Compare and Contrast Two Leadership Styles free essay sample

Leadership can be defined as the ability to lead a group of people successfully in an organization. Hall, et al (2008) have mentioned that an effective leader has to be visionary, motivating and responsible in order to successfully run a business organization. In business the two key leadership styles, which are widely used in today’s corporate world are autocratic leadership and democratic leadership (Johnson, n. d. ). Autocratic leadership may be explained as â€Å"a leadership style where the manager sets objectives, allocates tasks and insists on obedience† (Hall, et al 2008 p. 401). Conversely, democratic leadership encourages â€Å"participation in decision making† (Hall, et al 2008 p. g 402). Whilst many people would consider autocratic leadership as a safer option when managing a business, others might disagree and argue that employees need to have a say in decision making thus democratic leadership should be utilized. Though each leadership style has its own drawbacks and advantages, the postulation of this essay is that democratic leadership is more suitable in the current business society. We will write a custom essay sample on Compare and Contrast Two Leadership Styles or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In every business organization it would be fair to say that communication is considered to be the main vehicle to becoming a successful leader. Autocratic and democratic leadership are comparable in communication as both types of leaders communicate somehow with the workforce to run the business. However, both these leadership styles are very distinct in the methods of communication. According to Nayab, (2011, n. p. ) an â€Å"autocratic leader adopts one-way communication†. This signifies that autocratic leaders communicate with their subordinates by strictly instructing the tasks that have to be done without taking any opinions into consideration. This can be useful to a business as close supervision of workers can lead to faster rate of production with less slack (Nayab, 2011). In spite of this, close monitoring can increase boredom in the work place as employees cannot work flexibly thus motivation to perform highly is low. On the contrary, in a democratic workplace good communication skills are vital in becoming a successful leader. The leader must be able to explain ideas clearly to employees and understand any feedback they receive (Hall, et al 2008 p. g 402). Though rate of production with a democratic style of leadership might be slower than in an autocratic due to low supervision, it could be disputed that workers can work more freely as there is less stress to perform. A further aspect of leadership, which can also be believed to have a direct link with communication, is decision-making. Both leadership styles are similar in the way that ideas need to be stored before making a business decision. In an autocratic work place â€Å"decisions are made independently with little or no input from the rest of the group† (Riley, 2012 n. p. ). However, in a democratic society â€Å"employees have greater involvement in decision making† (Riley, 2012 n. p. ). Both these types of leadership have their benefits and disadvantages with respect to decision-making. In his research on different types of leadership, Joseph, (n. d. ) stated that autocratic leadership style could be effective in a business environment as decisions can be made quickly without consulting with workers. According to Cherry, (n. d. ) this type of leadership would be advantageous in situations such as the military where decisions need to be taken quickly. Though quick decision-making can be beneficial, it could be argued that it can lead to a demotivated workforce. Employees’ motivation decreases due to lack of participation and freedom (Travis n. d. ). Nonetheless in a democratic work place motivation is very high amongst the workforce. This is because managers encourage the workers to share their ideas about decisions and this helps workers feel responsible and capable. An example of this would be Google. Page and Brin; owners of Google Inc believe that creating a co-operative and supportive work place leads to successful business ideas (Morrow, 2009). But then again Riley, (2012) argues that democratic leadership can be considered as inefficient as decisions are not made quickly due to taking into account all the ideas. Research conducted by Eagly and Johnson, (1990) scrutinized the relationship between leadership style and gender. Eagly and Johnson, (1990) stated that leadership depends on what sex the leader is. According to the research, women prefer to adopt a democratic leadership style due to biological differences (Eagly and Johnson, 1990). In fact, most women like to work in an environment where pressure is minimal and interaction is considerable. If we look at some businesses which thrive on creativity and high communication, we can see that most of the top managers are women such as Virginia Rometty, CEO of IBM and Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard (Howard, 2012. ). On the other hand, men like to work in a work place where control is high and pressure to perform is huge thus they prefer to adopt an autocratic leadership style. Examples include the military where pressure is immense and the top officers are males such as Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Chief of staff of the US army and Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party (The United States Army, 2013) (Megargee, 2011), Discussing which leadership style is more advantageous to a business is quite a debatable topic. Both styles of leadership are similar in the way that ideas need to be thought of before taking the next best course of action. However, autocratic and democratic leadership styles are very distinct in how decisions are made, the methods of communication and the relationship with gender.