Having looked at some of the main theories of leadership and the traits/characteristics of leaders we can now look at the idea of leadership style.
Again, there are many different opinions on this but it is useful to know about:
Authoritarian (autocratic) Leadership
Participative (democratic) Leadership
Delegative (Laissez- Faire) Leadership
These terms, developed by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s, led to debates about the most effective style. In fact, they all have their place, and can be highly effective in the right situation.
An overview of Leadership Styles and Frameworks by Kendra Cherry starts with Lewin, moves on to a brief summary
of Transformational Leadership (more on this in the next section) and then to Situational Leadership as developed by Hersey and Blanchard.
Kendra Cherry’s article on The Situational Theory of Leadership explains the main levels
of situational leadership and this video presentation by Patricia Jenkinson provides practical examples of applying the theory:
Related to the bell-curve diagram in the video above is the Continuum of Leadership Styles diagram as developed by Tannenbaum and Schmidt.
For a more detailed explanation of the Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum see this article on Delegation and team development in BusinessBalls.
Reflection
Thinking about recent events where you have seen different leadership styles, note your observations – either as a leader or a follower – and whether you think it was appropriate to the situation. In each case, would a different leadership style
have had a better outcome?
Print Page
