Bureaucratic leadership relies on a clear chain of command and strict regulations. Bureaucratic leadership style is a very decent style for work involving serious safety risks, such as handling toxic substances, moving large objects. The focus is on compliance with rules and laid down procedures to make sure that the group is doing their job correctly and safely. Learn some advantages and disadvantages of this style and situations in which this style could prove to be effective.
The term bureaucracy is referred to a group of non-elected officials within a government or other institution that implements the rules, laws, ideas, and functions of their institution. The term "bureaucracy" was created from the French word bureau, meaning desk or office. Weber describes six bureaucratic values that are vital in obtaining a functioning and self-sufficient business. These six characteristics include imperial positions, rule-governed decision making, professionalism, a chain of command, defined responsibilities, and bounded authority. Defined responsibility is an important value in bureaucracy and demands that an office or workplace must have fields of specialization in order to diversify the company. Every worker must know the responsibilities of his job in the most intimate detail possible. Further, there must be a stable, defined set of general rules for the employees that they must abide by at all times.
The bureaucratic leader is very structured and follows the procedures in the letter and spirit as they have been established by the organization. Leaders ensure that all the steps had been followed prior to sending it to the next level of authority. A natural bureaucratic leader will create detailed instructions for other members of a group and will expect the members to follow a close set of standards. Everything is done in an exact, specific way, working "by the book", following rules rigorously. The emphasis is on compliance and it is ensured that their people follow procedures precisely. If it isn't covered by the book, the manager refers to the next level above him or her.
It is a style that is diffused among a number of departments or people and there is a strictest of rules. This is a classic style of leadership and is used quite a lot in organizations that don’t encourage innovation and change and by leaders who may be insecure and uncertain in what their role may be. This type of leadership has no space to explore new ways to solve problems and is usually slow-paced to ensure approval of the ladders stated by the company. Leaders that try to speed up the process usually lead to frustration and anxiety in the team. Followers/employees operating within a bureaucracy are given very little choice as to how they play their roles and the vast majority of their day-to-day tasks will be governed by the rule book.
In conclusion, this leadership style is very effective in certain situations that demand this type of approach as this behavior ensures that the team and tasks are very organized and everything is precisely done as specified or planned. The entire team understands their job profile and expectations and ensures good control over the situation. On the flip slide, this style is not suitable for most of the jobs of the 21st Century where the followers are expected to lead and show creativity and innovation. This leadership style is task-focused and is often met with a wince from a management team and is generally disliked by the followers.
There are four major factors in leadership called Leader, Follower, Communication, and Situation. The success of the leader is dependent on how the leader is effectively able to communicate and motivate followers to perform desired tasks using the appropriate leadership style best suited for the given situation. Interdependencies and dynamics of these four factors of leadership must be considered by a leader to be effective.
Narrative leadership is interpreted as the leader who aspires to construct leadership by telling stories. Leadership is a task of persuasion, of winning people’s minds and hearts. Storytelling is thus inherently suited for the task of leadership. Learn about the narrative leadership style and how to use this style to inspire and motivate followers or to manage change.
Appreciative leaders encourage contributions from those around them and facilitate the discussion to mutually solve problems. Understand the concept of Appreciative Leadership and learn about tools to create and ask powerful questions - that lead to new discoveries and possibilities. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong in the workplace, learn about, and build upon what works. Learn in this article the art to apply appreciative inquiry to specific situations and challenges at your workplace.
Laissez-faire is a style of leadership that affords the group members a great deal of independence. Tasks are delegated to the group members and they are responsible to see the project through to fruition. Research has shown that this style of leadership leads to the lowest levels of productivity. This article explains this style and covers the implications of having a hands-off approach and the situations where this style could be effective.
There are four characteristics of leadership that help us to understand the character of leadership as a concept. 1. Leadership is a process, 2. Leadership involves influence, 3. Leadership always occurs in a group context and 4. Leadership involves goal attainment. These are the four components that make up the character of the 'leadership' term and help us to define the leadership concept. All of these components of leadership have common characteristics.
Facilitative Leadership is all about involving the employees in the decision-making process at all levels enhancing their sense of ownership, responsibility, and motivation. Facilitative leadership style uses a number of indirect communication patterns to help the group reach consensus and build commitment for the decision taken. To be effective in modern organizations, managers need to become facilitative leaders, learn what it means to be a one.
Have you ever resonated that there seem to be as many different ways to lead people as there have been great leaders? When we recall the success of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon Bonaparte to Steve Jobs and Jack Welch, we also notice that they all used different approaches that were suitable to their specific situations and circumstances. Over the last century, researchers and psychologists have developed simple ways to describe the “Styles of leadership” and in this section, we will explore these commonly known leadership styles.
Emergent leadership occurs when a group member is not appointed or elected as leader, but rather that person steps up as the leader over time within-group interactions. Have you ever faced challenges in getting accepted into your new role of position as a leader? Groups don't automatically accept a new "boss" as a leader. Emergent leadership is what you must do when taking over a new group. Learn more about emergent leadership.
What are the functions which a leader does to establish as a leader? What are the activities undertaken by them to become great leaders, rather revolutionary leaders? The most important tasks done by a leader in all situations are defining the vision, mission, and goals, leading the team, administrative functions, motivating followers, decision making and conflict resolution, and continuous development.
Frederick Winslow Taylor started the “Scientific Management Movement”, and attempted to study the work process scientifically. Scientific management, also called Taylorism, was a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows. It is a system for increasing the efficiency of manpower to its maximum potential and streamlining production to improve efficiency. This article explores this theory in more detail.
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