It is a type of leadership in which the leaders allow the group members to make the decisions. It is the opposite of Autocratic Leadership, in which the creativity of each of the employee is assessed. The employees are allowed to apply their own ideas and skills as long as it does not affect the organization in a negative way.
What is Laissez-Faire Leadership?
Laissez-Faire Leadership is a type of leadership in which the team members are granted with full freedom to apply their talents. By adopting this leadership style, the leaders are providing the employees with the resources and the tools that they need to function. The application or the execution of the duties will be carried out by the employees. It may lead to the lowest effective output that has been found by the researchers, as the leaders are not present to supervise the employees. The employees will take their own time and space to finish the tasks which will not be beneficial for the organization. This leadership style is applicable in situations in which the employees are highly skillful and are familiar with any unknown tasks.
Principles of Laissez-Faire Leadership
There are five fundamental principles of this leadership style that is needed to function in an organization. The principles are mentioned below with brief descriptions:
A Strict Hands-Off Approach
The leaders of this leadership style are present to provide the employees with the resources they need. The leaders do not force the employees to follow a specific direction, but allow them to create their own benchmarks and goals for taking their own decisions. This approach is similar to Transformational Leadership, in which the leaders allow their employees to apply their own techniques to finish the tasks that they are assigned with. The leaders will not be present to supervise the employees so that the employees can work on their own pace and time.
Training and Support
The leaders hand over a lot of responsibility to their employees. Because of that, they are very aware of the educational levels and the experiences of the employees that are being hired in an organization. Eventually, the leaders will also play the role of a mentor to train, support and educate the employees regarding their responsibilities and the tasks that they are going to perform. The employees will be motivated gradually and will be able to take the decisions by themselves on how to improve the organization in the future.
Trust in Those They Hired
The leaders of this leadership style are less worried on this approach as they hire the best employees they need for their organization. However, they do care about the direction of the organization and the team members and make it evident by hiring the best people. The leaders look out for the extraordinary qualities that the people have and the contributions that they can provide to the organization. Therefore, the leaders feel that they have the best employees in their organization as they have picked the team members by themselves.
Decisions Are Left to Employees
This approach is similar to Servant Leadership, in which the decisions of the team members are appreciated as they are the building blocks of any organization. The leaders look onto the employees for any solutions or decisions and call to discuss among the employees or discuss with the leaders themselves. The employees play the role of a consultant and a mentor in this approach. The leaders accept the decisions of the employees and apply it to their organization. The leaders also give the importance and the values of the employees as they will be the ones taking the final decisions regarding any project.
Comfortable with Mistakes
The leaders of this leadership establish an atmosphere for innovative ideas unlike Transactional Leadership, which punishes the employees if the ideas are not working or if the employees are not executing the tasks in a right manner. This leadership approaches a way of learning from the mistakes, rather than being under constant pressure of getting everything right. The employees feel relaxed and comfortable as they do not have to receive any punishments for their mistakes and are able to work in flexible conditions.
Laissez-Faire Leadership Example
The main goal of this leadership style is that the employees are allowed to make the choices and the ideas that they are willing to apply to their tasks. For instance, if an organization designs any project such as the building of dams, canals or any railroads, then employees who are experienced in these fields should be hired. By doing so, the leaders will have less pressure on them as they do not need to explain every single detail of the project and can rely upon the workers to contribute their own innovative ideas. Although there may be a low productive output as the leaders may not follow a strict schedule, it will establish a positive atmosphere in which the employees will be motivated to do their work.
Some of the Popular Laissez-Faire Leaders
Herbert Hoover: Hoover was a part of America’s Presidential Cabinet, in which he served as the secretary of commerce for two American Presidents before he became a President himself. He followed the hands-off approach during his Presidency. He chose his employees by not having any office experience and only being expert in engineering. He did trust on his team members as he chose the experienced employees by himself, which was one of the qualities of a laissez-faire leadership.
Andrew Mellon: Mellon was in the banking and commerce sector and he was credited in building the manufacturing industries of America. He had the qualities of a laissez-faire leader as he not only chose the right individuals for running the business; he also went against the government involvement by providing tariffs and other regulations.
Laissez-Faire Leadership Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
1) It allows team members to maximize their own leadership skills: Some of the team members have a wide range of experience of the tasks that they are assigned with. This leadership style allows such employees to use their experiences in order to become successful. When the employees use their skills to get the work done in a right manner, the leader of that team can use hands-off approach without any doubts.
2) It encourages team members to explore new ideas: This leadership approach is applicable for all kinds of innovative ideas in an organization. That occurs as the team stays motivated with various kinds of opinions rather than a single voice. A discussion can take place regarding the opinions which will make the team and the organization stronger.
Disadvantages
1) It downplays the role of the leader on the team: In a laissez-faire leadership, there is no one to supervise the workers at the workplace. The leader does not have any important role as they already follow the hands-off approach. Due to the absence of the leader, many people among the employees step out and claim themselves to be the leader. This may create confusion and chaos as there is a lack of guidance and no information on role substitution.
2) It can be difficult to adapt to changing situations: All the employees in this leadership style do their own work according to their ideas. Thus, it can be very difficult to bring sudden changes in the organization. All the employees need to be informed of the changes that the organization is willing to bring, and whether the employees are ready to adapt to the changing situation of the organization. If anyone of the workers is not ready to accept, then there would be no other way apart from terminating them in order to proceed to the new changes.
Laissez-Faire Leadership FAQs
What is the Role of a Laissez-Faire Leader?
The role of a laissez- faire leader is to act as a mentor and guidance to the employees. They should be able to hire people with high skills and experiences, since they will not be there to supervise the employees. The leaders will only assign the tasks that the employees will be doing. The rest of the tasks will be handled by the employees themselves.
What is a Good Example of Laissez-Faire Leader?
A perfect example of a laissez-faire leader was Warren Buffet. He always involved himself around those who were creative and innovative. He did not interfere in any of his employees’ work, when they made mistakes. He did allow mistakes to happen and assured that it was a part of business and that an individual gets to learn from their mistakes.
The Bottom Line
Laissez- Faire leadership may not be applicable for every organization. It is a disadvantage for those who are new to work or who require a large amount of guidance, but is suitable for those who are professionals and require less supervision. On the other hand, this leadership style may have a huge impact on safety issues, productivity outputs and the satisfaction of the employees.
Reference
- https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/laissez-faire-leadership
- https://louiscarter.com/laissez-faire-leadership/
- https://status.net/articles/laissez-faire-leadership/
- https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-laissezfaire-leadership.aspx
- https://futureofworking.com/5-famous-laissez-faire-leaders/
- https://brandongaille.com/15-laissez-faire-management-style-advantages-and-disadvantages/
- https://www.technofunc.com/index.php/leadership-skills-2/leadership-styles/item/laissez-faire-leadership
Tamanna is working as a content writer at The Strategy Watch. She has recently completed her graduation from a reputed university in Bangladesh. Tamanna was immensely interested in knowing about leadership and has written about different kinds of leadership till now. She has gathered a vast amount of knowledge regarding the topic and is looking forward to work on more leadership related topics in future. Moreover, she is intended to dive deep into the different sectors of the business world and explore them.