Styles in Business

Traditionally the following leadership styles have been the most popular:

Dictator Leadership – In this leadership style the leader has absolute power and authority over their subordinates. The subordinates receive orders from the leader and they carry them out as instructed. The leader does not allow subordinates to participate in decision making. This is the leadership style that the leader uses fear and threats in order to get the job done. Similar with the autocratic style of leadership the leader also makes all the decisions.

Autocratic Leadership – It has been shown that this leadership style are likely to become dictators. Also under the autocratic leadership style all decision making powers are centralized to the leader. They do not entertain any thought from subordinates and do not listen to any suggestions or initiatives from them. Autocratic leadership provides strong motivation to the leader and this is shown to be true as it has been successful in the past. It is effective as it permits quick decision-making as only the one person needs to decide for the whole group and this individual keeps decisions to themselves until they feel the rest of the group need to know what they are. Autocratic leaders do not trust anyone.

Democratic Leadership – Participative or democratic leadership style favours group decision making as shown that the leader only gives instruction after consulting the group. The leader can earn the cooperation of the group by doing this and therefore can motivate followers effectively and positively. The decisions arise from consultation and participation within the group members first so the decision making is not unilateral such as the autocratic style. When democratic leaders are present in the workplace the leadership style produces a work environment that employees can feel satisfied with the environment of the workplace. Subordinates feel that their opinion counts because of the shared communication and because of that feeling they can become more committed to achieving the goals and objectives of the organization.

Laissez Faire or Free Rein Leadership – A free rein leader allows maximum freedom to subordinates, by leaving the group entirely to itself and does not lead them every step of the way but rather motivates them by trusting the individuals to do things themselves. Subordinates are given a freehand in deciding their own policies and methods. Free rein leadership is considered better than the authoritarian style but not as effective as the democratic style.

Research on the behavior of individuals with leadership is moving in many new directions and new lines of inquiry are opening up in an attempt to construct the leadership model. The following contemporary perspectives are only a few of the numerous inquiries into the new leadership models.

Transactional leadership is the traditional management function of leading. Transactional leaders in essence do what managers do: they clarify the role of employees, initiate structures and reward or punish individuals for the team’s performance. One individual is given the opportunity to lead the group and that group agrees to follow his lead in order to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something worthwhile. The leader is given the power to evaluate, correct and train the employees when productivity is not at the appropriate level and they are able to reward effectiveness and efficiency when the outcome expected is reached.

Over the recent years a particular interest in transformational and charismatic leadership has been taken by I/O psychologists because in the past individuals have ignored the importance of the leader as a communicator. The following two leadership styles inspire followers through their words, ideas and behaviors.

The expression “transformational” is used because change and adaptation to change are the forerunners of a successful modern organization. The transformational leader is a person whom has a definite vision of the organization in the future and of what they want to achieve and transform followers’ beliefs, values and needs. The transformational leader seeks to accomplish their goals by making workers or followers feelings more aware of the importance of want they are trying to do, convincing them to put the organizations or teams needs ahead of their own self-accomplishments and to appeal to their achievement and mastery needs.

Charismatic leadership has a dependency more on the actual force of the leader’s personality as to the appeal of the leader’s vision. Charismatic leaders have the ability to put all their trust in others, are able to take personal risks and are sensitive to other people’s needs. They also have the ability to make individuals overcome lack of personal belief and do more than what is normally expected of them; they motivate subordinates to transcend their expected performance.

This article about leadership styles [http://www.humanresourcessouthafrica.co.za] was written by Christopher Kimberley. The article is for my human resources South Africa [http://www.humanresourcessouthafrica.co.za] website which specializes in issues relating to human resources in South Africa.

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Leadership

Balancing Your Leadership Style

This summer we began work with a Chief Service Officer (CSO) in a customer service organization with call centers around the globe. His prime objective for the coming year was the recruitment and retention of employees with a ‘customer-focused’ mindset. He knew the value of a diverse workforce would flow over into satisfying worldwide customer demands, impact the standardization of the delivery process of a diverse vendor base; and enhance or break their global image as well. He expressed that several of the state-side centers had begun to experience employee conflict attributed to a mix of the generational workforce management styles. He stated that the company had its own distinctive personality; but, with the current issues he was certain leadership styles were unbalanced.

We were anxious to help him discover if the belief structure of the mix of generational core values was influencing leadership styles. Were they too autocratic, too transactional focused, overly bureaucratic, or overly participatory, never able to reach a final decision? Do the leaders at each center need a mix of leadership styles, a more evenhanded methodology? We are still working with this organization, but let’s explore a few of the common leadership styles practiced today. There are a few more leadership styles than we list here, but considered these were more relevant to our CSO’s situation.

o Autocratic leadership- leader exerts high levels of power over the employees or teams. Team members are given few opportunities for making alternate proposals, even if these would best serve the organization’s processes.
o Bureaucratic leadership- leader works “by the book”, ensuring that their staff follow procedures exactly, very appropriate for work involving serious safety risks such as, working with machinery, with toxic spills or at extremely contagious health conditions.
o Democratic leadership-participative leadership- this leader makes the final decision. They invite others to contribute to the decision-making process, increasing job satisfaction by involvement.
o Situational leadership-a leader that can instinctively switch between styles according to the staff and the corresponding work they are dealing with at the current moment, ensuring the right levels of product quality, environmental security; and employee motivation.
o Transactional leadership- leader is in the agreement with the team members to obey their leader totally when they take a job on. The “transaction” is that the organization pays the team members in exchange for their expertise and conformity.
o Transformational leadership- leader is a sincere principal who inspires the team members with a shared vision of the future. Transformational leaders are highly noticeable and are seen truly listening & engaging their staff.

As technology advances in all industries, this challenges the leadership style of command-and-control. The leadership methodology of the past century is inefficient in the motivation & retention of people who are talented in the hi-tech fields, some even holding patents in the creation of the newer wireless tools.

The leadership of this century is a combination of earnest employee relationships and internal meaningful achievement. Great leaders have learned how to assimilate and execute many types of leadership. A balanced leadership style includes the creation of a positive work culture, constructing opportunities where the team’s expertise is visible internally & externally, maintaining consistent communication between team members and other departments, sustains a certainty in the company’s direction; and, acknowledges the achievements of individual members.

Remember that organizational ‘systems’ progress toward change cautiously. As you may want to integrate a leadership change, describe your perspective in positive terms using the benefits to the company’s economic result and resolve the human apprehension of a change in your style. Last, define how your changes can be more strategically activated with their collaboration while developing new enthusiasm, corporate confidence, and vitality.

If you think your leadership style could use some integration of other styles, ask yourself:

o What style of leadership best describes you? Are you happy with that style or would you benefit from an integration of a few styles?
o What routine practices are fading out in your industry and how will that change your leadership style for the future of your business?
o What type of leadership relationships will your clients value in coming years?
o What technological changes will have a positive or negative effect on your business? What new concerns and problems will be generated by these technologies and may propel you to a new style of leadership?
o What would the people you’ve worked with do differently because they worked with you in the new leadership style?
o What elements of leadership will you use to purge out old language, delete old behavior patterns, or discard anything not useful to meet your collective goals?
o How will you measure the success of discarding what is not needed for the future goals?
o Do you, as a leader, understand the specific fears of your employees? What are they concerned about? How strongly do they feel about it? Do they perceive your stated strategies as beneficial or not?
o As the leader you aspire to be, how do you inspire and display enthusiasm for management of complex issues regarding performance without being autocratic?
o How will you nurture and encourage initiative and boldness, both verbally and visually?
o How will you sustain the balance of work and personal life for yourself as a great leader?

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” Stephen Covey

Bradley Morgan, MS,PCC

Bradley Morgan is a corporate and ontological coach who served as a hi-tech executive for over 17 years, in companies such as, IBM, Bay Networks, Premysis, and Brocade Communications. Bradley’s credentials include a BS from Georgia Tech, a MS from UCLA, a certificate in gerontology from the University of Maryland; and a Professional Coaching Certification (PCC) through the Newfield Network program. In the telecommunications industry, she developed both domestic and international systems engineering teams for technical expertise and executive level leadership. Bradley is a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), American Management Associates (AMA), the American Society on Aging (ASA); and the American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA). Please visit the Web site, [http://www.walksbesidecoaching.com].

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Leadership

What is Leadership Training?

The introduction of a successful leader into a management team is a good investment for any organization. Leaders visualize plans, inspire subordinates and plan the required course. Leadership skills comprise of various qualities such as optimism, commitment and the ability to use power effectively.

Leadership training is significant, not only in the world of business, but even in the worlds of sports and medicine. Leadership training is essential for the social and economical set-up of any business. Leadership skills in managers are important ingredients in company’s expansion. These skills are best acquired with the help leadership training. Democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire are the different approaches to leadership training. Each of these is unique and inculcates leadership skills based upon distinct operational patterns.

Training programs are tools that help in the application of leadership skills at work. These skills could have been acquired at leadership skills classes, seminars or read. Individuals as well as organizations specialize in offering leadership training in various fields. There are many organizations that offer online leadership training also. Some of these organizations are even willing to reimburse the money paid for a leadership seminar, if the result is not satisfactory. Leadership training programs are expected to use core and widely agreed upon features of leadership, to bring out the best in people. Leadership involves vision and the ability to influence people and motivate them to work towards it.

Leadership training can be profitable to businesses in a number of ways. It helps to educate the employees, improves their performances and reduces staff attrition. This is beneficial to organizations, as it reduces the cost involved in constantly hiring new employees. It also helps in developing high performance teams. The participants gain a sense of power, which is, the power to guide others and the organization in the right direction, successfully.

Leadership Training [http://www.WetPluto.com/Corporate-Leadership-Training.html] provides detailed information on Leadership Training, Leadership Development Training, Corporate Leadership Training, Leadership Skill Training and more. Leadership Training is affiliated with Leadership Development [http://www.WetPluto.com/Leadership.html].

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