The How and Why of Participative Leadership
As a business owner, one of your biggest challenges is to lead your team well. Should you focus on employee participation at the cost of business goals? Or do you “show them how it’s done” and expect the team to follow your lead? Is there a different approach for every situation?
In this piece, we’ll take a look at a particular leadership style – “participative leadership” and its benefits.
Leadership means different things to different people. However, a generally accepted definition is that it “is a process that takes place in groups in which one member influences and controls the behavior of the other members toward a common goal.”
While every leader creates his or her mantra of leadership, most leadership practices fall into one of these categories. Try and figure out your style!
Directive Leadership: You have the first and last word, and the group merely follows instructions. Do we sense a secret longing to be in the army!
Supportive Leadership: You create warm, personal relationships with your team members in order to coax their best efforts.
Participative Leadership: Group members are involved in the decision making process right from the start, by contributing their ideas and suggestions. You’re a strong believer in team work.
Achievement Oriented Leadership: You give your team a goal and they work independently towards achieving it. Either you’re plain lazy, or more likely, have a high degree of confidence in your team’s ability.
For now, let us take a closer look at Participative Leadership
A person who follows the participative leadership style will get a buy-in from group members on most changes and important decisions, before implementing them. However, the leader is still the final decision making authority. Remember, participative leadership is not about reaching consensus – if you keep looking for universal approval, you’ll never get anything done.
Some people feel that participative leadership is a “female thing” and makes you look soft. Let’s set the record straight – using this style is not a sign of weakness, in fact, it’s a strength that your team will respect you for. When does participative leadership work? While it’s not practical to change your approach with every situation, you might like to try participative leadership under specific conditions. Say you’re working on an assignment where you have limited expertise but your employees collectively have a lot of knowledge and experience. Using participative leadership is likely to create a win-win for both – they will feel included and you’ll make better informed decisions. And if you’re the owner of a start-up firm, getting buy-in on key issues from your core team members could prove invaluable.
Can I learn to be a participative leader?
Sure! Leaders are made, not born. Here are some of the important tips offered by experts:
Encourage group values: Allow the group to establish values and thereby take ownership. Of course, these will have to support the firm’s objectives.
