A1. Leadership Style Leadership style is the relatively consistent pattern of behavior that characterizes a leader (DuBruin 2013). Understanding different styles of leadership and how to use them effectively is key to the success of a leader. This understanding is also important so that the leader can recognize leadership qualities and allow different leaders to emerge and lead in different group and task situations. My leadership style is participative. I like to share the decision making with the group. Within the participative style are three subcategories: consultative, consensus and democratic. While I do use all of those styles depending on the situation, my preference is to be a consensus leader. This means that I strive to obtain buy-in through discussion and soliciting input. Once most of the group has come to an agreement, they will be more supportive because they had input into the decision making process.
A1a. Strengths A strength of this style is that there is shared decision making, which gives the group members a feeling of ownership of the goal that we are trying to achieve. When the group comes to a consensus, they are going to function much more cohesively as a team. Another reason that this style is very effective for me because I am striving to create team members with more independent, critical thinking skills and this style encourages that. If I treat them as responsible, competent team members, they will rise to that level quickly.
A1b. Weaknesses A weakness of the style of participative leadership is that it is time consuming, requiring a lot of discussion, committees and debate. As such, it is not an effective technique when time is of the essence or there is a critical issue that needs quick resolution. Another weakness of this style would be that it is difficult to utilize if there