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Exam code:7131

Influences on leadership style

Influence	Explanation	Examples
Leader’s personality	A confident, risk‑taking person may give direct orders An empathetic person may coach and listen	Elon Musk often sets tough, top‑down targets at SpaceX Satya Nadella uses a friendly, team‑focused style at Microsoft
Business tradition	Companies with a history of sharing power prefer democratic leaders Tall hierarchies favour clear chains of command	The John Lewis Partnership has shared power with staff (“partners”) for over 100 years, so managers routinely consult teams before decisions
Nature of the labour force	Highly skilled or unionised teams expect a say Less‑skilled, short‑term teams may accept tighter control	BMW’s strong works council system in Germany forces managers to negotiate changes, encouraging a consultative style
Nature of the task and timescale	Routine, low‑risk tasks can be delegated Urgent or life‑and‑death tasks need fast, decisive leadership	NASA mission control adopted decisive, centralised leadership during the Apollo 13 crisis to solve urgent problems within hours
External factors	Shocks such as pandemics, scandals or new laws can push leaders to act differently	Tesco switched to a more directive style in 2020, hiring 50,000 temporary staff in weeks to keep shelves stocked during Covid‑19

A leadership style is effective when it helps a team meet its goals and keeps people motivated and productive in the long run
Leaders need to have the support of others within an organisation for their approach to be effective
- More senior leaders must provide backing and necessary resources
- Subordinates must respect and be willing to follow the instructions of leaders

Leadership style	Situation	Example
Autocratic	Fast, clear orders save time in an emergency or high‑risk job	Tesla engineers are directed to work extra hours on the production line without discussion to meet tight launch deadlines
Democratic	Draws on many ideas and builds buy‑in when staff are skilled and creative	Google’s 20% time policy lets engineers pitch ideas such as Gmail, boosting innovation
Laissez-faire	Where team members are experts who value freedom and self‑manage	Netflix’s “freedom and responsibility” culture leaves decisions to small content teams

Leadership style	Situation	Example
Autocratic	Can reduce morale and ideas in creative sectors	An autocratic boss in a design agency may drive staff to quit for more freedom
Democratic	Slow decision‑making and consultation could be time-consuming and dangerous in a crisis	Hospitals switch to command‑and‑control triage leadership during mass‑casualty events
Laissez-faire	Lack of guidance for new or low‑skill teams	Early‑career teachers left without coaching miss performance targets

The Tannenbaum-Schmidt continuum is a model that highlights the range of different management styles that may be adopted, ranging from a “tell” approach to one that involves delegation
It demonstrates that leadership is a sliding scale, not fixed
- As a manager gives the team more freedom, the manager exercises less personal authority
A manager knowing where they are on the scale helps them pick the best style for the situation and shift along the line as the team gains skills or the task changes

Position on the scale	Manager behaviour	Team behaviour
Tell	The leader states the decision in full and specifies exactly how, when and by whom work must be done	Staff obey the instructions; they make no proposals and cannot question the plan
Sell	The leader decides but explains the reasons, answers objections and tries to win commitment	Team members may ask clarifying questions yet have no power to change the decision itself
Consult	Leader outlines a provisional decision and actively seeks ideas before making the final call	The team suggests improvements and can influence details, but the manager keeps final authority
Join	The leader presents the problem, sets boundaries and co‑decides with the group through discussion	The team shares an equal voice in analysing options and shaping the final decision within the limits set
Delegate	The leader defines broad goals or constraints and hands full decision‑making and execution to the team	The team plans, decides and acts independently; the manager monitors results and offers support on request

Guides style choice
- By checking the urgency of a task, the team’s skill level and risk, a manager can choose a point on the scale that gets decisions made quickly without reducing motivation
Supports development
- Moving gradually from “tell” towards “delegate” trains employees
- This can build confidence and future leaders
Encourages flexibility
- It reminds managers that style should shift
  - E.g. start with “consult” for routine work, change to “tell” in a crisis, then return to “join” once the situation stabilises
Links to modern ideas
- It fits well with situational leadership and empowerment, showing that freedom and control can be balanced