Leadership is the composite of abilities and characteristics of an individual leader of the environment in which he operates and of the relationship developed between the leader and the led. It is very important to have good leadership for a business to succeed as employees will only follow a good leader and respond positively towards their direction. A good leader will have ability to obtain the highest quality from subordinates that they have the capacity to render. True leadership is a positive force, based on cooperation and mutual trust. A poor leader will often fail to win over staff and have problems communicating with workers.
Leadership style is the way a manager takes decisions and deals with the staff. An effective leadership style is one that best compliments the organizational environment, the task to be accomplished and the personal characteristics of the people involved. There are several types of leadership styles, which are autocratic, democratic, paternalistic and laissez-faire.
Autocratic leaders like to make all the important decisions and closely supervise workers. They do not trust workers and simply give orders that they expect to be obeyed. This approach derives from the views of FW Taylor as how to motivate workers and relates to McGregor’s Theory X view of workers. According to Taylor’s Theory of Economic Man, workers do not naturally enjoy work and need close supervision. According to McGregor, Theory X workers are viewed as lazy and wish to avoid responsibility. Workers usually dislike this kind of leadership style as they are being treated as human machines. They only receive orders and do their jobs without giving any opinion nor feedback. However, this approach can be effective when quick decisions are needed and when a large number of low skilled workers are being controlled.
Democratic leaders will put trust in employees and encourage them to make