In psychology there is such a thing as leadership styles, in fact, it is a combination of methods and techniques that people use to influence other members of the group. Depending on the style of leadership, group management and relationships within it can be both more informal, and based on the strictest observance of the laws of the hierarchy.
Leadership and leadership styles
Currently, the classification of leadership styles implies the presence of one of the three types of relationship management and group work of a leader, formal or informal:
- Authoritarian . When using this style, the leader or informal leader builds his relations with the group in the form of an "order - a report on the work done". Such a person makes a decision almost alone, the views of other members of the group are not taken into account. The downside of such relationships is that often inside the group there are gossip, distrust to each other, attempts to sit down other members of the team, and not to support them. A positive feature of this management style is the high speed of work, the confidence of the members of the team is that they are doing everything right, as there are precise instructions for each working situation.
- Democratic . In modern business structures and in management this style of leadership is often called the most effective, although, of course, it does not fit all organizations and groups. The main characteristic of this style is the collegial decision-making, that is, the leader takes into account the opinion of the group or those who are considered an expert on the issue under consideration. With this kind of management, the carrot and stick method is used, the leader controls the fulfillment of tasks and, depending on the outcome, awards or punishes subordinates.
- The liberal . With such management, the working group begins to resemble the family, the leader , in fact, will occupy a formal position, since the decisions will be made by the team, and the opinion of the head on the chosen direction and the quality of the tasks is taken into account in the last place. This style is also called conniving, as it is realistic, the leader does not solve any problems in the team, lets things go by themselves and does not affect the process.
The choice of management style depends not only on the personal qualities of the leader, but also on the tasks performed by the group, the characteristics of the external environment, so each type of leadership can be very effective, but only under certain specified conditions.