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Leadership Styles

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Do you think leaders should decide on a participative style based on the most efficient way

to reach the decision?

Yes, the Participative style of decision-making is an efficient way of reaching decisions

that most leaders should be willing to embrace. It allows an organization to achieve the best

conclusions as it involves the input of every member of the company. Most staff members

readily accept decisions reached through common agreement rather than those that were thrust to

them by force from the top management. The style also allows employees to adjust to any

policies that the organization comes up with without resistance as they were consulted when

making those policies.

Should leaders sometimes let people participate for other reasons?

Leaders can use the participative style also for other reasons apart from achieving

efficient decision-making. These include improving the employee’s morale. George (2019) states

that when employees are allowed to share their opinions on the organization's operations, they

feel personally accountable for the growth and achievements of the company. This boosts their

morale as they feel appreciated when they play a role in making decisions that affect the

company. The company’s staff will also actively participate in enhancing the work environment

as they are aware that they directly influence policies that run the workplace.

Leaders can also use a participative style to boost employee retention. This style offers

the employees more than just the chance to make more income by giving them the opportunity to

be part of the determinants of the company's future achievements. By agreeing to let the

employees actively contribute to the growth of the company, it encourages them to remain in the

company until their plans for the success of the company are actualized. This dramatically

reduces staff turnover as well. The participative style also enhances collaboration among co-
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workers and reduces competition amongst them. Competition is advantageous to a company but

also can result in disorderly behavior when it becomes excessive. But with collaboration brought

about by allowing employees to contribute to decision making, staff members no longer see each

other as competitors. This enhances unity and working towards achieving a common goal.

Do you think leadership style is fixed and unchangeable, or can leaders be flexible and

adaptable concerning style? Why?

I don't think that leadership style is unchangeable or relatively fixed. Depending on the

type of work, employee classification, circumstances, and the objective of the organization, the

leader can be flexible and choose a leadership style that best fits. With the swiftly changing

economic and social settings, it is of great importance that leaders should be willing to modify

their style of leadership to cope and also overcome competition. According to Britcher (2017),

some rewards come up with leaders coming up with a goal and staying focused and on the

budget until realized. Sometimes this fixed focus or style can be expensive, primarily if

challenges are associated with learning that goal. To prevent such extra costs, a leader is advised

in such situations to be flexible.

References
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George N. Root III. (2019). The Advantages of Participative Leadership.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-participative-leadership-17629.html.

Janet Britcher. (2017, December 27). Leadership focus: Fixed or flexible? Transformation

Management. https://transformationmanagement.com/leadership-focus-fixed-flexible/