According to Cope and Murray (2017), there are several differences in the two leadership styles. In democratic leadership, employees are involved in decision making while an autocratic leader tends to make independent decisions. Besides, while autocratic leadership is mostly oriented towards realization of organizational goals, democratic leadership emphasizes on developing relationship with employees. Regarding their difference in degree of control, autocratic leadership demonstrates more control over employees, while democratic leadership shows low degree of control over employees.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership is associated with many advantages. First, it focuses on team involvement, participation, and engagement. The contribution of every employee is welcomed and their performance also acknowledged and rewarded where necessary. In turn, the level of employees’ morale is elevated. Besides, the level of productivity is high and employees often create innovative and creative ideas because of high cooperation of employees. This leadership style also encourages communication which is critical in enhancing motivation and ensuring greater adaptability and flexibility.
On the other hand, disadvantages include time wastage when trying to come to consensus during decision making, which may cause serious damages in situations that require immediate actions. Besides, the style is not suitable where decision making should be made instantly. Further, there is a possibility of making wrong decisions where unskilled employees are involved in decision making.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership is associated with several merits such as having a clear line of control because every decision emanates from the leaders. It is also easy to learn due to its intuitive nature, which does not need expert training or knowledge of leadership theory. Besides, it also fosters faster decision making, and improves productivity. Adversely, the demerits include increased work burden to the leaders because a leader is fully responsible for every operation.
There is also a danger of depending entirely on a leader and employees are not empowered to work in the absence of a leader. Moreover, it is unsuitable for highly trained and motivated employees who do not need to be told what to do. This leadership style lowers their morale and reduces creativity and productivity.
The Environment/Conditions Where Both Styles Would Work Best
Autocratic leadership style can best work in straightforward or simple tasks. It is also critical in emergency situations where a strong voice to give direction is necessary. On the other hand, democratic leadership can work best where there is need to develop relationship with staff members, which is anchored on trust and accountability.
Summary
Both leadership styles have merits and demerits and so, their suitability depends on the needs of the organization and what is to be achieved. It is important to identify the leadership style to employ in an organization because every style tends to impact the willingness of the workforce to perform their duties and responsibilities with dedication and also great influence on the job satisfaction and determination of nurses.
Essentially, nursing practice is centered on professional nurses. Therefore, leadership is significant for nurses at all levels to ensure safety of care and positive outcomes. The effectiveness of leadership style employed by nurse leaders is crucial determinant of job commitment and satisfaction among nurses.
References
Struggling with online classes or exams? Get expert help to ace your coursework, assignments, and tests stress-free!