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A leadership philosophy guides how an individual leads and can be based on personal experiences and influential leaders. It involves values, morals, and principles that influence communication and management. Leadership styles include authoritarian, democratic, laissez-faire, and transformational. Most leaders use a combination of styles and strive to balance group goals with individual needs.
A leadership philosophy is a statement or idea that guides how an individual will lead. There is a great variety in the types of leadership philosophies people can employ. People often base their leadership philosophy on their personal experiences and the leaders who have greatly influenced them. Leadership styles might also be based on the types of tasks leaders are responsible for, the goals of the organization, and the types of people they are responsible for as leaders.
Usually, a leadership philosophy involves certain values, morals, and principles that leaders embed in the way they lead the people and organization for which they are responsible. Their leadership philosophy influences how they communicate and manage the people they lead, as well as how they respond to situations or events that may arise. A group of people or an organization can be influenced positively or negatively and its morale and effectiveness can be lowered or strengthened by the leadership philosophy of the managers.
Some academic programs, such as business management and some training programs, such as military officer training, may require their applicants to write down their personal leadership philosophy before graduation. Other people may not be required to write their own, but they may be understood. Most people who are in charge of others develop their own leadership philosophy over time, which may change the longer they lead. Various types of leaders — such as school principals, police and military officers, government leaders, and business executives — will need to develop their own leadership philosophies.
In general, leadership philosophies as belief systems translate into the leadership styles that leaders demonstrate. These leadership styles are what managers use to determine the nature of their decision-making processes and their interactions with subordinates on a day-to-day basis. While leadership style can be highly individual, there are several types that predominate.
Authoritarian or autocratic leaders keep most of their leadership power to themselves. They do not wish to receive suggestions or ideas from their subordinates. Instead, they are the central hub of leadership and decision-making because they make all decisions themselves. An autocratic leader could be the dictator of a country or a corporate manager. Usually, these leaders insist on discipline and unquestioning obedience from those they lead and may be unwilling to delegate any of their leadership functions or power to those below them.
Democratic or participatory leaders prefer to make decisions only after getting input and evaluating the opinions of their subordinates. These leaders are often comfortable enough and trust their subordinates enough to delegate some of their leadership responsibilities to them. These leaders might hold meetings with all of their subordinates to discuss matters that concern them before making a decision. They might also consider other information measures, such as polls of those under them, before making decisions.
Laissez-faire leaders don’t lead. Instead, they allow what happens to happen without interference. These types of leaders offer little guidance and few rules to their subordinates. Instead, those below them must make their own decisions.
Transformational leaders seek to transform their organization and those who work for that organization to improve in meaningful ways. These types of leaders depend on their personal vision and the vision of the organization to make changes and improvements. Often, a leader who uses a transformational style has charisma and highly developed skills for interacting with and persuading those she leads.
Most leaders will use a combination of leadership styles. The type of leadership people show in calm situations may be different than that used when dealing with an emergency situation. For example, a participatory leader may need to temporarily employ an authoritative leadership style to handle the firing and replacement of a subordinate who embezzled money from the company. Overall, the best leaders strive to achieve group goals and objectives while taking into account the needs of individual members, which can be a delicate balancing act.
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