Nelson Mandela

My style of leadership...

Style:  Participative

Other Names:  Democratic or Consulting

Amount of Control:  Medium (selling, reasoning, persuading, consulting)

What it Involves:  

* Builds consensus through participation: the leader makes the final decision, but the team to contribute to the decision-making process

* The leader asks the team's opinions & uses these to make decisions

* The team is kept informed & are allowed to discuss & propose changes to policy

* The leader can't know everything: this is why you employ skilful team members

* This style is not a sign of weakness, more a sign of strength your team will respect.  

When Used:  
* When organisational flexibility and a sense of individual responsibility is needed

* Where team working is essential

* When quality is more important than speed or productivity

Pros - mutual benefit:

* Allows members to feel part of the team & leader to make better decisions

* Members feel in control & motivated to work hard

* Increases job satisfaction by involving the team in decisions

* Helps to develop team members' skills

* Most consistent in quality & productivity

Cons:

* This style may result in indecision, and some team members may be left feeling confused and leaderless

* As participation takes time things may happen more slowly than with an autocratic approach, but often the end result is better

I guess if I was to be compared to anyone that portraits great leadership, I am honoured for that person to be 'Nelson Mandela'.  

The question was asked in class "Would the results be the same if another person was to answer the 50 question on me?"  The question got me thinking, would the results be the same?  I would truly hope it would for I feel that the explanation of Participative Leadership style is already how I work or the type of leader I try to portray.  

Discussions and readings on Emotional Intelligence (EI), also made me reflect on my leadership skills and how I model leadership and my ability to understand people, what drives them and how I can work cooperatively with them.  Trust is important to me and I believe that what ever leadership style or emotional intelligence skills you acquire, none of it will truly build real relationships if trust is not there. 

Whakatauki

He aha te kai o te rangatira?  He korero, he korero, he korero.

What is the food of the leader.  It is knowledge.  It is communication.

Reference:

University of Kent. (2011). How to find out your style of leadership. Retrieved from://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/leadership.htm

Akers, M & Porter, G. (2016). What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)? Retrieved from:https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-emotional-int...