Leadership Philosophy – How To Attain Good Leadership Styles

Leadership philosophy can be defined differently by different people depending on how they perceive it. Several countries or communities view leadership in varying perspectives, therefore leaders apply leadership style they believe is most appropriate for leading their people. Several forces lead to the application of a particular style of leadership. Some leaders apply all the styles and one is normally made dominant which the leader is identified to in most cases by the community he leads. Leadership is a way of encouragement and directing of people to accomplish a task. In Africa for example leaders are viewed as radical people and non-democratic yet in the western world leaders are known to be democratic. The first style used by some leaders either in organizations or communities is authoritarian style. In this style leaders want their followers to do exactly what they want and at the time needed. They tend to enforce their policies without consulting their followers and the flock is meant to obey with no mistakes made. Sometimes leaders apply this kind style because they want to meet deadlines and they want to achieve a certain commitment. However not all leaders who use this kind style are authoritarian all time it is because they want take the company or the community they lead to a certain level of achievement. This style can be applied along with other styles of leadership. Participative is yet another style used by different leaders depending on the forces driving him. This style is applied when leaders involve their followers in decision making to seek their opinion. It takes place right from the start with planning up to implementation process. In this case not all the community takes part in the decision making but representatives whom they believe to be their opinion leaders are chosen to present their views. This style makes the employees or community to take responsibility and ownership since they are part of decision making. However the leader still remains the final decision maker. Delegative style is yet another style, leaders who apply this must have built confidence and full trust in their employees. They are allowed to make decisions on their own. They plan and implement the projects and then report to the leader of their findings. Leaders apply this style when they have work load which they cannot accomplish alone. Delegation is done with utmost care so as not to mismanage projects. Workers who are delegated must be able to analyze the situation and do what is need at the right time. In this style the leader remains responsible for decisions taken by the employees. Application of the three leadership philosophy styles varies from situation to situation in the company. Some leaders apply these styles to varying employees depending on what he desires to be done. for example authoritarian is applied to those who just new in the community, participative can be applied to when there is work to be done as team and these brings people together, delegative can be applied when the leader is kept busy some where and when there is too much work to do yet the tasks must be finished. When leaders are applying these leadership styles caution must be taken so as not to jeopardize any thing and each style should be applied at the appropriate time.