Autocratic, Democratic and Laissez-Faire

Autocratic, Democratic and Laissez-Faire are styles of leadership which differ and have different effects on the workers in the business.  Each of these leadership styles have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Autocratic

Autocratic leaders lead with an iron fist, one-way style communication.  Autocratic leaders will tell each worker what and how to do their work and feedback is not used.  Leaders that use this style of leading distribute tasks according to how they want without others giving any suggestions.  This allows for good-quality products and efficiency, but workers will feel controlled and may result in a worker turnover.

This picture shows how autocratic leaders lead

Autocratic leaders will decide everything and orders everyone to do it according to the orders.  This style of leadership will limit creativity and does not promote independent thinking but sometimes it results in better products.  This form is best used in times with the shortest deadline or the leader is very smart in managing.  This kind of leadership is referred to as dictatorship or bossy, and is not good as workers want to be independent in working.

Democratic

Democratic leadership is best described as consultative, as the leader respects others' opinions and accepts feedback.  This style of leadership allows for new ideas or feedback to be given and looked at, which may be beneficial for a business.  Democratic leadership allows for more independence and quality, but less productivity as they have to discuss often.

This shows that democratic leaders are open to new ideas

A democratic way of leading is good, as workers feel like they own part of the company and have a say in the business, which will reduce worker turnover and improve worker satisfaction.  Democratic leadership allows for better creativity, motivation and engagement in a task, and may be considered as the best as it benefits both the leader and workers.  Democratic leadership is best in a meeting as everyone is allowed to speak and offer suggestions or remarks that may be important for the business to succeed and may be a problem if not attended to.

Laissez-Faire

Laissez-faire leadership is a type of leadership in which the manager gives a task to an individual or group and lets them decide the rest.  This is not good as it will decrease productivity and creativity as nothing much is given for the workers to follow and carry out, but teaches them independent working but is the least productive type of leadership among the three.  This will also decrease efficiency as workers may slacken off due to too much independence given to them.

This comic shows how laissez-faire leadership works

This form of leadership does have advantages such as improving the thinking skills of workers that are motivated to do the job, as they have to figure out how to complete the given task, without any help.  This style of leadership works best if done by professionals or experienced people, as they already know what to do and how to solve the problem.