Essay: Evaluating different styles of leadership

Leadership
Leadership entails the influence relationships between leaders and their followers, and how they implement changes and reflect upon their mutual purpose (Dussault et al. 724). From this definition, the relationship between leaders and players and how they impact on the environment around them is crucial. In today’s world, leadership applies in various sectors such as management, military operations, and politics. In organizations, the concept of leadership has changed, and leaders do not just arise spontaneously. For instance, some tasks require individuals or teams to possess leadership skills, and in such cases, management expects all the members to be influential in implementing change. Therefore, regarding managerial function, leadership is not just limited to the high-ranking officers. There are different types of leadership and an organization may choose to use one or more depending on what suits the firm’s goals and culture ( Dussault et al. 724). Some of the types of leadership are autocratic, democratic, transformational, and facilitative.
Autocratic Leadership
This is one of the traditional leadership styles that entail a leader having all the authority and responsibilities. According to Amanchukwu et al., autocratic leaders make decisions without involving their subordinates and only communicate to their followers what they want to be done (6). As a result, flexibility is limited in these environments as the autocratic leader dictates all the procedures, guidelines, and policies in an organization.
This type of leadership is advantageous in cases where the subordinates need close level supervision as the leader will coordinate them into achieving the set objectives (Amanchukwu et al. 7). However, it has several disadvantages such as curtailing creativity and innovation, lack of trust among subordinates for essential tasks and limiting the input of group members, hence making them feel unappreciated (Naeem et al. 7). One of the famous autocratic leaders in recent times is A.M Rosenthal, who presided over the New York Times in the 1970s (Naeem et al. 7). Before his leadership, the newspaper was performing poorly regarding its financial returns while its popularity was still low. Upon assuming office, Rosenthal took total control in an autocratic style, and due to his dedication and leadership skills, the newspaper rose to the top ranks (Naeem at al. 7).
Democratic Leadership
Unlike the autocratic style, this type of leadership incorporates the subordinates in decision-making processes. As a result, the leader takes into account the contributions made by all the key holders before settling on a decision. Democratic leaders, despite having the final responsibility, delegate authority to their followers to oversee various tasks in an organization. The delegation inspires honesty, creativity, intelligence and build competency. One of the unique aspects of this leadership style is that it allows active communication, both upward and downward (Anderson et al. 77).
One of the advantages of democratic leadership is that it engages all the members of a group. According to Anderson et al., everyone is given equal opportunities to be a part of the decision-making process while all members are held in equal importance (77). Consequently, this leads to creativity and innovation as the subordinates are allowed to express themselves. However, this leadership style is slow in decision making as it entails listening to all the contributions made by members.
One leader who embraced democratic leadership is Nelson Mandela, the revolutionary anti-apartheid kingpin from South Africa. He led the country from 1994 to 1999 becoming the first African head to be elected through a democratic process. As a result, he was highly regarded as a champion of democracy and social justice and his efforts were rewarded with a Nobel Peace Prize alongside 250 other honors. Even after his demise on 5th December 2013, the man is still highly respected in his homeland, and they refer to him as the father of their nation (Anderson et al. 77).
Transformational Leadership
This type of leadership is concerned with methods that drive change in oneself, groups, and organizations. According to Dussault, transformational leaders focus on motivating the subordinates to surpass expectations of what they thought would be achieved (727). Also, the leaders set challenging expectations which enable the organizations to deliver higher performances. One of the advantages of this type of leadership is that it creates satisfied and committed followers, who are empowered to initiate changes (Dussault et al. 728). Besides, it is open to new experiences enabling workers to surpass their self-interests. On the contrary, this style is effective only in cases where members are permanent since it relies on motivating subordinates to achieve long-term results (Dussault et al. 728).
Steve Jobs is one of the iconic transformational leaders witnessed in the world. He was well known for embracing simplicity and perfection which drove the company and ensured that every employee in Apple Company shared these traits (Dussault et al. 728). Besides, he challenged his subordinates to think beyond and be exceptional from what the industry already had. Consequently, the company created various products that were different and unique in the market setting it on its path to one of the leading global technological hubs.
Facilitative Leadership
This type of leadership focuses on the results as opposed to skills, although to achieve the set goals, it requires much skill (Keskes & Imen 1). In this case, the efficacy of the process is a direct measure of the group’s effectiveness. This kind of leadership is mostly needed in an organization that is not perfoming effectively in order to direct and guide the team in the right diection by monitoring, intervening and giving sugggestions where necessary in order to meet set objectives (Keskes & Imen 1).
One of the advantages of facilitative leadership is that it improves both the process used to achieve goals and the outcomes. The leader aims to enhance structures that can support performances and improve outcomes. Moreover, this style leads to better performances of the whole team as opposed to individuals, thus creating a common objective (Keskes & Imen 1). Jeff Bezos is one of the well known facilitative leaders in today’s world. For a long time, Amazon Company was struggling financially and operating at a loss.  In 2003, Jeff became the CEO of the company and for the next nine years, turned it into one of the most profitable enterprises (Keskes & Imen 1). Since he is a facilitative leader, he started by changing the processes in the company. He ended several distribution channels that were performing poorly and also changed the operations of the workforce to fix the financial challenges (Keskes & Imen 1). Today, Amazon is a well known online shopping platform globally, thus making Jeff Bezos one of the best facilitative leaders and CEOs.
Conclusion
Leadership entails the influence leaders, and their followers have on each other to drive changes. The suitability of a type of leadership is dependent on the tasks an organization is involved in. Autocratic leaders assume total control, thus limiting creativity and input of group members while also reducing trust among members in regards to essential tasks. However, these types of leaders are effective in supervising workers closely. An example of an autocratic leader is A. M Rosenthal, who spearheaded changes in the New York Times in the 70s. On the other hand, there are democratic leaders as exemplified by Nelson Mandela. These leaders allow inclusivity in decision making among all members. Besides, they enhance creativity by enabling individuals to express themselves. One downside to democratic leadership is that it could lead to slow decision making. Transformational leaders such as Steve Jobs motivate their subordinates making sure they are satisfied and committed to the course. Also, they encourage workers to seek new experiences, allowing them to surpass their self-interests. However, transformational leaders are more effective when dealing with permanent members. Lastly, there are facilitative leaders such as Jeff Bezos, who focus on improving both the process and the outcomes. As a result, they lead to better performances of the whole group as opposed to individuals alone. Conclusively, information on the definition and types of leadership is essential for individuals and organizations in determining the style that suits their activities.