Leadership

The term leadership style refers to a leader's manner of behavior in a work situation. According to Fred Fiedler, one's leadership style depends on one's personality and is therefore relatively fixed. Leadership has often been described as a continuum of two extreme styles, autocratic and democratic. However, it appears that leadership styles vary from situation. There are four leadership styles with varying amounts of directive and supportive behavior.

Leadership is a quality or trait that every individual possesses, but not necessarily uses. It is the process whereby one or several individuals influence others toward the attainment of an goal.

Leadership has often been described as a continuum of two extreme styles' autocratic and democratic. The autocratic is the most effective in every aspect of an organization. The autocratic leadership style is characterized by a leader who makes all the decisions and passes the directives to subordinates who are expected to carry these out under very close supervision. This leader provides clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. Autocratic leaders make decision independently with little or no input from a group. However, an autocratic leadership style is based upon the assumption that the leader knows everything and knows what is best for the organization.

On the other hand, the democratic style requires highly developed and competent constituents. This type of leadership fosters professional competence and focuses on group relationships and sensitivity to the people in the organization. Through the use of democratic style the leader asks subordinates ( team-members) to participate in the decision-making, and in doing so fosters respect and commitment on the part of the subordinates (team-members). However, a democratic leader tries to solicit the input of subordinates, often requiring consensus or a majority vote before