What is Your Leadership Style?Written by Michele Webb
There are countless numbers and types of leadership styles in organizations today. Unfortunately, many leaders today are ineffective because they are not motivators or because they have a warped idea about their role and purpose. As such, workers in these organizations suffer from inadequate leadership and likely have no energy, motivation or loyalty to organization. Leaders who honestly appraise their leadership style can effectively reinvent themselves in order to inspire and motivate those whom they lead, are to be commended. Here are five basic categories of leadership. Identify which category best suits your style and how you can best use your style to motivate and lead those who work with you. 1.Authoritarian. Leaders using this style are often harsh, demanding, and inflexible in their approach to others. Best stated as “It is my way or highway!” 2.Humanistic. This leadership style is characterized by someone who does not follow a precise plan. They allow others to set agendas. You may hear a humanistic leader say “What do you think we should do today?” 3.Charismatic. These leaders depend on personality and energy for success. You can hear them say “Wow! I am really excited about this!” 4.Democratic. Democratic leaders are always seeking a group consensus prior to moving ahead. Have you heard anyone say this lately? “Before we go any further, let’s take a vote.” 5.Mission-Driven. Leaders who are mission-driven build teams to help bring about organization’s vision and purpose. They may be overhead to say, “We are all in this together.”
| | Dictators and Their Effect on the WorkforceWritten by Michele Webb
In past 20 years there has been a massive shift in corporate leadership. Accountability for leadership and what really goes on in an organization has been pushed down and distributed throughout organization. Command-and-control tactics may still be found in basic military installments; society, however, has been informed to point that vast majority of population will no longer tolerate a dictatorial style of leadership. Today’s generation is more concerned with people than with products. In this consumer-oriented era, balance of power has really shifted and flows from bottom up. It is a high-stakes game where consumer is holding most valued cards or sitting in driver’s seat. Perhaps you are a leader who believes there is no alternative other than to be an autocratic leader in today’s marketplace. With any business, it certainly takes a firm hand to guide an organization, but dictatorial methods will never work in long run. Here are five reasons to not be an autocratic leader: 1.The best people will always head for door. Your best employees who have their acts together enough to land a new job or serve in a new cause will always leave a dictator to his/her own devices. 2.Only insecure, ineffective workers stay behind. Autocratic organizations and leaders will eventually find that they have zero leadership – except for dictator. 3.The work environment becomes one of constant stress on employees. Dictators and their domineering decision-making produces an atmosphere of anxiety and tension that even visitors or customers can recognize.
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