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Participative leadership style

My preferred leadership style is participative leadership. The leader involves his or her subordinates in setting organization goals, decision-making, and solving problems in the organization. I am a staunch believer in a company providing the employees with the opportunity to give their input that will play a critical role in improving the performance of the organization. Decisions in the organization are made with a feasible amount of participation of the employees working in the organization.

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Participative leadership focuses on mutual respect and therefore requires the collaboration between an employer and employee. Leaders and their staff members are equipped with significant responsibilities of determining the direction the organization will take. The employees are engaged in the process of prospering the organization and therefore can be held accountable when the organization does not fulfill its intended goals and performance.

I prefer this leadership style mainly because rather than the leader making autocratic decisions they seek to involve other people in the decision-making process. In most case, the leader sells his ideas to the team members, and they are expected to work together and ensure that they put plans in place that will push the organization to fulfill its goals. The leader has the freedom to decide at what point he or she should involve the other stakeholders in the decision-making process. The leadership style provides a platform for sharing of ideas for increasing the probability of success. The team members provide interesting personalized ideas that can be deliberated and a logical conclusion is achieved. This is because each of the members will have a unique approach and ideas and therefore evaluation will be done to establish the best option for the organization.

Participative style of leadership

It is, however, important to point out that this leadership style also has its shortcomings. It is not considered as an effective method when time is not of the essence. The leader will have a short time to consult the stakeholders and allow them to give their views and ideas to be considered during the decision-making process. The leadership can invite the subordinates in making key decisions alongside the leader when there is time to get them involved. However, there are cases where there is limited time, and the management is expected to make a decision faster or risk compromising the performance of the organization. Creating room for consultations may prove counterproductive and trigger substantial losses.

The leadership style is also not effective if there is some level of distrust between the management and the employees. This is because there will be no room for consultations to be done and therefore no quality suggestions will be presented. The leadership approach is also impossible to implement if the management and then subordinates do not share common objectives, and therefore the performance of the organization is jeopardized.

I, however, love this leadership style become it fits most of the circumstances within an organization. It encourages the employees and the management to work together towards ensuring that the organization achieves its objectives. It also encourages good working relationships between the business and the stakeholders. The stakeholders can have a mutual understanding and feel some sense of belonging because the management is including them in the decision process. The leader however still plays a critical role in shaping the decision-making abilities of the subordinates.