CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,

NYAYA NAGAR, MITHAPUR, PATNA – 800001.

TOPIC - “Impact of leadership styles in the achievement of organisational

goals”

FINAL DRAFT SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE

COURSE TITLED –
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED TO:
Ms. Kirti
Faculty of Human Resource Management

SUBMITTED BY:
BANDITA.
ROLL NO : 2221
SEMESTER : FIRST.
SESSION : 2019-2024

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “Impact of leadership style in achievement of
organisational goals” submitted by me at CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW
UNIVERSITY is a record of bona fide project work carried out by me under the guidance of
our mentor Ms KIRTI. I further declare that the work reported in this project has not been
submitted and will not be submitted, either in part or in full, for the award of any other degree
or diploma in this university or in any other university.

BANDITA
ROLL NO. 2221

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a fact that any research work prepared, compiled or formulated in isolation is

inexplicable to an extent. This research work, although prepared by me, is a culmination of
efforts of a lot of people who remained in veil, who gave their intense support and helped me
in the completion of this project.
Firstly, I am very grateful to my subject teacher MS. KIRTI , without the kind support and
help of whom the completion of this project was a herculean task for me. He donated his
valuable time from his busy schedule to help me to complete this project. I would like to
thank him for his valuable suggestions towards the making of this project.
I am highly indebted to my parents and friends for their kind co-operation and encouragement
which helped me in completion of this project. I am also thankful to the library staff of my
college which assisted me in acquiring the sources necessary for the compilation of my
project.
Last but not the least, I would like to thank the Almighty who kept me mentally strong and in
good health to concentrate on my project and to complete it in time.
I thank all of them !

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 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….5-7
CHAPTER 1: CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP……………………………………….8-10
CHAPTER 2: TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLES……………………………….11-17
CHAPTER 3: DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP:NIKE’S CEO MARK PARKER…18-19
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS………………………………...20
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………….21

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INTRODUCTION
Performance of organizations is related to the profitability of the organisations in terms of its
growth and profit both in long and short term. In business organizations, investors and
businessmen desire and endeavour to ensure that their organizations perform well to earn
more profit, grow fast and achieve competitive edge in the industry. For organizations to
perform well, apart from tangible and intangible resources, effective and dynamic leadership
is a pre requisite. Leadership style of the leader of an organization has a strong impact on the
performance of the organization. Though most of the researchers in the past agreed that
leadership style has relationship with organizational performance but there are some who did
not support this view, hence, an ambiguity exists. To address this confusion, the researchers
studies the types/styles of leadership and the leadership styles of different leaders of various
organisation. On the basis of authority ,leadership styles can be of four types:
1. Autocratic Leadership
2. Democratic or participative Leadership
3. Free-Rein or Laisse- Faire Leadership
According to Lawal Leadership is the process of influencing others to work willingly toward
an organisational goal with confidence. “Leadership is generally defined simply as the
process of influencing people to direct their efforts towards achievement of same particular
goal or goals.” According to Koontz et al., “Leadership is generally defined simply as the art
of influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of group
goals.” This concept can be enlarging to include not only willingness to work but with zeal
and confidence.
Leadership has different meaning to different authors. Some have interpreted leaders in
simple terms such as the influence, the art or process of influencing people so that they will
strive willingly and enthusiastically towards achievement of goals. The emphasis of this
definition is that ideally, people should be encouraged to develop not only willingness to
work but also willingness to work with zeal and confidence. Leadership has also been
interpreted more specifically as the use of authority in decision making exercised as an
attribute of position, personal knowledge or wisdom. Ejio defined leadership as a social
influence process in which the leader seeks voluntary participation of subordinates in an
effort to reach organizational objectives. Adebakin and Gbadamosi defined leadership as the
process of influencing and directing the activities of an organised groups towards the
achievement of the group organisation set objectives. The foregoing Lions show leadership
been used on function of personality, behavioural category, the role of a leader and their
ability to achieve effective performance from others, the interpersonal behaviour and the
process of communications.
Despite these variations ,there are at least three important implications of these definitions.
Firstly, leadership is a process engaged in by certain individual. It is an on going activity in
an organisation. Secondly, it involves other people in form of subordinates who by their
willingness are influenced by the leader. Thirdly, the aim pf leadership is accomplishment of
goals and objectives, a pointer that the leaders attempt at influencing the subordinate and
directional and therefore aim at level of achievement.

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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
 To study the different types of leadership styles.
 To study the impact of leadership style in the achievement of organisational goals.
 To examine the relationship between laissez-fair style on organisational performance

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is leadership?
2. What are leadership responsibilities?
3. What are the impact of different leadership styles?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of different leadership styles?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research work is centred on the literature available in the library. Hence, the method of
research will be doctrinal.

HYPOTHESIS
Different leaders adopt different leadership styles which impact the achievement of
organisational goals in different ways. The style of leaders may be different while motivating
the subordinates which shows different results.

LITERARTURE REVIEW

Literature review has shed a light upon essential qualities for individuals holding leadership
positions in organisations. Having a clear vision and the ability of articulating it in an
efficient manner appears as one of the most important leadership skills in the majority of
sources addressed during the preliminary literature review. According to Wart (2008)
effective leaders are able to formulate motivating vision and create a situation where the
vision is shared by all employees within the organisation.
Communication skills are also crucially important to be possessed by organisational leaders
(Gallos, 2008, Bertocci and Bertocci, 2009). Gallos (2008) explains the importance of
communication skills for organisational leaders by referring to the fact that leaders need to
communicate with different organisational stakeholders in a daily basis, and each category of
these stakeholders pursue varying aims and objectives.
According to Stanfield (2009) and Bertocci and Bertocci (2009) decisiveness marks
important trait for organisational leaders. When discussing this specific leadership trait
Stanfield (2009) refers to The Great Man leadership theory, and argues that individuals born

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with leadership skills are tend to be more decisive than individuals who have acquired their
leadership skills on the course of their lives. However, Stanfield (2009) does not offer any
evidences based on empirical studies to justify this viewpoint.
Similarly, self-confidence has been viewed by Goldsmith et al. (2010) and Gold et al. (2010)
as another important leadership trait. Goldsmith et al. (2010) conclude that the value of self-
confidence as a leadership trait increases in times of crises when leaders need to be able to
take decisions while a wide range of factors remain uncertain.
In their analysis of an alternative leadership quality, integrity, Gold et al. (2010) convincingly
argue that the lack of integrity associated with any organisational leader is difficult to conceal
in modern times due to the rapidly advancing levels of internet and various forms of
information technology.
Moreover, a high level of dedication to work is perceived to be highly important leadership
skills by Shriberg (2010). To justify his stand Shriberg (2010) mentions the case studies of
successful organisational leaders such as Apple’s late Steve Jobs and former CEO of General
Electric Jack Welch, where high level of dedication to the company and employees have
enabled organisational leaders to achieve unparalleled success.
Additional important leadership skills and competencies identified as a result of preliminary
literatures review include assertiveness (Wart, 2007, Kreitner and Cassidy, 2012), humility
(Gallos, 2008), sense of humour (Stanfield, 2009, DuBrin, 2012), openness (Goldsmith et al.,
2010), creativity (Kezar et al., 2011) and fairness (Stanfield, 2009, Kezar et al., 2011).

References
Bertocci, D, I. & Bertocci, D.L. (2009) “Leadership in Organisations: There is a Difference
Between Leaders and Managers” University Press of America
Gallos, J.V. (2008) “Business Leadership: A Jossey-Bass Reader” 2 edition, John Wiley &
nd

Sons
Goldsmith, M. Baldoni, J. & McArthur, S. (2010) “The AMA Handbook of Leadership”
AMA
Kezar, A.J., Carducci, R. & McGavin, M.C. (2011) “Rethinking the “L” Word in Higher
Education: The Revolution of Research on Leadership” John Wiley & Sons
Kreitner, R. & Cassidy, C. (2012) “Management” Cengage Learning
Shriberg, A. (2010) “Practicing Leadership: Principles and Applications”, 4 edition, John
th

Wiley & Sons

Stanfield (2009) “Defining Effective Leadership: Lead in Whatever You Do” Tate Publishing
Wart, M.V. (2008) “Leadership in Public Organisations: An Introduction” M.E. Sharpe

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CHAPTER 1 : CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP
Leaders and their leadership skill plays an important role in the growth of any organization.
Leadership refers to the process of influencing the behaviour of people in a manner that they
strive willingly and enthusiastically towards the achievement of group objectives. A leader
should have the ability to maintain good interpersonal relations with the followers or
subordinates and motivate them to help in achieving the organisational objectives. Every
organisation consists of three major elements, which must interrelate effectively it’s the
objective and goals of leadership to be achieved. They are the management, time, people and
task within an organisation. Leadership is the management function that is concerned with
continuous search of the best way to influence subordinates to accomplish goals and
objectives within the continuous process of coordinating man, money and material. It
involves the sum total of behaviour of a superior with his subordinates. Human Resource
Management as the body of leadership determines policies, rules and procedures guiding
relationships and activities in an organisation, which to an extent determines the effectiveness
in achieving the organization goals and objectives. Leadership is vital to employee
performance and corporate excellence. Consequently, organization spends substantial sum of
money in search of effective leadership in training of their personnel in effective leadership
behaviour. There is relative scarcity of effective leadership and that is why organisations
search constantly for it why and lead them to effect, design and develop all the effective
leadership potentials possible in those who are associated with corporate management.

FEATURES OF LEADERSHIP

 Influence the behaviour of others: Leadership is an ability of an individual to influence

the behaviour of other employees in the organization to achieve a common purpose or
goals so that they are willingly co-operating with each other for the fulfilment of the
same.

 Inter-personal process: It is an interpersonal process between the leader and the followers.
The relationship between the leader and the followers. The relationship between the
leader and the followers decides how efficiently and effectively the targets of the
organization would be met.

 Attainment of common organizational goals: the purpose of leadership is to guide the

people in an organization to work towards the attainment of common organisational
goals. The leader brings the people and their efforts together to achieve common goals.

 Continuous process: Leadership is a process which is continuous in nature. A leader has

to guide his employee every time and also monitor them in order to make sure that their
efforts are going in the same direction and that they are not deviating from their goals.

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 Dependent on the situation: It is situation bound as it all depends upon tackling the
situations present. Thus, there is no single best style of leadership.

IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP

 Initiating Action: Leadership starts from the very beginning, even before the work
actually starts. A leader is a person who communicates the policies and plans to the
subordinates to start a work.

 Providing Motivation: A leader motivates the employees by giving them financial and
non financial incentives and gets the work done efficiently. Motivation is a driving force
in an individual’s life.

 Providing guidance: a leader not only supervises the employees but also guides the them
in their work. He instructs the subordinates on how to perform their work effectively so
that their efforts don’t get wasted.

 Creating confidence: A leader acknowledges the effort of the employees, explains to them
their role clearly and guides them to achieve their goals. He also resolves the complaints
and problems of the employees, thereby building confidence in them regarding the
organization.

 Building work environment : A good leaders should maintain personal contacts with the
employees and should hear their problems and solve them. He always listens to the point
of view of the employees and in case of disagreement persuades them to agree with him
by giving suitable clarifications. In case of conflicts, he handles them carefully and does
not allow it to adversely affect the entity. A positive and efficient work environment helps
in stable growth of the organization.

 Co-ordination: A leader reconciles the personal interests of the employees with the
organizational goals and achieves co-ordination in the entity.

 Induces change: A leader persuades, clarifies and inspires employees to accept any
change in the organization without much resistance and discontentment. He makes sure
that employees don’t feel insecure about the damages.

 Creating successors: A leader trains his subordinates in such a manner that they can
succeed him in future easily in his absence. He creates more leaders.

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 QUALITIES OF A LEADER

Often, the success of an organization is attributed to its leaders. But, one must not forget that
it’s the followers that make a leader successful by accepting his leadership. Thus, leaders and
followers collectively play a key role to make leadership successful.
Some of the qualities that a leader should posses are as follows:

 Personality: A pleasing personality always attracts people. A leader should also

friendly yet authoritative so that he inspires people to work hard like him.

 Knowledge: A subordinate looks up to his leader for any suggestion which he needs.
A good leader should thus possess adequate knowledge and competence in order to
influence the subordinates.

 Integrity: A leader needs to possess high level of integrity and honesty. He should
have a fair outlook and should base his judgement on the facts and logic. He should
be objective and not biased.

 Initiative: A good leader takes initiative to grab the opportunities and not wait for
them and use them to the advantage of the organisation.

 Communication skills: A leader needs to be a good communicator so that he can

explain his ideas, policies, and procedures to the people. He not only needs to be a
good speaker but also a good listener, counsellor and persuader.

 Motivation skills: A leader needs to be an effective motivator who understands the

needs of the people and motivates them by satisfying those needs.

 Self- confidence and will power: A leader needs to hae a high level of self-
confidence and immense will power and should not lose it even in the worst
situations, else employees will not believe in him.

 Intelligence: A leader needs to be intelligent enough to analyse the pros and cons of a
situation and take a decision accordingly. He also needs to have a vision and fore
sightedness so that he can predict the future impact of the decisions taken by him.

 Decisiveness: A leader has to be decisive in managing work and should be firm on the
decisions taken by him.

 Social skills: A leader should possess empathy towards others. He should also be a
humanist who helps the people with their personal problems. He also needs to possess
a sense of responsibility and accountability because with great authority comes great
responsibility.

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CHAPTER 2: TYPES OF LEADERSHIP(on the basis of
authority)
On the basis of authority leadership style can be categorised as follows:-

Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership, is a leadership style

characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members.
Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their ideas and judgments and rarely
accept advice from followers. Autocratic leadership involves absolute, authoritarian control
over a group.

Like other leadership styles, the autocratic style has both some benefits and some
weaknesses. While those who rely on this approach to heavily are often seen as bossy or
dictator-like, this level of control can have benefits and be useful in certain situations. When
and where the authoritarian style is most useful can depend on factors such as the situation,
the type of task the group is working on, and characteristics of the team members.

If you tend to utilize this type of leadership with a group, learning more about your style and
the situations in which this style is the most effective can be helpful.

Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership

Some of the primary characteristics of autocratic leadership include:

 Little or no input from group members

 Leaders make almost all of the decisions1
 Group leaders dictate all the work methods and processes
 Group members are rarely trusted with decisions or important tasks
 Work tends to be highly structured and very rigid
 Creativity and out-of-the box thinking tend to be discouraged
 Rules are important and tend to be clearly outlined and communicated

The autocratic style tend to sound quite negative. It certainly can be when overused or
applied to the wrong groups or situations. However, autocratic leadership can be
beneficial in some instances, such as when decisions need to be made quickly without
consulting with a large group of people. Some projects require strong leadership to get
things accomplished quickly and efficiently.
 When the leader is the most knowledgeable person in the group, the autocratic style
can lead to fast and effective decisions.
 The autocratic leadership style can be useful in the following instances:
 It can be effective in small groups where leadership is lacking. Have you ever
worked with a group of students or co-workers on a project that got derailed by poor
organization, a lack of leadership and an inability to set deadlines? If so, the chances
are that your grade or job performance suffered as a result. In such situations, a strong
leader who utilizes an autocratic style can take charge of the group, assign tasks to
different members, and establish solid deadlines for projects to be finished.

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  These types of group projects tend to work better when one person is either assigned
the role of leader or simply takes on the job on their own. By setting clear roles,
assigning tasks, and establishing deadlines, the group is more likely to finish the
project on time and with everyone providing equal contributions.
 It can also be used well in cases where a great deal of pressure is involved. In
situations that are particularly stressful, such as during military conflicts, group
members may prefer an autocratic style. This allows members of the group to focus
on performing specific tasks without worrying about making complex decisions. This
also allows group members to become highly skilled at performing certain duties,
which is ultimately beneficial to the success of the entire group.
 Manufacturing and construction work can also benefit from the autocratic style.
In these situations, it is essential that each person have a clearly assigned task, a
deadline, and rules to follow. Autocratic leaders tend to do well in these settings
because they ensure that projects are finished on time and that workers follow safety
rules to prevent accidents and injuries.

Downsides of Autocratic Leadership

While autocratic leadership can be beneficial at times, there are also many instances where
this leadership style can be problematic.

People who abuse an autocratic leadership style are often viewed as bossy, controlling, and
dictatorial. This can sometimes result in resentment among group members.

Group members can end up feeling that they have no input or say in how things or done, and
this can be particularly problematic when skilled and capable members of a team are left
feeling that their knowledge and contributions are undermined.

Some common problems with autocratic leadership:

This style tends to discourage group input. Because autocratic leaders make decisions
without consulting the group, people in the group may dislike that they are unable to
contribute ideas. Researchers have also found that autocratic leadership often results in a lack
of creative solutions to problems, which can ultimately hurt the group from performing.

Autocratic leaders tend to overlook the knowledge and expertise that group members might
bring to the situation. Failing to consult with other team members in such situations hurts the
overall success of the group.

Autocratic leadership can also impair the morale of the group in some cases. People tend
to feel happier and perform better when they feel like they are making contributions to the
future of the group. Since autocratic leaders typically do not allow input from team members,
followers start to feel dissatisfied and stifled.

How Can Autocratic Leaders Thrive?

The autocratic style can be beneficial in some settings, but also has its pitfalls and is not
appropriate for every setting and with every group. If this tends to be your dominant
leadership style, there are things that you should consider whenever you are in a leadership
role.

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 Listen to team members. You might not change your mind or implement their advice,
but subordinates need to feel that they can express their concerns. Autocratic leaders can
sometimes make team members feel ignored or even rejected, so listening to people with
an open mind can help them feel like they are making an important contribution to the
group's mission.
 Establish clear rules. In order to expect team members to follow your rules, you need to
first ensure that these guidelines are clearly established and that each person on your team
is fully aware of them.
 Provide the group with the knowledge and tools they need. Once your subordinates
understand the rules, you need to be sure that they actually have the education and
abilities to perform the tasks you set before them. If they need additional assistance, offer
oversight and training to fill in this knowledge gap.
 Be reliable. Inconsistent leaders can quickly lose the respect of their teams. Follow
through and enforce the rules you have established.

 Recognize success. Your team may quickly lose motivation if they are only criticized
when they make mistakes but never rewarded for their successes.

DEMOCRARTIC LEADERSHIP

Democratic leadership, also known as participative leadership or shared leadership, is a type

of leadership style in which members of the group take a more participative role in the
decision-making process.1 This type of leadership can apply to any organization, from private
businesses to schools to government.

Everyone is given the opportunity to participate, ideas are exchanged freely, and discussion is
encouraged. While the democratic process tends to focus on group equality and the free flow
of ideas, the leader of the group is still there to offer guidance and control. The democratic
leader is charged with deciding who is in the group and who gets to contribute to the
decisions that are made.

Researchers have found that the democratic leadership style is one of the most effective types
and leads to higher productivity, better contributions from group members, and increased
group morale.

Characteristics

Some of the primary characteristics of democratic leadership include:

 Group members are encouraged to share ideas and opinions, even though the leader
retains the final say over decisions.
 Members of the group feel more engaged in the process.

Strong democratic leaders inspire trust and respect among followers. They are sincere and
base their decisions on their morals and values. Followers tend to feel inspired to take action
and contribute to the group. Good leaders also tend to seek diverse opinions and do not try to
silence dissenting voices or those that offer a less popular point of view

Benefits

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Because group members are encouraged to share their thoughts, democratic leadership can
lead to better ideas and more creative solutions to problems. Group members also feel more
involved and committed to projects, making them more likely to care about the end results.
Research on leadership styles has also shown that democratic leadership leads to higher
productivity among group members.
Drawbacks
While democratic leadership has been described as the most effective leadership style, it does
have some potential downsides. In situations where roles are unclear or time is of the
essence, democratic leadership can lead to communication failures and uncompleted projects.

In some cases, group members may not have the necessary knowledge or expertise to make
quality contributions to the decision-making process. Democratic leadership can also lead to
team members feeling like their opinions and ideas aren't taken into account, which may
lower employee satisfaction and morale.

LAISSEZ- FAIR STYLE OF LEADERSHIP

Laissez-faire leadership, also known as delegative leadership, is a type of leadership style in
which leaders are hands-off and allow group members to make the decisions. Researchers
have found that this is generally the leadership style that leads to the lowest productivity
among group members.1

However, it is important to realize that this leadership style can have both benefits and
possible pitfalls. There are also certain settings and situations where a laissez-faire leadership
style might be the most appropriate. Knowing your dominant leadership style can be helpful
for understanding your own strengths and potential weakness.

Characteristics of Laissez-Faire Leadership

Laissez-faire leadership is characterized by:

 Very little guidance from leaders

 Complete freedom for followers to make decisions
 Leaders provide the tools and resources needed
 Group members are expected to solve problems on their own
 Power is handed over to followers, yet leaders still take responsibility for the groups
decisions and actions

There have been a number of well-known political and business leaders throughout history
who have exhibited characteristics of a laissez-faire leadership style. Steve Jobs was known
for giving instructions about what he would like to see to his team but then leaving them to
their own devices to figure out how to fulfill his wishes.2

1
Anbazhagan S, Kotur BR. Worker Productivity, Leadership Style Relationship. IOSR Journal of Business and
Management. 2014;16(8):62-70. doi:10.9790/487x-16846270

2
How Apple Works: Inside the World's Biggest Startup. Fortune.

14
 Former U.S. President Herbert Hoover was famous for taking a more laissez-faire approach to
governing, often by allowing more experienced advisors to take on tasks where he lacked knowledge
and expertise.

Benefits of Laissez-Faire Leadership

Like other leadership styles, the delegative approach has both a number of benefits and
shortcomings. Sometimes this style can be effective, particularly if it is used appropriately in
the right settings and with groups that respond well.

Some examples of when this style of leadership works well:

When team members have the skills to succeed. Laissez-faire leadership can be effective in
situations where group members are highly skilled, motivated, and capable of working on
their own. Since these group members are experts and have the knowledge and skills to work
independently, they are capable of accomplishing tasks with very little guidance.
When group members are experts. The delegative style can be particularly effective in
situations where group members are actually more knowledgeable than the group's leader.3
Because team members are the experts in a particular area, the laissez-faire style allows them to
demonstrate their deep knowledge and skill surrounding that particular subject.

When independence is valued. This autonomy can be freeing to some group members and
help them feel more satisfied with their work. The laissez-faire style can be used in situations
where followers have a high-level of passion and intrinsic motivation for their work.

While the conventional term for this style is 'laissez-faire' and implies a completely hands-off
approach, many leaders still remain open and available to group members for consultation
and feedback. They might provide direction at the beginning of a project, but then allow
group members to do their jobs with little oversight.

This approach to leadership requires a great deal of trust. Leaders need to feel confident that
the members of their group possess the skills, knowledge, and follow through to complete a
project without being micromanaged.
Downsides of Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez-faire leadership is not ideal in situations where group members lack the knowledge or
experience they need to complete tasks and make decisions. This style of leadership has been
linked to negative outcomes including poor job performance, low leader effectiveness, and
less group satisfaction.

Some people are not good at setting their own deadlines, managing their own projects and
solving problems on their own. In such situations, projects can go off-track and deadlines can
be missed when team members do not get enough guidance or feedback from leaders.

Some possible negative sides of the laissez-faire style:

Lack of role awareness. In some situations, the laissez-faire style leads to poorly defined
roles within the group.5 Since team members receive little to no guidance, they might not
3
Al-Malki M, Juan W. Impact of Laissez-Faire Leadership on Role Ambiguity and Role Conflict: Implications for Job
Performance. International Journal Of Innovation And Economic Development. 2018;4(1):29-43. doi:10.18775/ijied.1849-
7551-7020.2015.41.2003

15
really be sure about their role within the group and what they are supposed to be doing with
their time.
Poor involvement with the group. Laissez-faire leaders are often seen as uninvolved and
withdrawn, which can lead to a lack of cohesiveness within the group. 6 Since the leader
seems unconcerned with what is happening, followers sometimes pick up on this and express
less care and concern for the project.
Low accountability. Some leaders might even take advantage of this style as a way to avoid
personal responsibility for the group's failures. When goals are not met, the leader can then
blame members of the team for not completing tasks or living up to expectations.
Passivity and avoidance. At its worst, laissez-faire leadership represents passivity or even an
outright avoidance of true leadership. In such cases, these leaders do nothing to try to
motivate followers, do not recognize the efforts of team members, and make no attempts at
involvement with the group.

If group members are unfamiliar with the task or the process needed to accomplish the task,
leaders are better off taking a more hands-on approach. Eventually, as followers acquire more
expertise, leaders might then switch back to a more delegative approach that gives group
members more freedom to work independently.

Where Laissez-Faire Leaders Might Thrive

If you tend to have a more laissez-faire approach to leadership, there are areas and situations
where you might tend to do better. Working in a creative field where people tend to be highly
motivated, skilled, creative, and dedicated to their work can be conducive to obtaining good
results with this style.

For example, a delegative leader might excel in a product design field. Because team
members are well-trained and highly creative, they likely need little in the way of
management. Instead, an effective leader can provide minimal oversight and guidance and
still produce high-quality results.

Laissez-faire leaders typically excel at proving information and background at the start of a
project, which can be particularly useful for self-managed teams. By giving team members all
that they need at the outset of an assignment, they will then have the knowledge they need to
complete the task as directed.

Even in such fields, it may pay to utilize a variety of leadership approaches at different
phases of the work process. For example, laissez-faire leadership may be most effective
during the early phases when a product or idea is being brainstormed or created. Once the
design is in place and ready for production, it may be best to switch to a style that involves
more direction and oversight.

A leader with this style may struggle in situations that require great oversight, precision, and
attention to detail. In high stakes and high-pressure work settings where every detail needs to
be perfect and completed in a timely manner, a more authoritarian or managerial style may be
more appropriate. Using a laissez-faire approach in this type of scenario can lead to missed
deadlines and poor performance, particularly if group members are unsure of what they need
to be doing or do not have the skills they need to perform tasks with little to no direction.

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17
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE: NIKE’S CEO MARK
PARKER
Mark G. Parker at the age of 61, is the third CEO of Nike. He joined Nike as a footwear
designer in 1979, advanced up the chain of command and was named CEO in 2006. Since
coming to the office, Parker has more than doubled Nike sales, and has been described as the
world’s most creative CEO.
Now that Nike is no longer the feisty underdog to brands like Adidas, Parker has the tricky
task of finding growth in a wildly successful company. He says that often size turns to
“constipation.” Size fogs the lens about what is really happening. He believes that turning
size and success into a formula and institutionalizing it “…can be death.”
Nike is, today, the world leader across many athletic shoe categories. It holds a 62% market
share of the U.S. athletic shoe market. The company focuses on technology in design, in
manufacturing, in marketing and increasingly in retail.

What is Mark Parker’s famous leadership style? He is known for a thoughtful if demanding
leadership style. As an introverted CEO, he is something of an oddity in the world of
headline-grabbing CEOs. He takes a meticulous approach to product development known as
“design thinking.”

Always surrounded by an eclectic mix of contemporary art and sculpture (including lots of
miniatures of Nike shoes), Parker believes in art, not only for personal pleasure but as an aid
to his designs, achieving a view of world culture. Parker describes himself as “…inspired by
visual stimulation.” He equates his managerial style to being like an editor. He focuses his
process on helping his subordinates hone their ideas. He also hones and sharpens his own
words and ideas as he expresses them. He describes his leadership style as an “edit and
amplify” approach.
When Parker noted that Nike’s R&D department was exploring with a total of 350 new ideas,
he recognized that this number was too high. He told the group that they had too many
projects. He pushed the staff to make some hard choices. Then he got personally involved,
not in personally editing out projects but working with his department to set up criteria to
evaluate what things the company needs to accomplish. With Parker’s involvement, the R&D
team cut the idea list down to 50.
Parker has built a corporate culture from the culture of sports (he himself was a competitive
runner). He encourages his staff to continuously look for ways to improve, to adapt to the
environment. He sees the pace of change is an opportunity and tells his staff to get on the
offensive. Parker is personally involved with the development of new technologies.
If Nike had stuck to its successful formula they would never have pursued FlyKnit, a new
Nike technology that allows shoes to be sewn with thread instead of being cut from sections

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of fabric. He sees this as “challenging a set model…that existed for thousands of years [and
introducing] a whole new way.”
At Nike, Parker uses different leadership approaches, depending on what circumstances
demand. Sometimes, he says, you need to go hard and fast. Top down leadership can make
that happen. Ideas may come from the bottom but the direction and support can be top-down.
Parker looks for ideas from the bottom. He walks the halls at Nike’s facilities and sometimes
sees things that bring possibilities to mind. He believes that Nike has to expose itself to deals
from anywhere, including different parts of the world.
“I end up asking a lot of questions,” Parker says he doesn’t believe in micromanaging. He
elicits ideas from his staff and then encourages people along to refine them. He trusts his staff
to know what to do. He goes out of his way to solicit ideas from junior members of the team.
He likes to pull raw ideas out and put them in the spotlight. He likes to celebrate the fact that
ideas can come from anywhere. Little side projects can grow into multi-billion dollar
franchises.

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CONCLUSION
Leadership is an important function of the management. It refers to the process of influencing
the subordinates so that they work enthusiastically and willingly towards the achievement of
the organisational goals. On the basis of authority leadership can be categorised as autocratic,
democratic and laissez fair. In autocratic leadership, the superior holds all the power, there is
centralisation of power and the subordinates cant give suggestions. the have to only follow
the superior. This saves time but may lead to dissatisfaction among employees. Then comes
the democratic or participative style of leadership. In this, the flow of communication is both
upwards and downwards, i.e., the subordinate can give suggestions and the leader listens to
their suggestion and may also work on it if it is good for the organisation. This leads to
innovation, increase in employee morale but it may lead to a delay in time. Another type of
leadership is laissez fair style of leadership, in which the subordinates are given full
autonomy. They take all the decisions, the help pf superior or leader is taken only when it is
taken but it requires a high level of trust.

SUGGESTIONS
According to the findings of research it is found that, on the basis of authority there are
basically three types of leadership styles. The suggestions according to the findings of
research could be as follows:-
 From organization point of view, laissez fair of style of leadership is negative for the
organization. So the company should avoid this type of leadership as it gives
compete autonomy to subordinates so there could be mishandling or wastage of
resources due to lack of experience.
 Autocratic leadership though completes the work on time and leads to minimal
wastage of resources so it can be adopted but the demotivated and dissatisfied
employees could leave the organisation due to centralisation of power so , this
should be kept in mind that human resource is an integral part of the organization.
 In democratic or participative leadership, since the communication is both upwards
and downwards and employees gets chance to keep their views and ideas in front of
superior so it may bring innovation in the organisation and may increase the
competition for other firms in the market. So it is the best form of leadership and the
organisation should opt for this.
 At times and according to different situations , the leader can opt for different
leadership styles.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.toppr.com/guide/business-studies/directing/leadership/

http://iedunote.com/leadership-styles-based-authority

http://m.economictimes.com

www.businessdictionary.com

http://businessjargons.com

http://businessinsider.com

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