Important styles of leadership

Premasara Epasinghe BA (Cey),
Dip in Ed, Dip in Mktg. Lecturer and Public Relations Marketing Consultant, Personality

What makes a Good Leader? There are three main ways of looking at it. They can be summed up as Trait Theories, Style Theories and Contingency Theories.

What makes an Effective Leader? According to Trait Theories, important qualities are integrity, enthusiasm, warmth, calmness, "tough, but fair." Some are practical, others are non-practical. It will all depend on situations. In fact, sometimes in Management "Situational Leaders" will always not successful. It will depend on the situation and the environment. Leaders must take the ability to craft a vision, inspire action and empower others.

A management scholar Harold Mc Alidon once said "A leader may not follow a where the path may lead. He goes instead where there is no path and leaves a trail. Revered leader Martin Luther King Jr stated "the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" - Word of Wisdom.'

Now, we will discuss about some of the important main Styles of Leadership.

We will start with Autocratic Leaders. They take all their decisions; right or wrong on their own. There is no consultation. A classic example is Adolf Hitler (1889-1945). German Facist Dictator (1933-1945), born in Austria. He served in the German Army during World War I. In 1921, Hitler became the leader of the National Socialist Workers Party or Nazi Party. Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933.

He made himself the Dictator of a One Party state and suppressed all opposition. He played a major role in determining strategy during World War II. Sometimes, Autocratic Leaders does not survive long. In April 1945, with Germany in ruins, Adolf Hitler committed suicide.

Even in modern society, there are instances some organisations, firm tail due to their "Top Notchers" inhuman attitudes in treating their Employees following a Dictatorial Manner. Good leaders are good listeners. They believe in Team Spirit and Team work.

The system of government by the whole people of a country, especially through representatives whom they elect can be defined as Democracy. Democratic Leaders always involve all members of the Team in discussion. Their approach is to find out what others or everyone thinks. Sometimes, it may work with a small team, but it may fail, if a group cannot take a positive decision. Some of the top companies with highly motivated team will fly high in business, who follows the Democratic Process.

There is yet another kind of leaders, called Consultative Leaders. They also follow a similar approach like the democratic approach, but, they allow the group to make decisions and they do so themselves.

This type of approach creates a high level of Motivation, and pays good results. The Laisser-Faire also Laissez Faire, a French word, means Policy of Freedom from government control, especially for private commercial interest. Laissez Faire Leaders are those intervene as little and allow group to take control.

There are ones who concentrate on a job to be performed. For example, Manchester United Football Team Manager "may take every game as its played." He can be called a Task - Activity Leader. Captain or leader of a cricket team has more diverse responsibilities than any other game or sport. In a sense, he is a composer, First Violinist, Conductor, all rolled into one.

Another kind of leaders are known as Peoples Leaders. They lead the emotions and feelings of all qualities required for leadership. Only one is indispensable - courage - true leader from Alexander to Nelson Mandela. A leader must be able to take hard decisions and calculate risks, was born great, achieved greatness and had greatness thrust upon them.

To be a good leader you must maintain a high level of Public Relations. It is something that flows from a Good Heart.

Public Relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationship between at organisation and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.

With my four decades of experience as a PR and Marketing Personality, I have seen that some leading organisations failed due to the haughty attitude of some Marketing men. Some were trying to be "Hitlers in organisations." One must maintain friendly and cordial relationships with everyone. Communicate nicely. A Democratic leader is always a good listener - a great team man. Leader presents ideas, invites questions. An excellent leader explains decisions, makes decisions and informs team.

A successful leader triumphs with decision-making, information gathering, evaluating, analysing, motivating, negotiating, listening, delegating, taking responsibility, organising, planning and prioritising etc.

It is very necessary to Train Leaders to "Coach" and not to Boss. You must select people who like "Teamwork".

In Japan Toyota recruits, select who prefer to work hard. Loners and anti-social types are failures and does not usually make good productive result oriented good team members.

In 1977, Robert House first introduced a theory of Charismatic Leadership. His theory suggested that charismatic leadership are likely have a lot of self-confidence and a strong need to influence people.

There are number of labels on Leadership. Charismatic leadership, Inspirational leadership, symbolic leadership and Transformational Leadership. The last one Transformational Leadership goes beyond ordinary expectation transmitting a sense of mission. A person who can influence the behaviours of others without having to rely on force; a person accepted by others as a Leader.