Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Different Leadership Styles in the Workplace

Originally posted on January 24, 2017 at www.lmshealthpro.com.

By Anita Haridat, Ph. D

Previously, we have learned about various learning styles and the different personality traits that are often correlated with those styles. However, what about your leadership styles? While there are both advantages and disadvantages that may exist among each category, the goals and the overall culture may determine the best factors to take into consideration. Here are the most common styles of leadership:

Laissez- Faire

For leaders who follow laissez-faire, there is a lack of supervision that is granted to employees. With this “hands off” approach, while there are some people who thrive in an environment where they do not have to answer to others, this may hinder business processes if there is no supervision efforts created. Examples of Laissez-Faire leaders include Steve Jobs, Ronald Reagan and Warren Buffet.

Pros: If team members are highly skilled, there is an ability to have an increase in passion along with intrinsic motivation.

Cons: Poorly defined roles, limited sense of cohesiveness

Personality traits that pertain to Laissez-Faire leadership: open to new experiences, extraverted, agreeable

Democratic or Participative

With this leadership style, there is an ability for team members to give their opinions in a proper manner, but there are also applicable leaders who make the final decisions. This type of leadership is beneficial because there is a strong chance to boost the morale of employees since their beliefs actually matter. Furthermore, if there are changes that should be made within a business, the leadership takes the time to assist the employees by implementing applicable protocols. Examples of democratic/participative leaders include the following: John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln.

Pros: Most businesses can adhere to democratic/participative tactics, promotes creativity, helps to build strong teams

Cons: Time consuming to process ideas

Personality traits that pertain to Democratic/Participative leadership: agreeable, extraverted

Autocratic

This type of leadership is also known as authoritarian. One individual tends to have complete control over a business or an organization and there tends to be very limited input from the other employees. The decisions are often made based on the ideas and the different parameters that have been researched by the leader. In essence, there is complete control over the team members. Examples of autocratic leaders include: Genghis Khan and Queen Elizabeth I

Pros: decisions can be made in a rapid manner, employees have the ability to focus solely on the tasks that they have been designated, organization levels are high

Cons: Limited sense of motivation within the environment, limited morale, sense of dissatisfaction

Personality traits that pertain to autocratic leadership: neurotic and conscientious


Leading Management Solutions helps medical practice leaders identify ways to improve operations to increase revenue, employee engagement, and patient satisfaction. Learn more about us at www.lmshealthpro.com.

About the Author:

Anita Haridat has her Ph.D in healthcare/business administration and her master’s degree in clinical nutrition. She has several publications in sources such as EGO Magazine, Natural Awakenings Magazine, Syosset Patch, Our USA Magazine and many more. Her passion for health and wellness has created multiple stepping stones for paving the way of creating a positive well being. Her first book can be found here: