Participative Leadership Vs. Democratic Leadership

An advantage of the democratic style involves a considerable job satisfaction of subordinates, through augmenting their responsibilities which results in more interesting and diverse work (Ribbins, 1997). Bush (2008) agrees; when responsibility is shared the self-confidence of group members is enhanced, as they have a key role in planning and decision-making. The democratic leadership style provides high quality expert knowledge and skills are identified and implemented towards achieving targets (Dimmock and Walker, 2005). Grace (1995) supports this, and claims that goals are more likely to be reached since; they have been established by group consensus.

The results of my Leadership Style Assessment was a Participatory Leader. I believe that the results were accurate. I try to listen and understand to everyone’s point of view before making a decision regarding others at work. “Participative leadership also known as Democratic Leadership Style is a method of leadership that involves all team members in terms of identifying important goals as well as developing strategies and procedures to achieve the goals. From this point of view, participative style of leadership can be perceived as a leadership style that relies primarily on functioning as a facilitator that the one who simply issues commands or orders or making assignment for each member of the team.” ("Participative Leadership," p. 1-2) The definition of Participative Leader to me means a Leader that listens and considers every point of view before making a final decision.

A leadership quiz offered by About.com Psychology. (n.d.) 'What 's your leadership style? ' suggests that the writer demonstrates both Participative. Participative or Transformational Leadership is based on establishing interactions and

belief that a team is not successful without its team members. In my field, a successful team is comprised of individuals who are dedicated, experienced, motivated and supported by management. A1a. Strengths Job Satisfaction: In organizations and companies that utilize participative leadership as a management style, many of the employees are satisfied with their jobs. The reason is rather simple; staff sees their suggestions and/or recommendations are being put into practice. Simply stated, their voices are being heard, their input clearly has significance, and there is a sense of being an essential part of the organization. Within our organization, specifically in the operating room arena, nurses are an important aspect of trialing new equipment or materials that may be utilized in the operating rooms. By enabling these individuals to trial new equipment and provide feedback, management ascertains that the items selected by the staff assist them in performing their tasks successfully. In addition, staff is encouraged to suggest alternatives to equipment being trialed. This particular group of nurses originated from other hospitals that utilize a variety of equipment. Thus there may be better suggestions regarding the

After taking the Leadership quiz I discovered that my leadership style is Participative. Participative leaders often ask the opinion of group members and solving problems but ultimately make the final decision. I agree with my findings and I often apply this leadership style at work. I find myself asking other coworkers their opinion on how to troubleshoot a problem. In the nursing occupation it is very important to have teamwork. Being a participative leader exemplifies teamwork. This displays that I value the opinions of my coworkers and feel that everyone should be able to make recommendations and suggestions and as a leader I can take those ideas and make a final decision. On my unit I was a charge nurse and as a charge nurse I always tried to include the recommendations of my coworkers.

The democratic style of the organization’s leadership mirrors my personal leadership style. I am a true believer of inclusion constantly seeking out input of others during the decision making process. At the end, the final decision rests on the shoulders of the leader. Utilizing all three styles of leadership is essential which is dependent

In a democratic leadership style, the decision making process and overall responsibility among team members is shared. Decisions are made by the leader consulting each member of the team; therefore the outcome becomes a group effort. In the democratic leadership style, tasks are delegated to employees effectively, where the implementation is mostly in their hands. As opposed to the authoritarian leadership style, the democratic leader welcomes feedback from every team member. Team members are also encouraged to function as a

In participative leadership, the leader of a group usually makes the final decisions, but only after consulting other team members for their input. Team members are inspired and motivated by this type of leadership which helps the leader’s decisions to be more widely accepted and adopted by the members (Reilly, 2011). In 1978, James Burns wrote a book about leadership styles in which he described the participative leader style as a type of

Leadership has many definitions, is multifaceted, and involves numerous aspects, such as identifying goals, providing support, inspiring and motivating people to act, and promoting the values of a group or organization (Giltinane, 2013). Some of the characteristics an effective leader possesses are honesty, creativity, emotional stability, energy, flexibility, conceptual skills, perseverance, and knowledge (Huber, 2014). Based on the Leadership Style Survey, my leadership style is determined to be participative, also referred to as democratic. This approach places emphasis on people, relationships, and teamwork. The leader shares responsibility by involving workers in group discussions and decision making, is able to recognize strengths and encourage workers

Implementation of the Participatory leadership can be done in three ways. Engaging all staff and empowering and collecting knowledge and innovation from all staff. Strengthen relationships with stakeholders. Training and nurturing personal leadership, collective learning and self-organization for staff to step in and take charge of the challenges facing them (Nielsen, 2016)

Leadership can be defined as the ability to lead a group of people successfully in an organization. Hall, et al (2008) have mentioned that an effective leader has to be visionary, motivating and responsible in order to successfully run a business organization. In business the two key leadership styles, which are widely used in today’s corporate world are autocratic leadership and democratic leadership (Johnson, n.d.). Autocratic leadership may be explained as “a leadership style where the manager sets objectives, allocates tasks and insists on obedience” (Hall, et al 2008 p.g 401). Conversely, democratic leadership encourages “participation in decision making” (Hall, et al 2008 p.g 402). Whilst many people would consider autocratic

Participative Leadership is one of the recent unconventional leadership styles and is wonderful of promoting professional and personal growth for the employee and leader. However, I recommend placing time constraints (deadlines) on the process of decision making, in order to avoid prolonged or delayed action on deliverables. These time constraints with develop individuals cognizance to time-sensitivity, focus on increase productivity through problem-solving and developing the blueprint for future goals and plans for the organization.

I regard myself a participative leader. In the words of DuBrin (2008, p.348), "a participative leader is the one who shares decision making with group members." In the past, I have held various leadership positions. During those brief stints as a leader, I have found it prudent to consult widely before making decisions. In my opinion, it is by consulting widely that we make the most viable decisions. It is also by consulting widely that we motivate others to achieve set goals (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor, 2011).

Autocratic leadership is a classical leadership style with the following characteristics: manager seeks to make as many decisions as possible, manager seeks to have the most authority and control in decision making, manager seeks to retain responsibility rather than utilise complete delegation , consultation with other colleagues in minimal and decision making becomes a solitary process managers are less concerned with investing their own leadership development, and prefer to simply work on the task at hand. Whereas Democratic Leadership is the leadership style that promotes the sharing of responsibility, the exercise of delegation and continual consultation. The style has the following characteristics: manager seeks consultation on all

The key strengths of participative leadership style are increased productivity and job satisfaction. When employees are afforded an opportunity to be involved in the organization’s decision making process, they are likely to develop a strong sense of commitment to the organization as well as increase their performance. Job satisfaction is another key strength of this leadership style. Most employees display high levels of job satisfaction when they notice their suggestions and/or recommendations are taken seriously and in some instances implemented within the organization. Additionally, this