What is liberal leadership style? Authoritarian, democratic and liberal leadership styles

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Leadership is a special case of management, a set of processes of relationships between superiors and subordinates, teacher and student. The main task is to encourage employees (children) to take action, influencing the collective and individual consciousness. The effectiveness of this process, as a rule, depends on the style of leadership. It should also be borne in mind that each person has a natural inclination or developed skills to communicate with people. This criterion significantly affects the formation of management style. Let's dwell on this issue in more detail.

The concept of leadership style

Management style - features of the manager's behavior and communication in relation to subordinates. The manager, using it correctly, will be able to influence the employees and make them do what is necessary at the moment. In modern science, several concepts have emerged that consider the basics of the formation and application of managerial styles. Their functioning is influenced by specific conditions andcircumstances, which we will consider next. Traditionally, there are authoritarian, democratic and liberal leadership styles.

However, as practice shows, they rarely function in their pure form, since a large number of factors (both external and internal) influence human behavior.

Features of manifestations and forms of mixing leadership styles

Firstly, the leader works with subordinates, different in educational and cultural levels, worldview, personal and emotional makeup. We note one of the most well-known regularities. The lower the qualification and level of culture can be noted in an employee, the easier he will perceive an authoritarian leadership style. On the contrary, a subordinate who is democratic in nature, emotional and open in behavior, will not work well with a leader who prefers a tough management style and unquestioning obedience.

Secondly, the style of management is influenced by the specific prevailing conditions, the degree of maturity of the team and its cohesion. So, in a critical situation, a democratic manager will often be forced to apply tough methods of managing employees. At the same time, in a calm environment, he can slow things down using a liberal leadership style.

Thirdly, the presence of practical experience and the cultural level of a manager are often decisive when choosing the main areas of management. AuthoritarianThe leader can often be friendly and open. On the contrary, democratic, due to insufficient education or inability to behave correctly in a team, is able to disrespect subordinates. Very often, indecisive managers demonstrate in their behavior passivity and examples of a liberal leadership style. By acting in this way, they relieve themselves of responsibility for the result of the company's activities.

Authoritarian (directive) leadership style in the organization

The characteristic features for him are the following:

• highly centralized leadership;
• unity of command in making decisions, choosing goals and means to achieve them;
• the leader is responsible for the result of the company, does not trust subordinates and does not ask for their opinion or advice;
• the main form of employee incentives - instructions and punishments;
• strict control over the activities of each subordinate;
• inability and unwillingness to take into account the interests of employees;
• in the process of communication, harshness, unfriendly tone, tactlessness and often rudeness are predominant.

The unequivocal advantages of using a directive management style are: the maximum concentration of all types of resources, the presence of order and the ability to predict the final result even in a difficult situation. However, the containment of individual initiative and the one-way flow of orders from top to bottom lead to the fact that feedbackwith subordinates is absent. Often this leads to the formation of passive and disinterested in the results of the company behavior of employees.

Democratic (collegiate) leadership style in the organization

The characteristic features for him are the following:

• manager's desire to develop solutions agreed with employees and deputies;
• distribution of responsibility and authority between subordinates;
• stimulate employee initiative;
• regular and timely informing the team on all important issues;
• friendly and polite communication;
• presence of a favorable psychological climate in the team;
• reward for employees is the achievement of a positive result by the company.

The leader always listens and uses any constructive proposal, organizing a wide exchange of information, involving subordinates in all the affairs of the organization. However, the responsibility for the decisions taken will not be shifted to the employees. The environment that is created by the leader-democrat contributes to the fact that the authority of the manager is reinforced by his personal authority.

Liberal leadership style: pros and cons

This species is distinguished by a variety of forms, the choice of which depends on many factors. Let's start with its features. The liberal leadership style is characterized by the following features.

Firstly, this is the presence of a minimum participation of the manager inteam management process. Subordinates have freedom, they are left to themselves. The work of employees is rarely supervised. Such a characteristic of the liberal style of leadership as detachment from the problems of the company often leads to the loss of managerial functions and ignorance of the real state of affairs.

Secondly, questions and problems are solved only by the team, and its opinion is accepted as an unwritten law. With a liberal leadership style, the manager usually follows it, as do the rest of the employees.

Thirdly, communication is carried out with subordinates only confidentially, the manager applies persuasion, persuasion and tries to establish personal contact.

Liberal leadership style is not chosen by chance. Usually it becomes optimal in certain situations and with certain features of the team. Let's highlight some mixed forms.

Liberal democratic governance in the organization

Liberal-democratic leadership style implies that the manager has complete trust in his subordinates. Moreover, it only at first glance seems that such a state of affairs can lead to a lack of company management.

Such a mixed liberal leadership style is characterized by the fact that the performers, most likely, better than the boss understand all the intricacies of professional activity. It is usually popular in creative teams in which employees need independence and self-expression.

Authoritarian-liberal leadership style in the organization

Characterized by a certain duality in making managerial decisions. On the one hand, the manager provides his employees with maximum freedom in solving production issues. But at the same time, it requires positive results, without delving into problems and without imposing responsibility.

Such a liberal-permissive leadership style often leads to self-will and anarchic behavior of his deputies towards employees.

Democratic management style in teaching activities

A teacher who demonstrates it in communication with students is focused on the development of students. He engages each student in a common task. This style is one of the most effective ways of organizing interactions between students and the teacher. The teacher relies on the initiative of the class.

Authoritarian management style in pedagogical activity

The teacher usually makes decisions and eliminates the problems of the life of the class team. The teacher considers it necessary to determine any specific goals, based on their ideas. He very tightly controls the process of performing any task and evaluates subjectively alone the results that have been achieved. This style is the implementation of guardianship and dictate tactics. In the event that students take a position of opposition, the teacher starts a confrontation.

Liberal management style in teaching activities

He is often described as condescending and anarchic. The liberal style of pedagogical leadership is characterized by the fact that the teacher rarely takes responsibility. He usually performs duties formally, withdraws from the process of managing the class team, avoids mentoring and education, limiting himself to performing exclusively teaching functions.

The liberal leadership style implements non-interference tactics, demonstrates indifference and disinterest in the problems of the school community. Naturally, such an approach cannot remain without consequences. The liberal style of leadership is characterized by the fact that the respect of students and control over them is lost, discipline worsens. Such a teacher is not able to positively influence the personal development of schoolchildren.

Afterword

Each person, depending on the views, character, individual psychological characteristics, develops his own style of management. The choice of an effective direction is determined by a variety of factors:

• authoritarian style is recommended when the organization has a managerial crisis and the situation gets out of control;
• democratic - is optimal when the working group is mature enough, works at a steady pace, there is discipline and order;
• Liberal leadership style is essential if the working group is able to operate effectively on its own.