Leadership style (McGregor's Theory X and Y)

Leadership styles

Leadership essentially can be described as a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people (Mullins, 2016). Leadership styles can be classified according to the way authority is used.

The authoritarian leadership style leans towards McGregor’s theory X and Taylorism. A consultative leadership style associated with the project-lead structure leans toward McGregor’s Theory Y and the managerial grid of Blake & Mouton (1964) which emphasises a more democratic, employee self-direction approach, focusing on motivating and having people at the centre. Some pros and cons of both authoritarian and consultative styles are listed in Table 1 and Table 2.

AUTHORITARIAN (THEORY X)

Table 1 - Pros and Cons of Authoritarian leadership style (imd.org, 2021) (Harvard (HBS), 2019)

CONSULTATIVE (THEORY Y)

Table 2 - Pros and Cons of Consultative leadership style (imd.org, 2021) (Indeed, 2021)

Action Centred Leadership (ACL)

The style and process of leadership are directly associated with the activities of groups and teams’ efficiency. The ACL as found by Adair (1973), highlights the core actions (see Figure 1) for effective leadership which is not based on any leadership style (MindTools, 2022).

The action by the leader in any of the core actions will affect one or both of the other actions, with the ideal position being when all three actions are integrated. These actions are grouped into achieving the common task, developing and meeting the needs of individual team members and building and maintaining the team.

Figure 1 -Action-Centred Leadership

Whilst the formal authoritarian style focuses more on the tasks, procedures and achieving business targets it is neglecting the needs of the group and individuals. The consultative style on the other side has a higher focus on the developing of the individual and building a well-functioning team however a lower focus is given to the task at hand.