The Effects of Leadership Styles on Team Motivation

Social psychologist Lewin defined and differentiated three major classical leadership styles. Many consider Lewin to be the founder of social psychology and management theory as well as leadership studies. After extensive experiments in group dynamics and leadership, he developed the concept of leadership climate. Based on this concept, Lewin defined three types of leadership climates: democratic, authoritarian and laissez-faire. Further, the choice of leadership style depends on the needs associated with making a decision. The three types of leadership styles are discussed below:

Authoritarian Leadership Style: Authoritarian leaders are distant from their employees. This type of leadership is gained through demands, punishments, regulations, rules and orders. The major functions of authoritarian leadership style include assignment of tasks, unilateral decision-and rule-making and problem-solving. Followers of authoritarian leaders must adhere to all the instructions without comment or question. Authoritarian leaders make all the decisions themselves without involving employees or followers and impose these decisions on them. In the long term, authoritarian leadership style can be detrimental as it is dictatorial in nature. This leadership style undermines creativity and individuality because these managers consider themselves to be right. However, the art of leadership is flexibility, i.e. to adapt to dynamic situations. Yet this leadership style also has some advantages: if there is urgency and a task is time critical, then one needs to have discipline and structure so that the job can be done quickly. In a situational leadership style, authoritarian leadership is adopted in some circumstances.

Democratic Leadership Style: This is also known as participative leadership style and reflects principles and processes such as self-determination and equal participation. However, democratic leaders must not be compared with those who hold elected positions. These leaders facilitate collective decision making, involving their followers or employees and offering them support and choices. Further, this leadership style, unlike the authoritarian style, is characterized by cooperation, active participation, accountability and delegation of responsibilities and tasks. A major function of democratic leadership is empowerment of subordinates, distribution of responsibility and facilitation of group deliberations. Followers are held accountable for their decisions, actions and willingness to maintain the group's freedom and autonomy. Although effective, democratic leadership style has certain disadvantages. When roles are not clearly defined and time is limited, this leadership style can lead to failures. Further, in some cases, members of the group might lack the expertise and knowledge to contribute towards decision-making. Democratic leadership style is useful if members willingly share their expertise and knowledge. Also, decision making under the democratic leadership style requires a lot of time.

Laissez-Faire Leadership Style: In this leadership style, leaders are not involved with their subordinates or followers. This style is characterized by the absence leadership style. Laissez-faire leaders do not make group-associated decisions and policies. Subordinates or followers are responsible for making all the decisions and solving problems. Laissez-faire leaders do not have authority or have little authority within their organization. The major functions of this leadership style include trusting members to make appropriate decisions and hiring the trained employees. The role of this leadership style includes problem solving and self-monitoring along with producing quality products and services. Laissez-faire leaders are highly successful and their followers are self-directed as they are not critically instructed by their leaders at every step.

This leadership style is suitable for organizations that have long-term employees. It is, however, not suitable for environments that require direction, quick feedback and praise. The disadvantages of this style include lack of awareness, as it leads to poorly defined work roles. The leader provides minimal guidance, due to which group members are often not sure of their job roles and responsibilities.

Dynamic Leadership Style: This is a dual-focused form of leadership style that is adaptive in nature. This leadership style changes and reacts to different situations. The theory of dynamic leadership holds that a leader should use a fluid style of leadership to adjust according to the team that is being led. Dynamic leadership helps improve team motivation, as dynamic leaders are characterized by effective action, focused energy and benevolent compassion. Further, dynamic leaders focus on engaging with employees in such a way that success is not based on any one individual, but the entire team. This particularly helps to motivate teams, as they experience a sense of recognition of their contribution to the overall success. Dynamic leaders are adaptive leaders, who find opportunities in obstacles and take effective action during difficult times and take risks. Further, adaptive leadership creates a sense of purpose that is shared among team members. Team members feel motivated because adaptive leaders inspire and influence them rather than just demonstrating hierarchical command and control. Dynamic leaders are appreciative of teams and the contribution of each employee; they are supportive of employees in different situations, are caring, fair, humble and inspiring. All these characteristics help a dynamic leader motivate teams rather than just individuals.

Dynamic leadership is an important resource for organizations that must operate in a highly competitive and dynamic business environment. Such leaders need to be both adaptive and flexible to operate according to the changing business environment. However, dynamic leadership alone will not be able to motivate individuals and team members because leaders must manage conflicts and make tough decisions. In today's business environment, leaders face many difficulties and the pressure of producing new leadership. In the past, leadership could evolve over time, but this is not possible now. Today's healthcare environment is highly mobile and dynamic leadership alone is not sufficient to manage the business and employees effectively. Successful organizations worldwide are adopting a proactive and intentional approach to develop leadership that is constant and competitive. Dynamic leadership includes development training and communication. Further, in a healthcare organization, a dynamic leader must take actions that involve huge risks and create a sense of purpose among team members, while managing them with inspiration and influence.