Effective Leadership and Management Styles

Posted on Mar 19, 2025 in Tourism

Leadership: The Importance of It

Leadership is a key part of being a successful manager. Employees want to follow a good leader and will respond positively to them. Good managers are often good leaders too.

Characteristics of Effective Leaders:

  • Desire to succeed and natural self-confidence.
  • Ability to think beyond the obvious.
  • Multi-talented.

Leadership Positions

  • Directors: Usually the head of a major functional department. Responsible for delegating within their department, recruiting staff, and meeting objectives.
  • Managers: Responsible for people, resources, or decision-making. They direct, motivate, and discipline staff in their section.
  • Supervisors: Appointed by managers to oversee the work of others.
  • Workers’ Representative: Elected by the workers in order to discuss areas of common concern with managers.

Leadership Styles

  • Autocratic: The leader takes all decisions, provides little information to staff, supervises workers closely, and uses one-way communication.

Disadvantages: Demotivates staff, and decisions do not benefit from staff input.

Democratic: Participation encourages two-way communication, and workers are given information about the business.

Disadvantages: Consultation with staff can be time-consuming, and sometimes quick decision-making is required.

Paternalistic: Managers do what they think is best for the workers. Some consultation might take place, and managers want workers to be happy.

Disadvantages: Some workers may be dissatisfied with the apparent attempts to consult while not having any real power or influence.

Laissez-faire: Managers delegate virtually all authority and decision-making powers. Very broad criteria or limits are established for the staff to work within.

Disadvantages: Workers may not appreciate the lack of structure and direction in their work or the lack of feedback, as managers won’t be supervising them.

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X managers believe that workers:

  • Dislike work.
  • Will avoid responsibility.
  • Are not creative.

Theory Y managers believe that workers:

  • Can derive as much enjoyment from work as from rest and play.
  • Will accept responsibility.
  • Are creative.

The Best Leadership Style – It Depends on Many Factors

  • The training and experience of workers and the degree of responsibility they are prepared to take on.
  • The amount of time available for consultation and participation.
  • The attitude of managers and management culture.
  • The importance of the issues under consideration.

Informal Leadership

An informal leader is a person who has no formal authority but has the respect of colleagues and some power over them. These people have the ability to lead without formal power, perhaps because of their experience, knowledge, or personality. Managers should attempt to work with informal leaders to help achieve the aims of the business.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability of managers to understand their own emotions and those of the people they work with to achieve better business performance. It means understanding yourself, your goals, your behavior, and your responses to people. It also means understanding others and their feelings.

According to Daniel Goleman, there are four main competencies a manager should try to develop and improve:

  1. Self-awareness: Knowing what we feel is important and using that to make decisions. Having a realistic view of our abilities and self-confidence in them.
  2. Self-management: Being able to recover quickly from stress, being trustworthy and conscientious, and showing initiative and self-control.
  3. Social Awareness: Sensing what others are feeling and being able to take their views into account.
  4. Social Skills: Handling emotions in relationships well and accurately understanding different social situations.