One enduring theme in leadership studies centers upon the amount of power the leader should wield.  At one end is the leader who keeps a lot of power to him/herself, whose subordinates roles are reduced to simply carrying out the dictates of the leader.  The directive or autocratic leader is someone who is centrally involved in discussing, deciding, and solving problems. This leader assigns specific tasks to subordinates, plans each task in detail, and sees the completion of the task as paramount.  Directive leadership allocates tremendous control and responsibility to the leader, and the focus is almost exclusively upon completing the task at hand.  

At the other end is the leader who delegates a significant portion of her/his authority to others.  A participative or democratic leader is someone who allocates to the group the tasks of discussing, deciding, and solving problems.  (The group thus "participates" in leading itself).  Power is not closely guarded but openly shared, and while the completion of the task is important, the needs of those in the group are not automatically subordinated to that end. Here the focus is upon both the process of leading and the completion of the task).

 

Which leadership style to use will depend upon both the individual, the situation, and the goals being sought.  For instance, if my house is burning down and the fire department arrives, I do not want the captain to sit the firefighters down on my lawn and begin querying them about possible causes/solutions to the problem at hand.   I want her/him to be very directive, telling each person what to do and when to do it.

Below is a table (from the July-August 1981 issue of Personnel) listing which situational factors are relevant to choosing an appropriate leadership style. 

Consider being DIRECTIVE when...	Consider being PARTICIPATIVE when...
The Leader: Has complete, unrestrained power; has some unique knowledge; is in almost no danger of losing her position	The Leader: Has limited or no power to compel action; serves at the behest of the group;has limited or no sanctions to exert; possesses limited or no special knowledge
The Followers: Are leader-dependent persons; possess low educational backgrounds; have little desire for independence; have no job security; are autocratic themselves	The Followers: Have some control (or even more than the leader); are well-educated professionals, possessing relatively scarce skills; dislike authority; are volunteers in short supply
The Work situation: Features tight discipline and strong controls; allows little room for error; includes physical dangers; requires low skilss from workers; includes significant time pressures	The Work situation: Involves shared responsiblity or is unstructured, with little or no time pressures; demands some teamwork; occurs in a safe environment, with changes needing to occur gradually
IF CARRIED TO THE EXTREME, DIRECTIVE LEADERSHIP CAN RESULT IN: Poor communication, inflexibility, slow to adapt to changing circumstances, stunted growth amongst followers.	IF CARRIED TO THE EXTREME, PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP CAN RESULT IN: Slow decision-making, loss of direction or purpose, chaos and fragmentation.

 

Think of these styles as opposing ends of a continuum rather than stark, either/or choices.  One can be either more or less directive, or more or less participative, depending upon the situation.

Spider Old Woman highlights the use of participative leadership -- pay careful attention as you read to how she uses her power.

 

ANSWERS TO THIS ASSIGNMENT ARE TO BE POSTED TO YOUR GROUP WEBBOARD. Divide them up as you see fit.

ASSINGMENT

PART I: Come up with at least 4 examples from the text in which Spider Old Woman uses participative rather than directive leadership. For each example, list what a directive leader might have done in that situation.

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PART II (Do both parts):

(A) Come up with 3 original scenarios of your own in which some leadership is needed. Then, suggest

(a) a possible participative response, and (b) a possible directive response.

(B) Pick ONE of your scenarios above – does one of the two leadership responses you listed (participative or directive) seem more appropriate for that scenario or not? Briefly explain your answer.