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Delegative (Laissez-Faire) Leadership

Delegative or laissez-faire leadership is very hands-off. When you use this style, you allow team members to set their own goals and deadlines, and you let them determine how to do their work. Researchers have found that this is generally the leadership style that leads to the lowest productivity among group members.

Delegative leadership is most effective when team members are highly motivated and highly skilled, and when you can provide frequent feedback on performance and progress. It’s also effective when you work with freelancers or consultants.

The downside of delegative leadership is that it can lead to poor performance in teams where people have low skill levels, little motivation, or poor knowledge.

“It’s better to hang out with people better than you” Warren Buffett

Characteristics of a Laissez – Faire Leader:

  • Hands-off approach
  • Leaders provide all training and support.
  • Decisions are left to employees.
  • Comfortable with mistakes
  • Accountability falls to the leader.

The benefit of laissez-faire leadership style

  • It encourages personal growth. Because leaders are so hands-off in their approach, employees have a chance to be hands-on. This leadership style creates an environment that facilitates growth and development.
  • It encourages innovation. The freedom given to employees can encourage creativity and innovation.
  • It allows for faster decision-making. Since there is no micromanagement, employees under laissez-faire leadership have the autonomy to make their own decisions. They are able to make quick decisions without waiting weeks for an approval process.

The downside of the laissez-faire style depends so heavily on the abilities of the group, it is not very effective in situations where team members lack the knowledge or experience, they need to complete tasks and make decisions. This can lead to poor job performance and less job satisfaction. 

This is leadership style is also not suitable for situations where efficiency and high productivity are the main concerns. Some people are not good at setting their own deadlines, managing their own projects, and solving problems on their own. Under this leadership style, projects can go off-track and deadlines can be missed when team members do not get enough guidance or feedback from leaders.

  • Lack of role clarity: In some situations, the laissez-faire style leads to poorly defined roles within the group.  Since team members receive little to no guidance, they might not really be sure about their role within the group and what they are supposed to be doing with their time.
  • Poor involvement with the group: Laissez-faire leaders is often seen as uninvolved and withdrawn, which can lead to a lack of cohesiveness within the group. Since the leader seems unconcerned with what is happening, followers sometimes pick up on this and express less care and concern for the project.
  • Low accountability: Some leaders take advantage of this style as a way to avoid responsibility for the group’s failures. When goals are not met, the leader can then blame members of the team for not completing tasks or living up to expectations.
  • Passivity: At its worst, laissez-faire leadership represents passivity or even an outright avoidance of true leadership. In such cases, these leaders do nothing to try to motivate followers, don’t recognize the efforts of team members, and make no attempts at involvement with the group.

How to Be Successful

Working in a creative field where people tend to be highly motivated, skilled, creative, and dedicated to their work can be conducive to obtaining good results with this style.

Laissez-faire leaders typically excel at proving information and background at the start of a project, which can be particularly useful for self-managed teams. By giving team members all that they need at the outset of an assignment, they will then have the knowledge they need to complete the task as directed.

A leader with this style may struggle in situations that require great oversight, precision, and attention to detail. In high stakes and high-pressure work settings where every detail needs to be perfect and completed in a timely manner, a more authoritarian or managerial style may be more appropriate. 

Using a laissez-faire approach in this type of scenario can lead to missed deadlines and poor performance, particularly if group members are unsure of what they need to be doing or do not have the skills they need to perform tasks with little to no direction.

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