INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
M3.10
LEADERSHIP STYLES
A leadership style is not something synthetic, it is the real you, tempered and improved by your knowledge and experience of how to get the best out of your team members.
Some of the more common styles include...
Autocratic, this is when a leader dictates orders to there team and makes decisions without consulting their team or asking them for input. Team members are expected to obey orders without receiving any explanation. This style ensures decisions are made quickly and work is carried out quickly and on time, however team members feel demotivated and feel uninvolved resulting in a high turnover in staff.
Democratic, A democratic leadership style is also called participative style as it encourages team members to be part of the decision making. They keep team members informed about everything the affects their work and shares decision making and problem solving responsibilities. This style requires the leader to be a coach who has the final say but gathers opinions from team members before making a decision. Team members feel motivated and involved having good team spirit which produces a high quality of work, however decision making is slower as a result team members may not work to their full potential and may let other team members carry them.
Consultative, This style is a mixture of autocratic and democratic styles. The leader will ask the opinions of team members but will make the final decisions themselves. Team members feel involved, decisions are informed but not delayed more than necessary, but team members may become disappointed if their opinion is not acknowledged and a leader may be overwhelmed by too much information which could confuse situations.
While the proper leadership style depends on the situation, there are other factors that also influence which leadership style to use.
Firstly the individuals/teams abilities, experience, training, willingness, interest and motivation, also the work that is involved.
The greater the individuals/teams ability to accomplish tasks, the less direct supervision and guidance is needed. For example a team member who knows how to prepare the kitchen for a CMI inspection and is dependable would not have to be supervised very closely however a team member who does not know the protocol would probably need more supervision to achieve the same results.
The more willingness to achieve tasks or goals the less forceful I would need to be, An individual or teams motivation level will determine how much push and supervision I need to exert to get the job done. For example if a team member comes in to start their shift demotivated this might
