Leadership and Management Styles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership and Management Styles - Essay Example The three approaches to effective leadership are autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire. Under autocratic leadership, the â€Å"I tell† philosophy is employed. The managers using autocratic leadership instruct the staff about the necessary actions. The management either instructs or persuades the staff to do whatever is expected by the company. The autocratic approach works best when there is a crisis or emergency and the company is required to act immediately so as to come up with a solution. Under democratic leadership, managers allow subordinates to take part in decisions but reserve the power to withdraw and repossess the same power (Businesscasestudies.co.uk, 2015). The managers seek the opinions of all relevant subordinates before making the final decisions. Democratic leadership is a collegial and open style of conducting a team. Ideas circulate freely within the group and are openly discussed. The style functions best in environments where not much is taken as a cons tant. In Laissez-faire, the employees are trusted to make personal decisions without the interference of the management. The subordinates enjoy an almost unlimited degree of freedom.In my opinion, the best approach when managing the work of subordinates is the democratic approach. The theory behind this approach asserts that the implementer uses an â€Å"I consult† philosophy (Businesscasestudies.co.uk, 2015). The approach has a number of advantages which include increased motivation and creativity on the side of the employees.