The practices in leadership have changed in the post-bureaucratic era.
Leadership is at the forefront to success of any organizational model, and twentieth-century research has clearly examined its role in the managing of individuals both in the bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic eras. The turn of the millennium also brought about with it a shift in the nature of the workplace, now regarded as a dynamic, ever changing and self-motivating avenue where leadership practices encourage individuals to express their intuitive and creative thinking [Rego, Sousa, Marques 2012]. In light of this, post-bureaucratic approaches to leadership are regarded as being more in sync with today’s working business environment, where success of an organization is commonly attributed to the methods in which leadership practices can positively influence the psyche of individuals within an organization [Meindl, Ehrlich, Dukerich 1985].
This paper aims to deconstruct and critically evaluate the specific leadership traits and styles post-bureaucracy, examining how the natural evolution in the physiological and psychological understanding of human behaviour has influenced the way in which organisations are managed. Notions of trust, empowerment and the shared responsibility of employees in a post-bureaucratic workplace will all be explored, and the contrasting effects of bureaucratic practices examined. In order to make this argument one must acknowledge that this seemingly utopian environment presents itself as merely another dimension in which leaders can conduct the processes within their organizational model, with it being necessary to consider that leadership style and effectiveness is largely determined by situational and contingent factors influencing the ways in which organisations are managed.
In analyzing the socio-economic considerations of the organization, Max Weber conveyed the idea of bureaucracy through the concept of transactional leadership.