Leadership Styles In Public Services Essay

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There are several different leadership styles used in the Public Services. These are – Authoritarian, Democratic, Laissez-Faire, Transactional, Task Oriented, People Oriented, Transformational and Bureaucratic. The most effective leadership style is Authoritarian. Authoritarian leadership is when the leader wishes to retain as much power as possible and maintain control over the decision making process. It involves the leader telling the team members what they must do without any form of consultation. Team member are expected to obey orders and to work to a tight deadline. An example of Authoritarian leadership is an Army officer. This is a good example as they’re bossy and loud and they think they are always right and they're way is the…show more content…
Democratic leadership involves the leader encouraging the team members to become a part of the decision which is the opposite of Authoritarian leadership. Democratic leadership still means that the leader maintains control of the group of the final decision but the team still have the chance to voice their own opinions. This encourages a sense of responsibility in the team members. It also allows the leader to become better. This style would not be used in a situation where the team may be under fire, or in danger and have to act quickly, another style would be used then but I think this leadership style is most effective in situations that involve planning out things because both the team members and the team leader are involved in the decisions which make a bigger impact on the final decision in which all the team have put in input to make the action as effective as possible. An example would be in the fire service, the fire officer will be planning an escape out of a burning building and the planning stage would involve input opinions from all team members and a team discussion. Democratic is similar to People Orientated in the way that both leaders take in the opinions and care about the welfare of the team, this can be very effective in many situations as 2 heads are better than
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