Leadership Styles PDF

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Leadership is the ability to move a group towards a common goal that would not be met if a leader had not been there (Graham). Researchers of this study categorized leadership styles into three main styles leadership, which helped to organize the observations into more simplified data.

Autocratic (authoritarian) leadership

When faced with the need to provide a decision, an autocratic leader is one who would come up with a solution for the entire group on their own. The autocratic leader would generally solve an issue and make decisions for the group using observations and what they feel is needed or most important for the majority of the group members to benefit at that time (Dessler & Starke).

While recording the research, these were the leaders that would decide for the group when they would wake up and depart, and exactly how far they should go for that day. If the group came across any conflicts or barriers within the expedition, these leaders would also make the decisions on their own, inquiring feedback from the three hired instructors to ensure that their decisions were okay.

Democratic (participative) leadership

The democratic leaders were those who took a very relaxed yet in-control approach to lead the group. Participative leaders, more often than not, would consult the group when approaching an issue and consider their suggestions, but the leader retains the final say in what particular approach is taken (Dessler & Starke).

Within the expedition setting, many of the participants displayed this kind of leadership by obtaining suggestions from other members of the group to come to a group consensus when trying to solve a problem or an issue. These leaders would then talk amongst themselves and come to a decision as to what the group would do.

Laissez-faire (abdicratic) leadership

The laissez-fair approach to leadership is the idea that the participants should be able to work problems out and make their way through an expedition without too much extra guidance. These kinds of leaders would provide very little guidance when dealing with group issues on the expedition and would allow group members to come up with decisions on their own.

The abdication leader would take an extremely “hands-off” approach to lead in order to encourage group problem-solving and critical thinking, without allowing participants to depend on the leader for the final word (Dessler & Starke).

This approach was seen when suggestions would be made to the leader to take a certain approach and the leader would just respond with a simple “sure, let’s do it,” and decisions were made without a lot of consideration.

5 Different Types of Leadership Styles

The job of the leader is to get things done by leading others to success. today I want to talk to you about how you can use 5 different leadership styles to inspire your team to deliver their peak performance.