Advantages and Disadvantages of Some Common Leadership Styles and Evaluation of How to Implement Them Best in the 21st Century

1085 Words5 Pages
As international companies become more and more powerful, their leaders are faced with the responsibility for their survival and development. Being aware of different leadership styles could help them to make the right decisions. This essay looks at three common leadership styles, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses and examines how they may be implemented in the 21st century workplace. Although it may be difficult to classify people under specific headings, having awareness of different styles could be a benefit to managers. One leadership style identified by Goleman (2000) is the coercive style. This kind of leadership is synonymous with dictatorship, where only one person presides with absolute authority over the followers or workers(“Autocratic Leadership Style,” n.d.). The coercive leadership style is most often associated with negative leaders. People with coercive traits, a means of control, often give compulsory orders and need absolute obedience, or severe punishment is awaiting. It might inhibit the organization’s flexibility and weaken employees’ incentive. Employees’ under long-term emotional domination would feel depressed and stressful. However, today, autocratic leadership, used correctly, remains distinctly effective in many situations. When there are emergent, rapidly changing conditions, and when the leader holds a unique advantage over anyone else, mandatory leadership would work. A military commander during the battle, as the best example, directs what to do and how to do without details. In emergencies, there is little time to explain or make group discussion. It permits quick decision-making, as only one person decides for the whole group. But it’s worth noticing that under long-term emotional domination, style of control could produce vicious mood, like battle fatigue. When dealing with troublesome people, coercive leadership

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