Democratic Leadership Style

A leadership style in which members of the group take a far more participative role in the decision-making process at the firm. All followers are given the opportunity to be involved in setting direction of firm, and shaping the nature of their own work practices.

Leaders accept advice from all followers and take the course of action based upon the collective will of the workforce. Ideas exchanged freely; good environment for innovation and drawing the best from staff.

This style can be effective:

• When there is time to make decisions (no crisis) and when the staff are highly skilled, educated and motivated to perform.

• As it leads to better ideas, and creative solutions to problems.

But this style of leadership can:

• Take far more time to reach consensus (more meetings / discussions than work = loss of productivity)

• Be hard to manage, with such a variety of ideas and staff personalities

• Be taken advantage of by certain employees to reduce their productivity

Leadership should be thought of as a continuum. Good leaders are not fixed in the way they approach each situation. Good leaders are able to determine the best leadership style for each particular problem. On the chart below (best viewed on desktop), the Autocratic Style is on the far left - and the Democratic Style on the far right - with all different gradients between the two extremes.