STYLES OF LEADERSHIP

1. STYLES OF LEADERSHIP Or “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

2. Styles of Leadership • Authoritarian • Paternalistic • Democratic • Laissez-faire (pronounced lāzé fare) • Transactional

3. AUTHORITARIAN LEADERSHIP • 1. Is highly focused one the job that the leader and the group is supposed to accomplish • 2. Does not emphasize personal relationships, but maintains professional distance • 3. Does not seek input from the followers. • 4. The group is supposed to follow the directions given by the leader. • 5. Sometimes is helpful to use in a crises situation. Examples: A policeman directing traffic A teacher providing instructions for an assignment A minister who is appointing stewards and trustees

4. PATERNALISTIC LEADERSHIP • The leaders acts as a parent of the followers and assumes a caretaker role. • The followers assume a position of loyalty and should not try to work independently or leave the group. • The members of the group completely understand what they are supposed to do. • The leader is inclined to favor those who are most loyal to the group. Examples: A church club where the leader has been in office for many years. A factory in a small town where most of the workers have been employed for many years and the new workers are expected to stay for all of their entire working years.

5. DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP • The leader shares decision-making with the followers. • Much discussion occurs in the group. • The group is likely to be creative in solving problems and productive. • Sometimes roles are unclear and problems are not solved in a timely fashion. • Sometimes the work may get bogged down if the leader is not skilled in determining who should be called upon to participate in the decision-making or if the members of the group are not skilled and knowledgeable enough about the decisions to be made. Example: A church auxiliary president convenes the club’s officers to decide possible projects to be undertaken during a conference year. The list of possibilities is taken to the entire group of members, who discuss the possibilities and then vote on which project the group will do.

6. LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIP • The leader delegates authority to act to the followers. • The followers can make their own decisions about how to carry out their jobs. • The followers often can determine the priority of what is to be done. • The leader does little supervisions of the followers actions. • It is sometimes called a “hands-off” approach. • The leader provides the followers with the materials necessary to do the job. Example: A Sunday School Superintendent provides the room assignments and Sunday School quarterlies for the teachers, and the teachers can decide what they want to teach (how much they are guided by the quarterlies) and how they wish they wish to teach.

7. TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP • The leader uses rewards and punishment to motivate their followers. • Rewards can be material or psychological. • The leader identifies what the needs of the followers are and gives rewards to satisfy those needs if performance is acceptable, or withdraws desired rewards or punishes the follower is the performance is not acceptable. • Maintaining existing rules are more important than making changes. • When emotion is high among the followers, the followers do not work well under transactional leadership. Example A club president knows that the members need a lot of support and encouragement. When the club members pay their dues regularly and attend consistently, the leader talks with those members frequently and expresses warmth and concern. When the irregular members approach the leader, the leader is cold and unconcern and actually discourages interaction.

8. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP • The leader focuses on changing the followers’ ideas about what is important to get accomplished. • The leader challenges and inspires the followers. • The followers develop a sense of purpose and excitement. • The leader and the followers share a vision about what their long terms goals are. Example A new president is elected to a Lay Council in a local church where the Lay Council focus has primarily been on recruiting dues paying members and . The leader has a workshop conducted on the purposes of the Lay Council in the A,M.E. Zion Church. In a series of meetings, the president gives a series of speeches and presentations on types of ministries that are aligned with the purposes of the Lay Council. Afterwards, he sets up small group discussions to provide time for each member to discuss projects that would be appropriate for that local church’s Lay Council. The process is continued until the group has set up a plan for short and long term goals and ministries that are aligned with the Lay Council’s purposes.

9. REVIEW • We have reviewed 6 types of leadership: (1) authoritarian, (2) democratic, (3) laissez-fair, (4) paternalistic, (5) transactional, and (6) transformational. • What type of leadership style relies most on – • direction by the leader in getting the job done? • the expression of caring and concern for the followers by the leader? • shared decision-making between the followers and the leader? • authority delegate to the followers so that they decide what needs to be done and how it is to be done? • giving the followers rewards and punishments based on their behavior? • on challenging and exciting the followers to see and work toward a new purpose?

10. What do you think? Remember the 6 styles of leadership: authoritarian, democratic, laissez-faire, paternalistic, transactional, and transformational. Which styles would the followers be inclined to talk most about? Why do you think so? What styles might result in resentment among the followers? Why do you think so? What style might result in decisions being delayed and frustration among the members of the group? Why do you think so? What styles would be effective if the members of the group were really very competent in their work? Why do you think so? What styles would result in the groups feeling very closely connected to each other? Why do you think so?

11. Review (continued) • How would you describe the six styles of leadership? • Authoritarian • Democratic • Laissez-faire • Paternalistic • Transactional • Transformational