The Three Classic Styles of Leadership

	Authoritarian	Democratic	Laissez-faire
Nature	leader retains all authority and responsibility leader assigns people to clearly defined tasks; primarily a downward flow of communication	leader delegates a great deal of authority while retaining ultimate responsibility work is divided and assigned on the basis of participatory decision making; active two-way flow of upward and downward communication	leader denies responsibility and abdicates authority to group group members are told to work things out themselves and do the best they can; primarily a horizontal communication among peers
Primary strength	Stresses prompt, orderly, and predictable performance	Enhances personal commitment through participation	Permits self-starters to do things as they see fit without leader interference
Primary weakness	Approach tends to stifle individual initiative	Democratic process is time-consuming	Group may drift aimlessly in the absence of direction from leader

1. Some leadership theorists claim that there is no “one best” style of leadership. Do you agree? Why, why not?

2. Do you have any criticism to the above leadership styles? Can you think of some other strengths and weaknesses of each style?

3. Which style appeals to you the most? Why?

4. What style do you use to influence your parents, teachers, supervisors, friends, colleagues, groupmates? Explain.

TEXT 9

Look through the text and discuss the main differences between leadership and management. Do you support all of them? Can you add any more? Compare your ideas about managers and leaders with those from the text.

Leadership vs management

• By definition leadership is to lead, management is to manage. People are led, but tasks are managed.

• Because leadership is about moving people and things on – influencing their behaviour in a particular direction – it is not the same thing as management. Leaders are creative and innovative, looking for new solutions to old problems.

• Management may be concerned with ensuring that things remain as they are, that a plan is followed and correctly executed. Leaders see the big picture: they have the vision and commitment to make radical changes.

• However, leadership is an aspect of management. Good managers must also be leaders, but it does not follow that (natural) leaders have to be good managers. Leaders can overcome any managerial deficiencies by putting together a team that contains good managers and then lead that team.

• Management is a “job”. Managers are appointed. Their “job” involves tasks requiring logic, structure, analysis and control, e.g.: planning and budgeting, organization and staffing, monitoring and decision-making, following the rules.

• Leadership is more a quality. Leaders evolve, emerge, usually by popular choice or by necessity. Leadership involves people rather than things, e.g.: providing a sense of direction, communicating a vision, inspiring and motivating individuals, voicing the aspirations of the group, creating good teams, leading by example.

• In a modern organizational culture, management abilities and leadership qualities are often becoming fused together. The individual who manages a team to achieve a given task must also lead that team.

Task IV. Work in pairs and discuss the statements below. Then join another pair and compare your ideas. Which of these statements support the idea that leaders are born and which support the idea that leaders can be made?

1. Innate personality traits such as charisma are essential for leadership.

2. Leaders vary their leadership style depending on the situation: for example, the type of organizational culture, the nature of the task involved, the experience of subordinates.

3. Leaders need extensive experience before they can become good leaders.

4. There is some evidence that tall people make good leaders.

5. Leadership is a collective enterprise whereby a group of people working together have a vision and implement a strategy; it does not depend on one individual.

6. People need to learn about the process of leadership (including how to motivate and communicate with people) by doing courses and receiving training from mentors.

Task V. Read the text, point out the key sentences of each paragraph and write them in English. Be ready to speak about the main leadership styles using the information from the text.