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Leadership

Leadership: Reflects a person’s ability to influence the actions and behaviours of others. “Lead by Example”

Delegation: Passing on responsibility for certain decisions or outcomes to others.

3 Types of Leader

Autocratic: Very Controlling, Motivates through fear and intimidation. “My way or the highway” E.g Steve Jobs at Apple

  • Benefits: (1) Quick Decision Making (2) Effective in certain situations e.g Low Skilled Factories/ Manufacturing
  • Drawbacks: (1) Demotivates Staff (2) Over Reliance on Managers - Managers are overloaded with decisions and may struggle to cope. 

Democratic: are more likely to seek the opinion of others when making a decisions. E.g Bill Gates at Microsoft

  • Benefits: (1) Better Decisions due to availability of more information and input from others. (2) Motivation – Workers feel that they have a say – Improved Industrial Relations
  • Drawbacks: (1) Slower Decision making (2) Poor outcome….too many views…..cannot keep everyone happy

Laissez-Faire: Give their subordinates greater level of freedom. Acts as facilitators more than dictators. Only provide general targets and goals. E.g Richard Branson at Virgin Group of Companies

  • Benefits: (1) High Levels of Intrapreneurship “Thinking on ones feet” (2) Effective decision making - Motivates Staff since staff makes most of the decisions.
  • Drawbacks: (1) Lack of Control – Objectives may change (2) Not suited for everyone especially someone who lacks decision-making skills.