Different Leadership Styles used in The Public Services

A leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction for a team, implementing plans and motivating people to complete a task. The different types of leaderships used in the public services are

- Authoritarian-

Autocratic Leadership is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers no matter how it may benefit the group.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Authoritarian Leadership style?

The advantages of Authoritarian Leadership Style are that it maintains order and discipline to all team members. It allows the public services to be deployed on time, quickly and efficiently and leaves the public happy. Young and inexperienced recruits will be told what to do and when to do it; this allows them to learn better and efficiently. It allows large scale coordination with other shifts or units ensures that decisions are made by those who are best equipped to make the decisions.

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This makes the decisions to be made very quickly. The disadvantages of Authoritarian Leadership Style are that it can lead to high staff turnover and regularly not turning up to work. This is because the staff may feel devalued and fearful of punishment. The team members rely on the leader for instructions and do not develop initiative, the team may have less responsibility for their own actions. Due to feeling feared this will make the staff to feel angry and resentful at being ordered to perform tasks without the explanations needed.

What are the Strength and Weaknesses of Authoritarian Leadership Style?

The Strengths of Autocratic Leadership Style are that they have improbable efficient choices made instantly. They get their work done as efficient and quick as possible. Their weaknesses are that some team members are not up to doing work as quick as they should and often leads to high levels of absenteeism and a large amount of staff leaving their workplace. In conclusion Autocratic Leadership Style is effective in the public services because all public individuals are happy and satisfied with the public services effort. All team members are disciplined to maintain that the team’s performance and the quality of team work are done professionally and efficiently. I like that this type of leadership goes by their own turf and create ideas them self that will benefit their team. Their choices are made instantly and the public services officers are deployed as soon as an emergency has been informed by a member of the public.

An example of Authoritarian Leadership Style-

This Type of leadership is used in the public services, the main example that it is used for is if you are in the army. For example if you were fighting for your country in the Army and you got told to ‘get down’ then you will have to get down, or you could get shot. This type of leadership is used in most regiments of the army this is because you get told what to do and where to go most of the time. Another example is in nursing, for an example a patient has a cardiac carets a particular nurse will shout out for other nurses and doctors to go get one thing and another to do something else, it is very effective in many ways such as no one is running about asking what they are meant to be doing.

Democratic-

Democratic Leadership Style is an open and collegial leadership style where ideas between the leaders and the subordinates flow freely as the discussions are held in an open manner and where all members' opinions are respected.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Democratic Leadership?

The advantages of Democratic Leadership Style are that workers develop a greater sense of self-esteem, due to importance given to their ideas and their contributions. They will become committed to changes that may be brought about by policy changes, since they themselves participate in bringing about these changes. It's often participative and involves employees in the decision making process. Being a leader will give you great confidence, cooperation, and loyalty amongst other workers. Active participation in the management by labour assures rising productivity and satisfaction. The disadvantage of Democratic Leadership Style is that it is a time consuming progress of decision making, in case of uneducated or unskilled worker, it is not very effective. Having evasive members, who prefers not to be involved in the team work and this may create problems with all the members. Due to the lack of communication by all members of the team, some importance suggestions will be unheard, or missed.

What are the Strength and Weaknesses of Democratic Leadership Style?

The Strengths of Democratic Leadership Styles are that all team members have high job satisfaction and they are more productive as they are more involved in decision making. All team members are motivated by other team members and leaders. The weaknesses are that decision making can be a time consuming procedure. Some team members may not have the knowledge to provide the high-quality input that is expected. In conclusion Democratic Leadership is a style that is extremely effective in the public services, this is because there is one leader leading everyone else and making sure their jobs are done properly. They have a lot of time on their hands to come up with decisions and they make sure unskilled and uneducated workers get the chance to do work and get involved with other successful team members. Being a democratic leader will give you excellent confidents, cooperation and loyalty amongst other workers, this means that each and every team member can trust and follow the leader with confidents and hope to get their work done effectively.

An example of Democratic Leadership style-

An example of Democratic Leadership Style is used in the Hospital, such as if there are any patients there and that they are needing medical attention but the nurses are unsure on how to treat the patient they will discuss on what is best for the patient on what needs they will need and who will be the best to be dealing with the patient. Also it is used in the police services, if the police are dealing with a case they would come together to discuss on how to deal with it and to see who is more capable on dealing and doing the job most successfully.

Laissez-faire-

Laissez-faire leadership is a specific type of leadership style. It is also known as delegate leadership and is a leadership style where leaders allow group members to make many of the decisions.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Laissez-faire leadership style?

The advantages of Laissez-Faire Leadership Style are that the leader itself will not be given work to do; this could encourage others into leadership roles. This allows the visionary worker to have an opportunity to do what they want to do, with no interferences. With Laissez-fair leadership, the group gets very little, or no guidance from the leaders. This gives members of the group complete freedom to make decisions on their own. The Disadvantages of Laissez-Faire Leadership Style are that some jobs will fall back on someone else or are not completed to the full expected standard. This type of leadership has been proven that generates a very low amount of production among its group members, this means that there is less group satisfaction, less group productivity, poorer quality of work and less personal growth by the members of the team.

What are the Strength and Weaknesses of Laissez-Faire Leadership Style?

The Strengths in Laissez-Faire Leadership Styles are that they give each team members complete freedom on group decisions. The leaders infrequently make any suggestions on decisions to let the team members have a free mind on their thoughts. Although Laissez-Faire leaders are happy to help any individuals they only do so when they are asked by team members. The weaknesses are that they are too laid back; this will make the team members feel like they are not being managed in any way. The leaders expect team members to have freedom to think and to have ‘expert knowledge’ on what they are doing as they don’t lead in anyway. In conclusion Laissez-Faire Leadership style is effective

An example of Laissez-Faire Leadership style-

For an example, if you were to work in the public services and there was a murder investigation, FBI are sent to the scene of the crime, they would know what to do and then they are then able to be left there to do their job without any supervision needed. The leaders role is to be able to trust their team members to get their tasks done at good standards, for another example, in the army the leader will say to the squad to go and set up the camp in a particular location, after the team will go and do that without any hesitation and without any supervision by the leader.

Transactional-

Transactional leadership is a very direct style of leadership and uses rewards and punishments to motivate the team.

What are the advantages and disadvantages in Transactional Leadership Style?

The advantages of Transactional Leadership Style are that the leader actively monitors the work and each individual’s from performance. All team members are motivated by being rewarded for exceeding expectations and excellent standard work. There is a clear chain of command. Formal systems of discipline are in place, if any team members are doing something wrong they will know that they have and will be told about it. The team is fully accountable for its actions and will be sanctioned for their failure. The disadvantages of Transactional Leadership Style tend to be action oriented and they will focus mainly on short term tasks. Some team members may not get a job satisfaction because of the reward and punishment ethos. It has serious limitations of knowledge-based or creative work but remains a common style in many organisations. All team members have to do exactly what the managers tell them to do and they have no authority.

What are the Strength and Weaknesses of Transactional Leadership Style?

The strengths of Transactional Leadership Style are that if the team members finished their work to the expected standards they will be salaried or rewarded for their good work and effort. Transactional leadership will lead and tell their team members what they expect from them and lead them to do their given tasks. Their weaknesses of transactional leadership are that if the team members do not complete their work to the expected standards they will be punished, their punishment could be such as, lower payment, extra tasks, or you could even lose your job. This will make it harder for team members to be open minded as the fear of doing something that they are not meant to be doing and being punished. In overall conclusion Transactional leadership is effective but not as effective as the other styles; this is because being punished for simple mistakes is a weak way to motivate team members. In my opinion the only place this style would be effective in is the army. Army is disciplinary. If team members keep getting punished for mistakes they are most likely going to walk out and go somewhere else which is not very good for the leaders. It is effective if you are rewarding them for good work as this will boost their confidents and make them want to get a reward instead of a harsh punishment.

An example of Transactional Leadership Style-

Transactional leaders could be found within public services where people are given rewards such as bonuses, training or time off if they show a good demonstration and excellent work. For an example if a worker needs time off to do training for a new task they could have the time off for good work and do their training that is needed. For an example, in the army if a soldier does not do as it’s told they would be punished, the leader will make them all do exercise as a punishment. You will see that the leader will either tell the whole team or the individual to drop down and do a hundred push ups. The leaders see this as a discipline role to keep punishing them if they do something out of place or wrong as it teaches them not to do it again.

Transformational-

Transformational Leadership Style is a form of leadership style that focuses on team performance as a whole by encouraging team members to think of the group rather than themselves. It is about moving forward as a team rather than individuals who just happened to be on the same project.

What are the advantage and disadvantages of Transformational Leadership Style?

The advantages of Transformational Leadership Style are that people will follow transformational leaders because of their passion, energy, commitment and enthusiasm for the team and their vision; they spend time teaching and coaching the team, they belief in others and themselves, they add value to the organisation through their vision and enthusiasm and they care about their team and work hard to motivate them-this reduces stress levels and increase well-being.

The disadvantages of Transformational Leadership Style are that the team may not share the same vision if they are not convinced by other ideas and plans. If any team members do not believe that they will succeed then they will lack effort and ultimately give up and leave. Followers need to have strong sense of purpose if they are to be motivated to act.The leaders will believe that their visions are right when really sometimes they are not. Large amounts of relentless enthusiasm can wear out the team. Leaders tend to see a big picture but not the details they need to know, the leaders may become frustrated if transformation is not taking place.

What are the Strength and Weaknesses of Transformational Leadership Style?

The strengths of Transformational Leadership Style are that they are hand’s on with all team members. They spend more time cooperating to each individuals of the team. The leaders motivate the team members by their efforts and enthusiasm. This will give the team members a ‘team’ feeling as a replacement of being informed what to do. The weaknesses that may appear are that they may feel that they are given excessive amount support and that the team members are not working by their own mind. As ideas are flying around by each person in the team, everyone is involved and not giving every individual the chance to give their opinions for their own work.

An example of Transformational Leadership Style-

For an example in the police the leader inspires the team to help make the world a better place, so the leaders role is to do the task so their team know exactly what the standard of work that will need to be done and correctly. You would be able to see this leadership style in the hospital, for an example, if a new team of trainees come in a hospital to learn and to experience their job. The teacher will show them how it’s done and let them do it after showing them, this is because you’re dealing with others life’s and its important that they do their job well. In conclusion Transformational leadership style is an effective leadership style, for the reason that the leaders show so much passion and commitment towards the whole team with great enthusiasm. This encourages individuals in the team to follow the leader and try and aim towards their standard of work. Each and every leader works hard to motivate the team into working hard to reach for what they are aimed for. The leaders are more on board with every team members and they take time into helping all team members, this is so all team members know exactly what they are doing in their own tasks.

Bureaucratic-

Bureaucratic Leadership is a style of leadership that focuses on rules and procedures to manage teams and projects.

What are the advantage and disadvantages of Bureaucratic Leadership Style?

The advantages of Bureaucratic Leadership Style are that they focus mainly on following a predefined set of standards or rules of governance and management. Bureaucratic leadership asks team members to understand and follow certain standards to procedures’. Team members are asked to repeat certain tasks for an example, on a production line. A Bureaucratic team can work extremely well if they are a well motivated team and a well defined procedures. The disadvantages of Bureaucratic Leadership Style are that if a work habit has been formed that are unproductive, they can be very hard to break and replace with new procedures and this can alienate and de-motivate a workforce. Team members will lack their work effort and this will make it harder for all the team members to motivate each other and the lack of motivation can lead to poorly defined managerial structures.

What are the Strength and Weaknesses of Bureaucratic Leadership Style?

The strengths of Bureaucratic Leadership Style they make sure that each team members are obeying and respecting the procedures, most of the time for their own safety. This leadership style has a tendency to work well in a manufacturing environment. The weaknesses are that they do the similar work each day; this can be very hard and tedious for some individuals in the team that likes to be imaginative and original in their work. In conclusion Bureaucratic leadership style is an effective leadership style my reasons are that each team members are well taught to know what they are doing in their tasks and being able to remember what they are doing as they are told to repeat their work again, this is so each team member are able to remember what they learnt. As well this could waste time as their work are being repeated and they are wasting time on what they have done in the past instead of forwarding into new work to be working on as a team.

An example of Bureaucratic Style-

For an example this type of Leadership Style is used in the police force. If a police officer goes out on patrol on their own most of their time without a leader accompanying them, the policies and procedures’ are set out so the officers will know exactly what they can or cannot do. For another example in most public services all new recruits do the same test across that public service in the police everyone needs to complete a bleep test to a standard.

People-orientated-

People-orientated Leadership Style focuses on participation of all team members, clear communication and supporting and developing the individual in order to improve skills.

What are the advantage and disadvantages of People-orientated Leadership Style?

The advantages of People Orientated Leadership Style are that they often energize team members. All team members will feel empowered and meaningful, and feel that their job satisfaction levels will rise. All team members will feel that they have a ‘say’ in all decision making and that their work place efficiency. All team members will be encouraged with feed back and ideas on how to improve their work. The leaders will often develop a much better understanding of their team, work place conditions and team members will receive honest opinions on their work by allowing them to understand what will be a good or not and to be able to get a better standard work. The disadvantages of People-Orientated Leadership Styles are similar to the advantages. If team members are given too much responsibilities without management guidance, their decision making duties can become very overwhelming and can become very stressful, which may lead to lack of team work and will lack the effort to complete given tasks to the full requirements.

What are the Strength and Weaknesses of People-Orientated Leadership Style? T

he strengths of People-Orientated Leadership Style are that they encourage each team members to voice their views out to people to get response comments. Team members are given tasks based on their own skills and interests that inspire them to work that bit harder; this will make the work environment much more pleasant and more motivating for each team member. The weaknesses are that they are not managed on their given tasks and this will make it harder for the team to complete their work to its full standards expected. In Conclusion

An example of People-orientated l Style-

For an Example, if you were to work at a care home and you were to have responsibilities or having to pick up your sick child up from school, you would be let to go home and someone else taking your place as you have responsibilities, where some don’t. If you had to be home for your children after school and had no one to look after them then you would have to go home and take care of them.

Task-orientated-

Task-Orientated Leadership Style is about getting the job done. The completion of the task rather than the needs of the team are the key goal.

What are the advantage and disadvantages of Task-orientated Leadership Style?

The advantages of Task-Orientated Leadership Styles are that leaders communicate together to know where they want to take their companies to. The leaders organise certain tasks for each individual team members and ensuring that they have a clear understanding on their set tasks. Task orientated leadership style is a very well suited to structure work environments’ such as law enforcements and manufacturing assembly lines, in which repeating well-defined process usually result in consistently high levels of productivity and the quality of the work. The disadvantages of Task-Orientated Leadership Styles are that the team members are afraid to break rules, taking risks, this will lead to missing good opportunities and they will lack creativity this will result to going elsewhere to have better options and opportunities to do what they would like and to be happy with. To encourage creativity leaders should learn to say no to the people who mostly expect a yes, this is because constructive conflict leads to creative engagement, and this leads to a competitive opportunity between others.

What are the Strength and Weaknesses of Task-Orientated Leadership Style?

The strengths of Task-Orientated Leadership Style are that they certify that each individual has a clear understanding on what they are doing for their roles. Leaders will correspond with each individual to see where they are at on their tasks and to see if they are in need of any help to understand clearly on what they are doing. The weaknesses are that the leaders make the team members feel anxious to break any rules in the work place; due to this individual will not take any risks on their work to make their work a little bit more exiting and creative and they will stick to basic work, and this will be less creative to go that one step further in their tasks.

An example of Task-orientated Style-

Task-Orientated Leadership Style focuses on getting the job/tasks done and not worrying about anything else around them that are needed or happening around them. For an example you may find this in the fire services, they will focus on getting the fire out and saving lives on the job, it does not matter to them what they destroy during the process to get the job done, because their job is to concentrate 100% on the task and block any other problems out.

Similarities and Differences

Describing the similarities and differences in the different leadership styles used by the public services.

Authoritarian and Task-Orientated Leadership Style

This Authoritarian Leadership Style is quite similar to the Task Orientated Leadership Style in the way that the leaders are the only people who put input, this doesn’t create a team sense and can lead to little morale, and nonetheless it is an effective way in most circumstances. At the end of the day authoritarian leadership style can be one of the most beneficial styles, as it gets the job finished and finalized. The leader uses his authority’s power to instruct the team, and they learn to do what the leader says immediately. This style would be ineffective in a situation when the team are arranging out a situation, as more ideas would be better than just what the leader thinks on its own.

Democratic and People-Orientated Leadership Style

Democratic Leadership Style is very similar to The People Orientated Leadership Style in the way that both leaders take the team members opinions and give thought to their ideas, this can be very successful in many situations as 2 heads are better than 1 in the end of the day. Democratic Leadership Style can be a very effective leadership style in many situations where the team are planning out a situation; each individual of the team can put in input to make the action as effective as possible. This type of leadership style would not be used if they were in a situation such as putting out a fire; this is because you will need quick responds and action for that type of situation.

Laissez-faire and Bureaucratic Leadership Style

Laissez-faire Leadership Style is very different compared to the Bureaucratic Leadership Style this is because the Laissez-faire leader doesn’t get involved in any team discussions; they don’t put in any effort or input with their team. Whereas Bureaucratic leader will take control and puts in the most of the input to make the situation a lot better, both styles require the team to be on the ball all the time, but in different styles. In conclusion this can be an effective style in situations whereas the team is experienced and hardworking where the leader has trust that they will complete the task on time and in expecting good standards, this is not always effective as the team has no management or help given to team members, so they must know exactly what they are doing.

Transactional and Transformational Leadership Style

Transactional Leadership Style is very much different to Transformational Leadership Style because a Transformational leader are incredibly encouraging and use words to make the team stronger, Whereas Transactional leader is a very harsh non-team based leader, who uses actions to make the team stronger. Both can be effective but in different situations. In my opinion I do not prefer this type of style as I would not see it as effective as the other styles, but it is very effective in training methods such as the army for an example and other disciplinary public services. It makes the individuals mentally and physically stronger as it encourages the individuals to work for what they want.

Which Leadership Style is the most effective?

In my personal opinion I think that the Autocratic, Democratic and Transformational Leadership Styles are the most effective this is because all three leadership styles have the most power and best outcomes by all individuals from each team. The Reason I chose Autocratic Leadership Style is because this type of leadership style leaves all public individuals happy and satisfied with the public services effort. All team members are disciplined to maintain that the team’s performance and the quality of team work are done professionally and efficiently. I like that this type of leadership goes by their own turf and create ideas them self that will benefit their team. Their choices are made instantly and the public services officers are deployed as soon as an emergency has been informed by a member of the public. Democratic Leadership is another style I think that is effective in the public services, my reasons for this is because there is one leader leading everyone else and making sure their jobs are done properly. They have a lot of time on their hands to come up with decisions and they make sure unskilled and uneducated workers get the chance to do work and get involved with different successful team members.

Being a democratic leader gives you excellent confidents, cooperation and loyalty amongst other workers, this means that each and every team member can trust and follow the leader with confidents and high hopes to get their work done properly and effectively. Another leadership that I personally think that is effective in the public services is the Transformational leadership style. The reason I say this is because the leaders show so much passion and commitment towards the team with great enthusiasm. This encourages the team members to follow the leader and try and aim towards their standard of work. All leaders work hard to motivate the team into working hard to get what they are aimed for. The leaders are more on boards with all team members and they take time into helping all team members, this is so all team members know exactly what they are doing in their tasks. My final decisions on which style is the most effective is the Autocratic Leadership Style as they are more outgoing and has the most effect on the public and they are extremely hands on and getting their task done as soon as they are set out on the table.