A good leader is someone that can't be pointed out. A good leader is someone that adopts a leadership style that lends itself to ethical considerations, for example, transformational and adaptive styles – both of which engage followers in the decision-making processes. Also, a good leader is someone that leads by example. Good leaders have courage, clear visions with an ambition to succeed in life.
A leadership style refers to a leader's characteristic behaviors when directing, motivating, guiding and managing groups of people. Great leaders can inspire political movements and social changes. They also can motivate others to perform, create and innovate.
When you start to consider some people who you think are great leaders, see that there are often differences in how each person leads. You have the ones that authoritarian, democratic or laissez-fair leader.
In 1939, a group of researchers led by psychologist Kurt Lewin went to identify different styles of leadership. While research has identified more distinct types of leadership, this early study were very influential and established three major leadership styles:
1. Authoritarian-provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done.
2. Democratic-is typically the most effective leadership style.
3. Laissez-fair ( Delegative )- his group also made more demands on the leader, showed little cooperation and were unable to work independently.
Authoritarian leaders are strongly focused on both commands by the leader and control of the followers. There is also a division between the leader and the members of the group. The Authoritarian leaders make decisions own their own with no input from the group.
Participative leaders encourage group members to participate but retain the final say in the decision-making process. Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative. Democratic leaders tend to make followers feel like they are an important part of the team, which helps foster commitment to the goals of the group.
Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave decision-making up to group members. While this style can be useful in situations involving highly qualified experts, it often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation.
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