Leadership Styles For The Future: The Need To Embrace Creativity, Empathy And Gender Diversity In India

Leadership styles can have far-reaching impacts on the fate of organisations. The benefits of having excellent leadership at your organisation aren't only restricted to revenue. Leadership styles play a significant role in employee retention, which is critical for cost-cutting. This article will explore the various leadership styles and their potential impact on the future of business.

What Are The 4 Leadership Styles In Management?

While there is a distinction between leadership and management, many consider the leadership vs management debate irrelevant. German-American psychologist Kurt Lewin is credited with branding the basic leadership styles in 1939.

Lewin identified three styles – autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire. Another style that is commonly grouped with Lewin’s three leadership styles is transformational leadership. 

Over time, many more leadership styles have emerged. However, Lewin's categorisation is still considered the definitive classification of leadership styles.

1. Autocratic or authoritarian leadership

As the name suggests, in this kind of leadership, a single person holds all power in decision-making. This style usually works in urgent or chaotic situations where there is a need to make prompt decisions.

Autocratic leadership is often confused with bureaucratic leadership, due to some shared features. However, they are not the same, and it is important to make a clear distinction between these styles.

In autocratic leadership, power is concentrated in one person, who can make the decisions without consulting anyone. Autocratic leaders tend to be less effective in large, sprawling organisations. They work best in smaller teams.

The bureaucratic leadership style, while rigid, has a logical hierarchy where leaders have formal authority and follow strict rules. Decision-making is done based on consultations with subordinates. This type of leadership style is suitable for large organisations.

2. Democratic or participative leadership

As the name suggests, this leadership style resembles the working of democratic governments. It involves gathering input from subordinates and giving team members a chance to contribute to the decision-making process.

This style can greatly enhance the creative potential of subordinates in an organisation. However, the leadership style relies heavily on the skills and dedication, and commitment of the employees.

It also requires careful personnel management. Some employees might feel left out if their inputs are not selected during the decision-making process. This can lead to morale issues and cause friction within teams.

3. Laissez-faire leadership

This style involves empowering employees by being hands-off and trusting them to accomplish the task at hand without constant micromanagement. Laissez-faire leaders are supposedly excellent at delegating.

When it works, this style can result in fast and agile organisations where employees don’t need to wait for formal approval from their superiors. For positive results, this style relies heavily on the skill and competency of employees.

Communication is critical in laissez-faire leadership. If the employees don’t understand the mission or main goals, a hand-off approach can lead to critical errors. Lack of close supervision may also encourage a slacking attitude among employees.

4. Transformational leadership

As the name suggests, this style encourages employees to transform and evolve both personally and professionally while achieving goals. The leader provides a grand vision for the organisation and rallies the surrounding troops.

This style is most suited for long-term goals that demand creativity and innovation for success. When it clicks, it can create high levels of loyalty, productivity, and commitment from all the employees in the organisation.

However, the relentless commitment towards goals associated with this leadership style can lead to burnout among employees after a while. There is also a high risk of employees ending up feeling left out of the loop, especially if their feedback is not actively sought.

The Indian Model Of Leadership

While Lewin's styles are textbook classics, alternative forms of successful leadership have evolved in many countries. One such distinctive brand of successful leadership can be found in India.

The Harvard Business Review study ‘Leadership Lessons from India’ provides some key insights into the Indian model of leadership. The following are the hallmarks of this style:

• Giving full credit to the employees for any success achieved by the business.
• An emphasis on creating a sense of social mission which is fulfilled through business success.
• Giving priority to employee development, despite tight labour markets and high attrition rates. 
• Giving priority to employee engagement and a culture of openness.

Over 61 percent of leaders in India emphasised the role of strategic thinking as the driving force of organisational change. Accountability in leadership was a priority for 57 percent of respondents. And an overwhelming 81 percent of HR heads considered employee training programmes critical for creating a competitive edge.

Creativity And Gender Inclusivity For Successful Leadership

A McKinsey study found that contrary to popular notion, the effective qualities of a good leader are their ability to be visionary and creative. Not just vigilance and reactiveness. Surprisingly, 80 percent of executives tend to have a reactive state of mind.

Gender inclusivity and diversity can help address this issue. Several studies, including one by the University of Los Angeles, indicate that women tend to naturally operate from a more creative state of mind and prefer a more positive approach when under stress.

More women are needed in leadership positions, particularly in India. According to the Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum, the share of women in senior management positions remained low at just 14.6 percent. 

The Dire Need For Changes In Approach To Leadership

According to a Forbes article, poor leaders lost money while good leaders made a profit; extraordinary leaders were capable of doubling a company’s profits. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently estimated that each employee departure costs an organisation about one-third of that worker's annual earnings. 

A global study by Mercer and Mettl discovered a dire shortage of leadership talent in modern business. Over 89 percent of talent that organisations would like to hire are already employed elsewhere.

Worse still, there are increasing concerns about the quality of leadership. Modern employees are more likely to quit in the face of poor leadership qualities in an organisation. MIT Sloan Management Review cited toxic leadership and workplace culture as a major reason for ‘the Great Resignation’ trend.

Managers Need To Embrace A Flexible Approach To Leadership

It seems there needs to be a tectonic cultural shift in how leadership is approached today. In today’s increasingly challenging and complex business landscape, there isn’t a leadership style that trumps the other.

The modern manager faces an increasingly young and diverse workplace, dominated by Millennials and Gen-Z employees. They are far more aspirational and assertive in the workplace. 

Burnout among employees, caused by poor leadership and toxic workplace culture, has been cited as a major issue in India by a McKinsey study on workplace mental health. Writing in The Times of India, Sujaya Banerjee, CEO of Capstone People Consulting, highlighted the alarming rise in toxic management practices during the early years of remote work.

Businesses cannot prosper for long with such appalling authoritarian leadership styles. Managers will have to step out of their comfort zones and try more positive aspects from other leadership styles. That is the only way ahead for productivity and employee retention.