LDC Course Notes Week 6
Types of Leadership - Styles drawn from Theories
- Autocratic or Authoritarian Style of Leadership
- Under the autocratic leadership style, all decision-making powers are centralised in the leader. Leaders do not entertain any suggestions or initiatives from subordinates. This approach provides for quick decision making but is generally not successful in gaining employee engagement
- Laissez-faire or Free-rein Style of Leadership
- A person may be in a leadership position without providing leadership, leaving the group to fend for itself. Subordinates are given a free hand in deciding their own policies and methods. This can sometimes be a positive leadership style if workers are responsible and self-starting and do not require a lot of supervision.
- Participative or Democratic Style of Leadership
- A participative or democratic style of leadership involves the leader sharing decision- making abilities with group members while also promoting the interests of the group members and practicing social equality. Employees will likely enjoy this style of leadership because it gives them a say in many decisions.
- Transformational Style of Leadership
- The transformational leadership style is one of the most inspiring leadership styles that enhances the motivation, morale and job performance of followers. The concept was initially introduced by James MacGregor Burns- a leadership expert and presidential biographer. According to Burns, transformational leadership can be seen when "leaders and followers make each other to advance to a higher level of morality and motivation."
Leadership styles according to Goleman
Based on a three-year study of over 3,000 executives, Daniel Goleman identified six different leadership styles:
- Pace-setting
- Authoritative
- Affiliative
- Democratic
- Coaching
- coercive or commanding
Six Leadership Styles
- Pace-setting leaders expect excellence and self-direction, and can be summed up as ‘Do as I do, now’. The Pace-setter very much leads by example, but this type of leadership only works with a highly-competent and well-motivated team. It can only be sustained for a while without team members flagging. Like the Coercive leader, Pace-setters also show drive to succeed and initiative, but instead of self-control, these are coupled with conscientiousness.
- Authoritative leaders move people towards a vision, so are often described as ‘Visionary’. This style is probably best summed up as ‘Come with me’. It is the most useful style when a new vision or clear direction is needed, and is most strongly positive. Authoritative leaders are high in self-confidence and empathy, acting as a change catalyst by drawing people into the vision and engaging them with the future.
- An Affiliative leader values and creates emotional bonds and harmony, believing that ‘People come first’. Such leaders demonstrate empathy, and strong communication skills, and are very good at building relationships. This style is most useful when a team has been through a difficult experience, and needs to heal rifts, or develop motivation. It is not a very goal-oriented style, so anyone using it will need to make sure others understand that the goal is team harmony, and not specific tasks. It is probably obvious from this that it cannot be used on its own for any length of time if you need to ‘get the job done’.
- The democratic leader builds consensus through participation, constantly asking ‘What do you think?’, and showing high levels of collaboration, team leadership and strong communication skills. This style of leadership works well in developing ownership for a project, but it can make for slow progress towards goals, until a certain amount of momentum has built up. Anyone wishing to use this style will need to make sure that senior managers are signed up to the process, and understand that it may take time to develop the consensus.
- A coaching leader will develop people, allowing them to try different approaches in an open way. The phrase that sums up this style is ‘Try it’, and this leader shows high levels of empathy, self-awareness and skills in developing others. A coaching style is especially useful when an organisation values long-term staff development
- Coercive leaders demand immediate obedience. In a single phrase, this style is ‘Do what I tell you’. These leaders show initiative, self-control, and drive to succeed. There is, of course, a time and a place for such leadership: a battlefield is the classic example, but any crisis will need clear, calm, commanding leadership. This style does not, however, encourage anyone else to take the initiative, and often has a negative effect on how people feel.
Tū Rangatira
Tū Rangatira: Māori Medium Educational Leadership (2010) presents a model of leadership that reflects some of the key leadership roles and practices that contribute to high-quality educational outcomes for Māori learners. It focuses on leadership practices, providing insights into how effective professional development programmes can work towards strengthening leaders’ capabilities, growing capacity and sustaining exemplary leadership in the Māori medium education sector.
Critical reflection
'Critical reflection is an extension of “critical thinking”. It asks us to think about our practice and ideas and then it challenges us to step-back and examine our thinking by asking probing questions. It asks us to not only delve into the past and look at the present but importantly it asks us to speculate about the future and act.’
Victoria State Government. (2007). A “Critical” Reflection Framework. Retrieved from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/professionals/support/reffram.pdf
Connected learning seeks to find ways to connect the lives and experiences of learners to the outcomes that educators feel are necessary to prepare students for their futures. While no single recipe exists for connecting learning, it does require teachers to have strong relationships with their students and for them to understand their interests, motivations and what they care about. Armed with this information teachers are able to better connect their own agenda to the lives of their students in a manner that is relevant and engaging to the learner.
Connectivism suggests that learning only really takes place in networks. A broader approach to connected learning emphasizes the importance of learning that takes place beyond the formal lesson or the formal classroom. Such learning depends, critically, on the extent to which students are meaningfully engaged in the learning process. As teachers across the planet seek to engage their students in learning they constantly try to find ways to inspire their students and find contexts that are relevant to their learners. In this sense, teacher engagement - sometimes referred to as 'teacher presence' is equally important.
How connected is your presence as teacher?
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