The democratic leader relies on the belief that the employees are able to develop appropriate direction for themselves and for the company. He or she involves employees in the decision making process, listens to their concerns, rewards adequate performance. The democratic leader rarely gives employees negative feedback. The democratic managerial style gives employees the feeling to be empowered in their workplace and are not seen only as simple workers.
Advantage
The democratic managerial style gives employees the feeling to be empowered in their workplace and are not seen only as simple workers. The leader is not the only one to work on finding solutions on how the company can overcome challenges but rather everyone works on solutions using their own education and experience. This encourages innovation, and motivates the team members to show up at work determined and ready to make a change. By allowing every employee to be aware of the complex challenges and concerns the company is facing, employees are more willing to contribute to the success of the company by raising their productivity.
Disadvantage
The democratic managerial style is not effective at all if the team is new or inexperienced because everyone takes part in the decision making process of the company, and therefore needs some experience. The decision making process in the democratic managerial style is often too slow. This is due to the fact there are diverse opinions and ideas from everyone that need to be discussed to consensus. Therefore in an emergency situation where a decision is quickly needed, democratic managerial style can cause some issues. Furthermore, in some occasions, the democratic leadership can provoke negative feelings within the workplace climate when some team members’ ideas are not being implemented, they can grow resentful of the leadership style which can lead them to stop contributing to the process. The democratic style often becomes a trap for the manager. He or she may tend to rely too much on the team to make a decision till loses his or her ability to make decisions as a leader.
The democratic style favors the collective voice and makes everyone feel important in the workplace. However it must be carefully managed to be beneficial and may need to be combined with other leadership styles to maximize its effectiveness.
Related articles:
Coercive Leadership Style,
Authoritative Leadership Style,
Affiliative Leadership Style,
Pacesetting Leadership Style,
Coaching Leadership Style.
