As Hackman and Johnson (2004) note, leaders tend to be inclined towards one of three leadership styles, namely authoritarian, democratic or laissez-fair. They note that “each of these styles of communication has unique features that affect how leaders interact with followers (p. 38). While it’s easy to assume that one of these styles is the best (for example, the democratic approach), leadership contingency theory suggests that the choice of which style a leader should employ needs to be determined by situational considerations.
Below are some ideas that can help determine which leadership communication style to employ under varying circumstances. I have presented this in the form of questions the leader can ask, to help think through which leadership style may be appropriate or effective.
1. Does the process, task or goal involve public safety, issues of security or danger? If so, an authoritarian style is advisable, to help control and minimize risk. Examples include leader-follower relationships in the police and army.
2. Is the leader involved in providing training, instruction or coaching to followers? If so, a democratic style may not be the best approach because too much consultation over items such as curricula, how training should be conducted, and how progress should be assessed, will frustrate the learning process. The leader (in this case, a teacher or coach) would be best advised to adopt an authoritarian style (although a benevolent one).
3. Do the followers belong to a culture that has a high “power distance”? This is the perception that "an order of inequality exists in the world and everyone has their rightful place in that order; that differences in power are a basic fact of society and questions of the legitimacy of power are irrelevant" (Chemers, 1997, p. 117). Countries with high power distance cultures are primarily the nations outside of Europe and North America. In these countries, followers may expect their leaders to be authoritarian because that is the cultural norm for those in power. It may be advisable to avoid a democratic approach in these cultures as this will be seen as an abdication of authority.
4. Does the task require a high level of creativity/imagination or highly specialized skills? If so, the leader should consider a democratic or laissez-faire style because micro-managing this group will stifle innovation. Examples include leading scientists in a medical research lab.
5. Does the group being led lack maturity and experience? If so, a benevolent authoritarian style may be best. A good example of this is the relationship between a parent and a young child.
6. Is this a field that requires professional independence for success? If so, leaders need to adopt a laissez-faire model. Examples include the relationship between university administrators and tenure-track professors, or between the executive arm of the U.S. government and judges on the Supreme Court.
7. Are you leading low-motivated workers performing low-skill, routinized tasks? In that case, efficiency should be achieved through authoritarian leadership.
8. Are employees performing high compliance tasks in a highly regulated industry? Then the leader should consider an authoritarian style. An example is supervising work on an offshore oil rig.
9. Are you leading a group that has problems of indiscipline, poor work ethics, lack of professionalism and non-compliance with company policies and best practices? The leader faced with this situation will need to assert control and re-establish discipline through an authoritarian style.
10. Is your group or organization faced with a crisis or emergency that requires quick decision-making and the ability to act quickly? A scenario of this kind might call for an authoritarian leadership style until the situation has passed.
Do you agree with these criteria? What would you add?
References
Chemers, M. M. (1997). An integrative theory of leadership. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com
Hackman, M. Z., & Johnson, C.E. (2004). Leadership: A communication perspective (4th ed). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
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