Leadership Theories and Styles

Leadership theories and styles have evolved over time. Kurt Lewin, the father of social psychology, originally identified three leadership styles in the 1930s: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire.^[1],[2]

Authoritarian leadership means the leader has full power. Authoritarian leaders tell team members what to do and expect team members to execute their plans. When fast decisions must be made in emergency situations, such as when a client “codes,” the authoritarian leader makes quick decisions and provides the group with direct instructions. However, there are disadvantages to authoritarian leadership. Authoritarian leaders are more likely to disregard creative ideas of other team members, causing resentment and stress.^[3]

Democratic leadership balances decision-making responsibility among team members and the leader after clear roles and responsibilities have been established. Democratic leadership allows experienced nursing team members who are highly skilled, motivated, and capable to independently manage their daily routines and client care tasks. Additionally, democratic leaders not only actively participate in discussions, but also make sure to listen to the views of others. For example, a nurse supervisor may hold a meeting regarding an increased incidence of client falls on the unit and ask team members to share their observations regarding causes and potential solutions. The democratic leadership style often leads to positive, inclusive, and collaborative work environments that encourage team members’ creativity. Under this style, the leader still retains responsibility for the final decision.^[4]

Laissez-faire is a French word that translates to English as “leave alone.” Laissez-faire leadership gives team members total freedom to perform as they please. Laissez-faire leaders do not participate in decision-making processes and rarely offer opinions. The laissez-faire leadership style can work well if team members are highly skilled and highly motivated to perform quality work. However, without the leader’s input, conflict and a culture of blame may occur as team members disagree on roles, responsibilities, and policies. By not contributing to the decision-making process, the leader forfeits control of team performance.^[5]

Over several decades, Lewin’s original leadership styles have evolved into many styles of leadership in health care, such as passive-avoidant, transactional, transformational, servant, resonant, and authentic.^[6],[7] Many of these leadership styles have overlapping characteristics. See Figure 1.5^[8] for a comparison of various leadership styles in terms of engagement.

Passive-avoidant leadership is similar to laissez-faire leadership and is characterized by a leader who avoids taking responsibility and confronting others. Employees perceive the lack of control over the environment resulting from the absence of clear directives. Organizations with this type of leader have high staff turnover and low retention of employees. These types of leaders tend to react and take corrective action only after problems have become serious and often avoid making any decisions at all.^[9]

Transactional leadership involves both the leader and the follower receiving something for their efforts; the leader gets the job done and the follower receives pay, recognition, rewards, or punishment based on how they perform the tasks assigned to them.^[10] Staff generally work independently with no focus on cooperation among employees or commitment to the organization.^[11]

Transformational leadership involves leaders motivating followers to perform beyond expectations by creating a sense of ownership in reaching a shared vision.^[12] It is characterized by a leader’s charismatic influence over team members and includes effective communication, valued relationships, and consideration of team member input. Transformational leaders know how to convey a sense of loyalty through shared goals, resulting in increased productivity, improved morale, and increased employee job satisfaction.^[13] They often motivate others to do more than originally intended by inspiring them to look past individual self-interest and perform to promote team and organizational interests.^[14] An example of transformational leadership is when a nurse attends a continuing education conference and then presents information learned to colleagues during a staff meeting.

Servant leadership focuses on the professional growth of employees while simultaneously promoting improved quality care through a combination of interprofessional teamwork and shared decision-making. Servant leaders assist team members to achieve their personal goals by listening with empathy and committing to individual growth and community-building. They share power, put the needs of others first, and help individuals optimize performance while forsaking their own personal advancement and rewards.^[15]

Resonant leaders are in tune with the emotions of those around them, use empathy, and manage their own emotions effectively. Resonant leaders build strong, trusting relationships and create a climate of optimism that inspires commitment even in the face of adversity. They create an environment where employees are highly engaged, making them willing and able to contribute with their full potential.^[16]

Authentic leaders have an honest and direct approach with employees, demonstrating self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, and relationship transparency. They strive for trusting, symmetrical, and close leader–follower relationships; promote the open sharing of information; and consider others’ viewpoints.^[17]

See Table 1.3 for a summary of characteristics of leadership styles.

Table 1.3. Characteristics of Leadership Styles

Outcomes of Leadership Styles

Leadership styles affect team members, client outcomes, and the organization. A systematic review of the literature published in 2021 showed significant correlations between leadership styles and nurses’ job satisfaction. Transformational leadership style had the greatest positive correlation with nurses’ job satisfaction, followed by authentic, resonant, and servant leadership styles. Passive-avoidant and laissez-faire leadership styles showed a negative correlation with nurses’ job satisfaction.^[18] In this challenging health care environment, managers and nurse leaders must promote technical and professional competencies of their staff, but they must also act to improve staff satisfaction and morale by using appropriate leadership styles with their team.^[19]