Leader Styles and Leader Focus

Consider and comment on the following questions: 1. Of the Iowa Study leadership styles (autocratic, democratic, and laissezfaire), which style is most appealing to you? Are any of the styles ethically superior to any of the others? Why or why not? 2. With respect to the Michigan and Ohio Studies, do you think leaders who focus more on followers than on the job at hand are more ethical than other leaders? Is a balance better than being partial to one of the two dimensions? Given that the results of these studies were slightly different, which do you think got it most right? One set of studies were conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa. The results of these studies concluded that all leaders adopted one of three different leadership styles: Autocratic, Democratic, and Laissez-Faire (Rafiq Awan & Mahmood, 2010). Autocratic leaders, as the name suggests, run their operations like dictators, making decisions unilaterally and seeking very little input or participation from followers. Democratic leaders, by contrast, adopt a very participative style of leadership, involving followers in all major decisions, either through a 'notice and comment' style dialogue before decisions are rendered, or through an informal voting-style procedure. Finally, "Laissez-Faire" is a French term that means to "let do" or to "let be". It is commonly used in the phrase "Laissez-Faire Capitalism" to describe the American-style economy where government seldomly meddles in private sector affairs and generally leaves business and industry alone. Accordingly, Laissez-Faire leaders are those who are very "hands off' and do not typically involve themselves in the affairs of their teams unless absolutely necessary. According to the University of Iowa studies, Democratic leaders were most likely to render high levels of both performance and satisfaction.      

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