Participative leadership style works well with a smaller group of skilled workers.
The main goal of any leadership style is to motivate the employees and raise the level of productivity. In the 1960s, Douglas McGregor outlined two theories,Theory X and Theory Y, stating that employees either need motivation or are self-motivated. The level of motivation determined whether managers should use an autocratic or participative leadership styles to produce the desired result. Though the participative leadership style is prevalent in today's managerial practices, there are still instances where an autocratic style is advantageous.
Employee Motivation
Leadership style is directly affected by what a manager perceives his employees' motivation to be. Douglas McGregor outlined two opposing views manager can take when viewing lead workers in his Theory X and Y. Theory X assumes that workers need an autocratic management style because they lack the motivation to work. Contrarily, in Theory Y, workers are self-motivated and have an innate nature to succeed, thus a participative leadership style would help to fuel their drive. Sometimes a manager has to deal with a workforce that is a combination of the two theories; therefore, he might find success toggling between the two leadership styles to raise his subordinates' productivity levels.
Autocratic Leadership Style
Autocratic leadership style is most likened to a military style, where the commander gives orders and the troops follow. A manager who uses this leadership style does not request feedback from his employees; instead, he unilaterally develops a solution for the given business situation. Information flows from manager to employee without any request for input. This lack of employee participation can lead to a decrease in morale and motivation, which is a disadvantage of this leadership style. Employees in today's workforce tend to respond better to ownership, responsibility and incentives, which are elements that are lacking in the autocratic style. However, there are limited cases where the autocratic style leads to higher productivity in the work force. For example, if a company needs to get a project out and lacks sufficient time for employee deliberation or input, the autocratic leadership style can be employed to swiftly finish the task.
Participative Leadership Style
In the United States, more businesses are using the participative leadership style, according to Gitman and McDaniel's "The Future of Business: The Essentials." In this leadership style, managers encourage group members to participate in the business decisions; as in a democracy, workers have a say in managerial matters. Participation and ownership in decisions can help increase employees' motivation, leading to a higher level of enthusiasm when it comes to implementation.
Participative leadership style is team-oriented; therefore, employing group dynamics strategies is important to arrive at a collective managerial decision. Managers have to be conscious of group interaction, encouraging employees' participation and handling conflicting ideals. The nature of this leadership style, tends to function better with smaller groups of individuals that can offer and educated opinion, as it can be difficult to gain a consensus with a larger group.
Comparison of the Leadership Styles
There is use for autocratic and participative leadership styles in the work force. In a democracy-oriented work environment, the ideal is to involve every employee in managerial decisions. However, when a manager oversees a larger work force, as in a manufacturing facility, it might not be feasible to involve a multitude of workers in the business-decision process. An autocratic leadership style would probably be more effective in that business scenario.
On the contrary, experienced workers can offer educated input to the decisions at hand and can therefore be essential to the decision process. These smaller groups of professionals respond to the participative leadership style, and the byproduct of their input can lead to strategic-management decisions. For example, a group of sales associates, each with in-depth knowledge of their local markets, might be able to offer constructive comments to a divisional sales manager about an up-coming sales campaign.
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