The Many Styles of Leadership
Colorado Technical University
The Many Styles of Leadership
Introduction
Sometimes manager and leader are used synonymously; however, they have differing aspects. A person can be a manager, but not a leader, and vice versa. Managers receive authority, either by the organization or some other higher authority. A leader can be found anywhere in any group or team at all levels of an organization. One can view as a manager has people they are in charge of while leaders have people that follow them. In an organization a person should possess both skills to be successful.
Leadership Styles
Almost everyone has had a supervisor or someone that has authority over them in the workplace. There are those that people hate and dread going to work every day and there are those that are inspiring and are enjoyable to work for. All managers have differing leadership styles. The following leadership styles are going to be the focus of this paper: laisse-faire, authoritarian, democratic, transactional and transformational leadership styles.
Laisse-Faire
Managers that have the laisse-faire leadership styles are, for the most part, nonexistent as far as leading is concerned. There is very little face to face interaction and the manager is hands-off. Subordinates are free to work with little to no interference from management. In order for this style of leadership to be successful there must be efficient, well trained personnel that go between the manager and group.
Authoritarian Leadership
Authoritarian, or autocratic, leadership is starting to become more antiquated than most of the newer leadership styles. This leadership type would be considered the polar opposite of laisse-fair leadership style. This style is considered overbearing and ever-present. This type of leader holds all responsibility and authority within the group. All decisions are made, which are then sent to the team for them to execute. In this type...