What are participative leaders?
"There are four types of participative leaders; ones which use consensus, all members must agree; collective, the majority must agree but everyone is responsible for the process and outcome; democratic, group participates but the leader has the final outcome; autocratic, the leader holds most of the power."as described by Indeed editorial team on participative leadership.
What are followers?
In any corporate or organizational group there is one leader and the rest is made up of followers. Robert Kelly describes in his article In Praise of Followers, from the Harvard Business Review, (Nov-Dec 1988), followers as “[having] the vision to see both the forest and the trees, the social capacity to work well with others, the strength of character to flourish without heroic status, the moral and psychological balance to pursue personal and corporate goals at no cost to either and above all, the desire to participate in a team effort for the accomplishment of some greater common purpose.”
In what ways do participative leaders need followers?
Participative leaders depend on the voice of followers to debate, explore options, see strengths and weaknesses in various ways for each scenario, they provide a multitude of perspectives and talents to source out what could be the best options. Whether the leader asks for consensus or wants the final say, what the group contributes individually and as a whole provides a broader strength in decision making and follow through. When it is by consensus everyone has a stake to make the outcome positive, everyone has skin in the game. The more the leader takes ownership of the decision the less the followers will support the outcome with their whole heart. Indeed’s editorial team reports advantages as being: morale boosting, staff buy-in, collective thinking, unity, retention, value, and independence. The disadvantages they list as: inefficient, social pressure to agree, slow process, not everyone might have the knowledge to participate effectively, indecision as it may be difficult to come to a consensus. As Kelley says participatory leaders need followers “who think for themselves and carry out their duties and assignments with energy and assertiveness.”
Most not-for-profit boards which I have been on have led by collective, the majority must agree but everyone is responsible for the process and outcome. These boards are volunteer and people want to be efficient without too much hassle, collective leadership allows for this. At meetings each group prepares a report, problems are discussed, research is presented, suggestions are voiced, decisions are postponed if needing more information or decisions are happily made. It can feel heated at times. There can be some descension, although everyone is heard. What I have found is when too many times you don’t agree with the decisions that are being made, this seems to be a cue that maybe your time has come to move on.
Indeed, Participative Leadership, editorial team, February 22, 2021, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/participative-leadership
Robert E Kelley, In Praise of Followers, Harvard Business Review, November December, 1988.
Image: http://www.robmacinnis.com/
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