Leadership and Management Style
“Which personal style should managers adopt to ensure success? What is the most effective approach to managing the work of subordinates? These questions have been extensively researched and debated over the last century, and while the general consensus has moved away from ‘command and control’ to management and leadership towards more consultative and participative approaches, there is no single ideal, as the best approach may vary according to circumstances and individual characteristics” (CMI 2013).
According to Mullins (2016), management may be viewed as relating to people working within a structured organisation and with prescribed roles, in order to achieve stated organisational objectives (Mullins 2016).
“Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximises the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal” (Kruse 2017).
Most people assume that managers and leaders are the same, whereas, they are two different roles with different visions. While leaders have voluntary followers, managers have subordinates they give instructions. However, there are different leadership styles which few are listed below:
Autocratic: The leader makes all decisions and rules without consulting with members, followers or subordinates. Everything centres around him Bass 1990).
Democratic: A democratic leader give room to delegation and suggestions, he/she allows subordinates to contribute to decision making but the final say lays with him/her (Bass 1090).
Transformational: Like it sounds, this is the type of leader that transforms the organisation, group, team or followers. Always infusing new ideas and initiatives into the organisation and influences their subordinate to take up more challenges. This type of leaders usually has more loyal and committed followers (CIPD 2017).
Laissez-Faire: This kind of leadership leaves all supervision, delegation, decision making, etc. in the hands of subordinates. There is little or supervision from the leader (Cherry 2015).
An organisation’s overall goals depend on the relationship between the manager and his/her subordinates (Mihalitz, 2013).
I believe the most effective approach to managing the work of subordinates is for managers to first understand their subordinates, communication is also paramount, thus, managers should have an open mind and listen clearly. Also, I recommend Rensis Likert’s theories of management, which are:
Consultative – when the leader trusts his/her subordinates, have confidence in them and request their suggestions, ideas but at the same time, holds own to the decision making authority (CMI, 2012)
Participative – when the leader believes in and trust his/her subordinates absolutely, seeks their opinion, get them involved in setting organisational goals and work with their ideas (CMI, 2012).
I have been a member of different teams at every point right from High School, and it has been a mixture of bitter-sweet. Reason has been that different people lead differently, but due to my open mind, I was able to pull through it all.
The two leaders that fit my idea of how I would like to be led are Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson. These two are great transformational and charismatic leaders, they inspire me. On one hand, Oprah is dynamic and on the other hand, Richard is a risk taker, but they both rule by inspiring others.
Branson is the CEO of Virgin Groups, a very huge company that, a successful entrepreneur who accepts failures in good faith and turn it into success strategically. He puts his employees first and customers second because he believes a happy employee equals happy customer (Virgin 2017).
Oprah Winfrey is known by all because of her famous talk show which started as just a TV chat but took a drastic turn and it became huge. Winfrey is also an actress, a producer and a philanthropist. Very dynamic I must say. She has inspired a whole lot of people and touched many lives too (Biography 2017). She is a leader to look up to and emulate.
I agree with CMI “there is no single ideal, as the best approach may vary according to circumstances and individual characteristics” (CMI 2013). There are different types of human beings in the world and we are all wired differently, hence why there is a different kind of leadership styles, therefore, there cannot be a ‘single’ ideal style managers can adopt to manage the work of subordinate (CMI 2013). In my opinion, just be a good leader.
The video below explains how to be a good leader.
List of References
Bass, B. M. 1990. From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to Share the Vision. Organisational Dynamics, 18(3): 19–31.
Cherry, K. (2015) How Does Laissez-Faire Leadership Work? [online] available from <http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/f/laissez-faire-leadership.htm> [19 March 2017]
Biography, (2017) Oprah Winfrey [online] available from <http://www.biography.com/people/oprah-winfrey-9534419> [30 March 2017]
CIPD, (2017) Leadership In The Workplace | Factsheets | CIPD [online] available from <https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/leadership/factsheet> [29 March 2017]
CMI, (2012). Cite a Website – Cite This For Me. [online] Managers.org.uk. Available at: https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Files/Campus%20CMI/Checklists%20First%20Management%20Role/Understanding%20management%20styles.ashx [Accessed 30 Mar. 2017].
Kruse, K. (2017). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/2/#50294d4641f0 [Accessed 29 Mar. 2017].
Mihalitz, D. (2013). 5 Requirements of Effective Managers | Effective Managers. [online] Effective Managers. Available at: http://www.effectivemanagers.com/dwight-mihalicz/5-requirements-of-effective-managers-2/ [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017].
Johnson, Rose (2015) 5 Different Types Of Leadership Styles [online] available from <http://smallbusiness.chron.com/5-different-types-leadership-styles-17584.html> [27 March 2017]
Virgin, (2017) About Us [online] available from <https://www.virgin.com/virgingroup/content/about-us> [30 March 2017]
CULC Leadership Blogs 
I will always thrive in a participative environment. When your superior believes in you, you get motivated. Everyone has something hidden inside of them, they only need an opportunity to unleash their skills.
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I agree with you that “Everyone has something hidden inside of them, they only need an opportunity to unleash their skills.”, hence why the world need more of democratic cum transformational leaders who can identify your hidden skills and help you to unleash it.
Thanks for your comment.
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They are different approaches of effective leadership styles, however it depends on the circumstances and environments we find ourselves.
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You are right there, different situation requires different approach.
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For example, Semco casestudy where Ricardo Semler had to change his leadership power to suit every situation after he took over the company from his father, and that worked for him.
Thank you.
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In this blog there are described two models of leadership styles : Aristocratic and Democratic, for in order for a company to have an efficient management I will chose Democratic because as it is described here a leader should give room to delegation and suggestions.
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I agree with you because no one is an island and I believe no one knows it all, we all need each other achieve a common goal. An autocratic leader takes all decision whether right and wrong, while a democratic leader carries everyone along so if he/she stumbles there is backup plan.
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Impressive blog! Based on my experience about it, every person in the office environment have to collaborate with each other and also respect each other
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Thank you. Exactly, because if there is no bond among leaders and employees in the office, the will be failure because no one will care about what the next person is up to, even if he/she is going in a wrong direction.
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The blog is really informative and the video provided easy explanation on how to become a better leader.
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Thank you.
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The autocratic and democratic leadership is showing the relevance research. and also the Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson example is giving a clear picture.
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Interesting blog about the different approaches to effective leadership. Your reference to Oprah and Richard Branson as to how you will like to be led was really important too!
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Thank you.
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This is an educative blog where one will learn to freeze, transitional and unfreezes in an organisation to effect change to achieve productivity, excellent.
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I agree about oprah winfrey
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In my understanding, the democratic and laissez faire style of leadership are quite similar. In an organisation adopting the democratic leadership is important because it helps to motivate employees. However, there should also be measures to control the effectiveness of the employees.
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Thank you, Edith.
A democratic leader delegate with employees/followers, seeks their opinion and take their ideas. He/she is involved with in their affairs, but a laissez faire leader leaves everything in the employees/followers’ hands without getting involved.
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