Leadership plays a significant role in supervising instructions in schools since it influences

the performances of the teachers and learners through his/her actions. Teachers work
together best when everyone is headed in the same direction. The leaders must make his/her
instructions clear and pertinent. To ensure instructions and work principles are effectively
implemented a leaders at school needs to promote cooperation and a good relationship
between teachers and learners. Moreover, school leaders need to solve problems to encourage
and pressure and to help teachers and learners' potential, this can be done by applying
different leadership styles which are autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire and bureaucracy
at the school. This essay seeks to discuss on the statement says “leaders’ chosen leadership
make a difference in schools. The paper will define the following terms leadership style and
school.

The term leadership style refers to behavioural pattern employed by a leader to integrate
organizational and personal interests in the pursuit of some goal or objective (Damian, 2003).
According to Mgani (2006), leadership style is a method of managing, directing, and
motivating followers. Therefore leadership Styles are the behavioural patterns that a leader
adopt to influence the behaviour of his followers, that is the way he gives directions to his
subordinates and motivates them to accomplish the given objectives.

Nicholas (2006) says the school is an educational institution where the stage of the three
schooling periods known as primary, secondary and high and tertiary education and usually
compulsory up to a specified age takes place. The school refers to institution offering,
optional education (Vugt, 2003). Therefore, school describes an institution that provides
education and also usually includes the building where this takes place.

Leaders at schools can adapt to different leadership styles according to the prevailing
situation at the institution. Leaders can be Autocratic; Democratic or Laissez-fair depending
on the situation. To begin with, Authoritarian or Autocratic leadership style, the leader can
choose this style. According to this leadership style leaders are regarded as a managerial link
in a closely defined chain of command (Damian, 2003). It is based on clearly defined lines of
authority, responsibility, communication, function, roles and regularity. Also, it is
predictable, accountable and in some respects efficient. The autocratic leader commands and
expects compliance by doing so it can make a difference in schools.

In addition, autocratic leadership style can include the following situations; new teachers or
learners who do not know which tasks to perform or which procedure to follow; require

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effective supervision (Nsubuga, 2006). This can be provided only through detailed order and
instructions, therefore there is a limited time in which to make a decision. In this type of
leadership style, interactions between the leader and subordinates are one-way
communication. The role of the subordinates is to implement the order. This leadership style
is relevant to adapt as a leader because it provides fast crisis management benefits whereby
the leader is well-equipped to deal with a crisis (Dean, 2001). This helps to solve to resolve
the emergencies rather effectively when compared to other leadership styles. For example, if
the Head choose this leadership style as a leader he/she can also make the decision faster
since the Head is not required to wait for the feedback from other senior managers (deputy or
Heads of departments), there is one person in charge. An autocratic Head can create focused
targets for everyone through close supervision and an emphasis on order and discipline, the
autocratic leadership style allows everyone to focus on specific goals to reach this enhance
efficiencies within the school as result it can make a difference in schools.

However, the autocratic Heads may create an unwelcome culture within the school. The
quality of a team, structure, or organization practising autocratic leadership is dependent upon
the ethics of the leader in charge (Eagly, Alice, Jahanesse and Mary, 2003). If that leader
does not create a fair working environment, then it is difficult for any employees to change
that environment. In the same vein, the autocratic leadership style is based on a lack of trust.
Rules are placed for employees to follow in an autocratic leadership style because there is a
need to create consistency. That “need” is generated by an overall lack of trust. To be
effective, people need to work in an environment where there is a trusting partnership (Eagly
et al, 2003). Autocratic leaders can’t make trust a priority because they are forced to make the
rules be the priority. Autocratic Heads ignore the skills of competent teachers.

In addition, the leaders can go for a Democratic leadership style to make a difference in
schools. Democratic leadership style is the one where parties see different aspects of a
problem can constructively explore their differences and search for solutions that go beyond
their limited vision of what is possible. For example, for any development at school decision
making is shared between Heads, teachers, school development committee and subordinates.
The main role of the Head becomes to facilitate and communicate. The democratic Head
keeps his/her teachers informed about everything that affects their work and shares decision –
making including problem-solving responsibilities. The Head to be a coach, who has the final
say, but gather information from the staff members before making a decision. Democratic
leadership style is also called participative style because it encourages teachers and learners

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to be part of the decision-making process (Damian, 2003). For example the teacher as a
leader can discuss with learners on which day to write a test after gathering the learners’
views then the teacher makes a decision.

More so, leaders’ chosen leadership style make a difference at school in the sense that a good
democratic leader encourages participation and delegates work wisely but never loses sight of
the fact that he or she beers the crucial responsibility of leadership (Vugt, 2003). It is
important to the head to choose this leadership style because; it helps to solve a complex
concern, the head knows how to solve problems but they may not be able to solve all
problems. By allowing everyone to work on a solution using their education and experience,
innovation is encouraged, making it possible to address complex and critical concerns
(Damian, 2003). This leadership style also encourages creativity, strengthens the
relationships of a team, encourages honesty within the workplace, improves job satisfaction
and builds a stronger vision for the future.

However like other leadership styles, the democratic leadership style is not always
appropriate; it can create negative emotions (Nicholas, 2006). Democratic leadership style
does solicit opinions, perspectives, and experiences. It will also highlight team members that
have strong creative skills and those that do not. For example in a classroom if one learner is
consistently having their ideas implemented, the other learners can grow resentful of the
leadership style. It makes them feel like their opinions are not valued, which eventually
causes them to stop participating in the process. It takes time to reach a consensus as a result
it offers an element of continuing uncertainty.

Therefore, the democratic leadership style is the most successful when used with highly
skilled and experienced teachers or when implementing operational or resolving individual or
group problems. Nsubuga (2010) maintains that a democratic leadership style is most
effective when the leader wants to keep subordinates informed about matters that affect them
and leaders want subordinates to share the decision-making and problem solving duties. This
style also shows us that, to make a difference positively in schools it must be carefully
managed to be beneficial and may need to be combined with other leadership styles to
maximize its effectiveness.

Furthermore, a leader can go for a lassie-fair leadership style. Laissez-fair is also known as
the 'hands-off style'. It is the one in which the manager provide very little or no direction and
gives teachers as much freedom as possible (Davis, Darling and Moverson, 2005). All

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authority and power are given to teachers and learners and they must determine goals, make
decisions and resolve problems on their own. Again, The laissez-fair leader uses his/her
power very little, if at all, giving subordinates a degree of independence in their operations.
For example, the teacher can give learners a task to complete like bed preparation in the
garden, and then the learners will decide on what time, which measurements and tools to use
without teachers’ supervision. Therefore learners will feel free to explore themselves. Good
co-ordination and interaction is maintained between learners.

On the other side of the coin laissez-faire, leadership style downplays the role of the leader on
the team, With the Laissez Faire management style, there tends to be a lack of role awareness
throughout the team. According to Dean (2001), the role of the leader is downplayed because
that person takes such a hands-off approach. Because there is little guidance being offered to
the team, some members might try to step in to take on a leadership role when they are not
qualified to do so. It also reduces the cohesiveness of the group. Leaders using the Laissez
Faire management style will sometimes take advantage of the hands-off approach to delegate
responsibility for failure. Because they are away from the group, the approach is used to
justify why the leader is not responsible for the issues that occurred. The leader can then
blame team members, show evidence of their failure, and remove them while retaining their
position. As a result this leadership style can make a difference negatively in schools.

Generally, the laissez-faire leadership style makes a difference in schools positively when
learners, subordinates and teachers are highly skilled, experienced as well educated. Teachers
have pride in their work and they drive to do it successfully on their own, outside experts
such as staff specialists or consultants are being used and teachers are trustworthy as well as
experienced. Laissez-fair leadership can be applied in educational institutions when the leader
wants to maintain the freedom of workers (Mgani, 2006). It is equally important to apply it to
teachers and learners who were self-directed to perform their activities with minimal
supervision.

More so, transformational leaders create a vision based on identified needs and guide their
teams toward that unified goal through inspiration and motivation this can make a difference
in schools. The main difference between transformational leadership and the other styles
discussed above is that this one is focused on changing the systems and processes that aren’t
working unlike transactional leadership or bureaucratic leadership, which don’t aim to change
the status quo (Eagly et al, 2003).This style is conducive to building strong relationships and

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encouraging collaboration, Gives team members’ autonomy to do their jobs, Can lead to
more creativity, growth, and empathy on teams. However there are short comes when
choosing this style like can cause feelings of instability while disrupting the status quo and
lots of pressure on the leader, who needs to lead by example.

Lastly, a leader can choose charismatic leadership style. Charismatic leadership is defined by
a leader who uses their communication skills, persuasiveness, and charm to influence others
(Nsubuga, 2010). Charismatic teachers, given their ability to connect with learners on a deep
level, are especially valuable within classes that are facing a crisis or are struggling to move
forward. This leadership style ishighly inspirational and motivating. It also encourages a
sense of collaboration, and union as the teacher encourages group work or discussion during
the lesson. Makes followers feel heard and understood. However charismatic leader can
become more focused on themselves than their people, has the potential to become self
serving.

In conclusion, leadership styles are influenced by four major attributes, namely the leaders'
personality his/her perception over the led, the commitment, their skill levels and needs for
independence, nature of the environment (the structure of the organization, out pressure'
socio-economic and political patterns), in considering these attributes, the leader is advised to
apply the leadership style to suit the situation. Therefore, leaders’ chosen leadership styles
make a difference in schools.

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REFERENCES

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Tanzania: A case study of selected public primary schools in Iringa (rural) District.
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Davis, S, Darling-Hammond, L, Lapointe, M& Mayerson, D. (2005). School Leadership

Study; Developing Successful Principals Stanford Educational Leadership Institute

Dean, J.C.J. (2001) Managing the secondary schools. London; Croonelm.

Eagly, A., Alice, H., Jahanesse, S; $ Mary, C (2003). Transformational Transactional and
Laissez-faire Leadership Styles: A meta-analysis. Vol. 129(4). Available at; http.
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Mgani, E.E, (2006) Leadership and school performance in NECTA. A case study of public
secondary school in Morogoro region. Unpublished M.A.Education Dissertation
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Nicholas, R.D. (2006). A brief study of leadership styles in two high performing schools. PhD
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Nsubuga, Y.K.K. (2010).Analysis of leadership styles and school performance of secondary

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