Democratic Style of Leadership

Introduction
Leaders have combination of styles that enable them to successfully inspire and guide their employees. Successful leaders can drive productivity and creativity while at the same time improve their business line. Being a good leader does not necessarily mean you have to be liked. This is because not all leaders are highly regarded on a personal level while others are not loved. Leaders who use non-correlating leadership styles are ineffective with both their industry and the people they are leading. Leadership styles correlate with personality type, influence from mentors and an individual’s ability to direct and guide people (Gastil, 1994, p.951).
Collective leadership ensures increased effectiveness when it comes to better decision making. This is because people who are likely to be affected have a chance to provide directions, ideas and feedback. Internal motivation is initiated by collective leadership for growth and development of an organization. Resistance is usually created when change is imposed on people. Time is spent developing relationships and finding people’s desires and goals. Before, a leader would feel burdened due to exhausting pressure. However, shared responsibility has made leaders feel surrounded with resourceful people. Distributing responsibilities among employees gives a relief of not being over-utilized as a leader. Shared responsibilities makes work more fun and easier among the individuals involved in it (Bolden et al., 2008).
Provide a brief description of the leadership example you have selected and explain why you have done so (200 words). Provide your sources of evidence in an appendix to the TMA. (10 marks)
Democratic leadership consists of a leader being able to share decision-making abilities with their team members. This can be done to promote all member’s interests and practice social equality. Decision making in democratic leadership is based on each member’s input. Even though the leader has a right to make the final call, each team member has an equal say on the direction of the organization’s project (Bolden et al., 2008). Democratic leadership has been an effective leadership style because it has always allowed employees of lower-levels to wisely exercise authority they will use and need when holding positions in the future. It can also be a resemblance of how decision making can be accomplished during board meetings (Bolden et al., 2008).
Democratic participation boundaries can be circumscribed by either an organization’s needs or values of individuals attributes such as attitudes and skills. Democratic style has the notion that everyone, by virtue of their status, need to play a role in group decisions. However, democratic style of leadership requires control and guidance by a leader. The leader is demanded to make decisions on who needs to be called upon, who has the right to participate and vote on decisions within the group. Democratic leadership style creates high productivity, increased morale within the group and better contributions from the members. The group members are always encouraged to share their ideas and thoughts, hence the development of more creative solutions for problems (Gastil, 1994, p.954).
Analyze the example in respect of collective leadership using two concepts drawn from Block 3 (1400 words). (60 marks)
Distributed concept of leadership is a way of thinking that moves attention and thinking away from focusing on an individual’s skills, characteristics and competence. This concept rejects the idea that there is a distinction between leaders and their followers. However, it focuses on how a leader interacts with individuals at all levels of an organization. There are three elements of distributed leadership; individuals with different expertise contributing to leadership, it is a property of a group of people interacting rather than an individual in isolation, and increases the number of people with different roles and responsibilities in an organization. An organization comes to life when there is mutual communication and influence between people with different expertise (Gastil, 1994, p.954).
Relational concept of leadership believes that leadership happens when there is a relationship and interaction between each other. Leaders and their followers agree, argue, communicate, cooperate and respond to each other. They complement and appreciate one another. Relational theory highlights on these important aspects; it emphasizes on the relational nature of leadership. Leadership is played out through people’s relationship, it also encourages people with leadership roles to pay attention to workplace’s relationships and promotes relational understanding of leadership. Relational leadership involves thinking about leadership in a way of leading and at the same time a follower in practice. It is a leadership concept which involves inclusion, participation and sharing by people relating to one another (Bolden et al., 2008).
Leaders have a responsibility of accomplishing goals with the help of group members. For success in this, the group needs to get along so some level of satisfaction can be maintained. Research shows the relationship between democratic verses autocratic leadership style and group member satisfaction; group members are more satisfied with democratic than autocratic leadership. The purpose of relating democratic leadership and group members’ satisfaction is to integrate the evidence and consider plausible resolution. The fact that people will be more satisfied with democratic leadership finds its resolution in leadership style and group characteristics interaction. Satisfaction of group members increases as a result of democratic leadership. Some of the conditions to which democratic leadership increases group members’ satisfaction include: providing the significance, effects and strengths of democratic leadership and satisfaction, and examining the effect based on a group’s reality, size, gender composition and leadership style (Gastil, 1994, p.956).
Democratic leadership is found in human resources and participative management theory. There is a difference between leadership and authority. Authority is a form of power formalization in which a person is conferred to engage in activities sanctioned by an organization with powers to be authoritative. Leadership is considered to be powers an individual is given to influence the beliefs and actions of others. Democratic leadership approach uses democratic principles such as self-determination, inclusiveness and deliberation for management. A democratic leader has the ability to delegate responsibilities among group members to initiate participation during decision-making (Friedrich et al., 2009, p944).
Collective leadership ensures all the team members are empowered. Leaders have the responsibility of empowering their team members for proper equipment to accomplish their tasks. Empowerment includes providing the required training and education for completion of tasks. It also aids in the decision making process. A democratic leader ensures that democratic deliberation has taken place when decisions are made in the group. This shows that a democratic leader needs to serve as both the facilitator and the mediator within the group to make sure that all group members are psychologically well and a respectful environment is maintained (Bolden et al., 2008).
Democratic leadership techniques play an important role in creation of job satisfaction because a sense of participation and control is within the style of democratic leadership. Participation from employees during the process of decision making can result into an innovation and creative solution to addressing problems hence serving the organization better. Democratic leadership has several advantages, including offering solutions to sophisticated problems. Democratic leadership style is usually the excellent style to solving most complex problems. It has the ability to work in collaboration using opinions so things can be done in the right manners. The leader should think in an innovative way and encourage group members to do the same so solutions to strategic and complex issues can be found. Solutions derived in a democratic way often last longer (Woods, 2004, p.20). The process of democratic leadership ensures that there is continuous reviewing of solutions. For maintenance of an effective process of a well fit business, all team players should be engaged. Relational concept ensures democratic leaders work well with their team members to create an environment that is suitably functional, especially in a case where communication and cooperation are crucial (Woods, 2004, p.15).
Leaders who are relational and lead with democracy build supportive and strong teams. Team members work collectively as they flourish honesty because their opinions are also taken into consideration. A creative environment is fostered effectively with democratic leaders because innovation and input of all team members are encouraged. Under democratic leadership, creative designers succeed due to the nurture and support they receive under this leadership approach. Democratic leadership is open to ideas of the group members; they discuss them openly and amongst themselves. Everyone in the team is given a seat at the table and free-flowing discussions implemented. A rapidly dynamic environment requires democratic leadership. In such organizations, which are fast-moving, options for improvement must be availed so the group members stay focused (Friedrich et al., 2009, p940).
Democratic leadership entails encouraging sharing of ideas and conversations that synthesize all information to help make the best decision. The leader must communicate the decision made to the group members for unity during the planning process. Democratic leadership is used in situations that involve frequent changes, offering a great deal of flexibility and thus enhancing ways of handling them and doing other things. However, it is somehow a slow way to making decisions. The better part comes when it has the capability of embracing better and newer methods. Democratic leadership brings out the best from a professional and experienced team. It uses their talents and skills to share their ideas and views instead of conformation expectations (Woods, 2003, p.12).
A broad and complex decision requires representation of many different areas of expertise and input contributions. Democratic leadership is suitable for places that require openness to students’ and educators’ ideas of different kinds. The ideas allow flexibility to meeting ever-changing customer demands. A flow of ideas is needed in creative environments for purposes of finding new designs and concepts. Democratic leadership is effective and involves keeping communication open so everyone can be at comfort when giving out ideas because it thrives when all factors and considerations have been laid out for examination by all group members. Discussion is something that should be focused on. Unstructured discussions are difficult to use when it is important to improve productivity. However, it is the job of the democratic leader to ensure there is openness when it comes to sharing ideas on the given topic. If the discussion begins to stray, keep reminding all members about the goal at hand (Denis, et al., 2001, p.820).
Commitment is also necessary when it comes to democratic leadership style because you might come across overwhelming suggestions that can be difficult to commit to. Everyone’s idea should be respected without bias. Leaders or other team members might not necessarily agree to everything people say, but that is okay. However, it is important to create an environment that is healthy; one where all ideas are considered and entertained (Bolden et al., 2008).
Using at least one concept from Block 3, offer written advice to the leader(s) or related organization within your leadership example in respect of how they could develop and improve collective leadership practice (400 words). (20 marks)
Every leader faces a challenge of articulating vision and creating an environment that inspires engagement and passion. Leadership is all about driving behaviors within an organization. The challenge comes in where diverse groups of individuals must be brought together and a conducive environment created for everyone to work together. This should be done effectively to work towards a shared and common goal. This can be best accomplished through collective leadership notion which helps bring members of an organizations together (Friedrich, et al., 2009, p.945).
Collective leadership is complicated and keeping a relational theory in mind holds the hierarchical approach to leadership as being bad while collaboration is good. Collaborative approach can develop engagement and passion among people, hence the need for clear execution and accountability. Both relational and democratic leadership must be blended so an organization can have a collaborative and networked yet focused accountability to deliver strategy. A leader should have the ability to bring out the best out of a team’s creativity and innovations while still maintaining focus and discipline on execution. However, creating such an environment and culture is not an easy task (Bolden et al., 2008).
Clarity must be established by a democratic leader about what the organization will require to attain its goals. Leaders must create clarity around the enterprise’s purpose and strategic goals. A healthy climate should also be created at the organization to support organizational behavior. It can be described using words such as values or culture. Group members must have the capabilities to work together towards a common and shared goals. A leader craving for collective leadership and organizational behavior must do their assignments to determine if there is capability, clarity and climate in place to facilitate the attainment of organizational goals. If there are gaps in the qualities, a leader must work on them (Bolden et al., 2008).
People must believe in what a leader is up to so that they can behave in a desired way. Making strategy development a participatory process is one way of getting employees to believe in the existing leadership. A leader should emphasize on the achievement of organizational behavior and collective leadership to enable the organization work as one. Organizations face the challenge of finding employees who do not behave in whatever way they wish in contradiction to what is expected of them. This usually leaves the organization in a situation in which it cannot perform at an optimal level. This is due to the amplified generation gap between leaders and the employees within the organization. With these in place, organizations of new era are at a better place to meet the challenges of their complex and rapidly changing environment through collective leadership (Denis et al., 2001, p.815).
Conclusion
Collective leadership has benefited many organizations in different ways. It has resulted in better outcomes from sharing responsibilities, building a team’s strengths and initiating internal motivation. Collective leadership comes with increased investment and engagement. Shared leadership ensures people are invested in, energized and engaged towards an organization’s goals. Collective leadership is used in a variety of fields such as healthcare, community development, environmental sustainability, military and science, among others. This is a clear indication that it is a cross-sector approach. It describes the process in which people come together for change persuasion. Processes of leadership increase ones capacity to collaborate and provide conditions for members to feel motivated and valued as a contribution to collective goals.
Collective leadership needs connecting of individuals with diversity. It also has a capability of shaping how people can view their work and perceive not only themselves but also others. It also helps them understand what leadership is all about. It is committed to taking leadership from all levels and backgrounds depending on the variety of expertise and perspective. Collective leadership also combines collaborative approaches and directive behavior as it aims at transgressing boundaries that are usually taken for granted. Collective leadership has enabled a shifted focus from the traditional perspective of leadership to that of relational processes and broader systems of relationships.










References
Bolden, R., Petrov, G. and Gosling, J., 2008. Developing collective leadership in higher education. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.
Denis, J.L., Lamothe, L. and Langley, A., 2001. The dynamics of collective leadership and strategic change in pluralistic organizations. Academy of Management journal, 44(4), pp.809-837.
Friedrich, T.L., Vessey, W.B., Schuelke, M.J., Ruark, G.A. and Mumford, M.D., 2009. A framework for understanding collective leadership: The selective utilization of leader and team expertise within networks. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(6), pp.933-958.
Gastil, J., 1994. A definition and illustration of democratic leadership. Human Relations, 47(8), pp.953-975.
Woods, P.A., 2004. Democratic leadership: drawing distinctions with distributed leadership. International journal of leadership in education, 7(1), pp.3-26.