Task 2 – Attributes and Skills of a Team Leader
Definition of Leadership
The action of leading a group of people or an organisation, or the ability to do this.
The main role of a leader is to provide direction and guidance to a group of people which
will mean that they can achieve the original goal set out. By having a strong leader of a
group will mean that team morale is high and they are able to achieve what is needed.
Leadership is vital within a business as it means tasks will get done and it enables team
members to work to a high standard. Leadership is different to management.
Management will make sure that specific tasks are carried out in an organisation; this
could include achieving certain things during a work day. Whereas, a leader would go
further than management would, as it means getting tasks done in new and different
ways, getting to know the team more and being more a team player above anything.
There are four different types of leadership styles. These different types of styles are
adapted within each organisation. For example, one leadership style may not be correct
for a different organisation as they have different team members and learning styles.
These four styles include Autocratic, Democratic, Paternalistic and Laissez-faire.
Autocractic is the most dominant style of leadership. The leader makes decisions without
speaking to any other members of the team and there is a high dependency on the
leader from the employees. Autocratic leaders generally like to have control and because
of this they are able to come to agreements and decisions quickly; as no one else is be
consulted. However, by having such a stricter manager/leader this can affect employees
as it may de-motivation staff as there is such a strict rule set to follow. Another drawback
of being underneath this type of management style is that some employees do not like to
be ordered around and would lose motivation really quickly from a strict rule set,
however other employees may thrive under pressure and quick thinking activities. It all
depends on the type of employees who work for the organisation.
Democratic leaders delegate authority to their staff which will give them more
responsibilities to deal with. This encourages decision making from different
perspectives of the organisation. A democratic leader would listen to points of view from
all of the team members and would not make a decision unless they have heard all
opinions. This type of leader would help motivation and workers are more likely to share
its ideas and experiences within the business. However, by being a democratic leader it
can delay decision making majorly, as the manager is worried about hearing all points of
view first before coming to a decision.
A paternalistic leader believes in the need to support staff. They will delegate
responsibility for specific tasks and encourages employees to come up with
improvements. A participate leader would have the best interests of workers at heart and
would make decisions based on this. An advantage of this would be that because of the
one to one communication made, it is more motivating for team members. However,
Definition of Leadership
The action of leading a group of people or an organisation, or the ability to do this.
The main role of a leader is to provide direction and guidance to a group of people which
will mean that they can achieve the original goal set out. By having a strong leader of a
group will mean that team morale is high and they are able to achieve what is needed.
Leadership is vital within a business as it means tasks will get done and it enables team
members to work to a high standard. Leadership is different to management.
Management will make sure that specific tasks are carried out in an organisation; this
could include achieving certain things during a work day. Whereas, a leader would go
further than management would, as it means getting tasks done in new and different
ways, getting to know the team more and being more a team player above anything.
There are four different types of leadership styles. These different types of styles are
adapted within each organisation. For example, one leadership style may not be correct
for a different organisation as they have different team members and learning styles.
These four styles include Autocratic, Democratic, Paternalistic and Laissez-faire.
Autocractic is the most dominant style of leadership. The leader makes decisions without
speaking to any other members of the team and there is a high dependency on the
leader from the employees. Autocratic leaders generally like to have control and because
of this they are able to come to agreements and decisions quickly; as no one else is be
consulted. However, by having such a stricter manager/leader this can affect employees
as it may de-motivation staff as there is such a strict rule set to follow. Another drawback
of being underneath this type of management style is that some employees do not like to
be ordered around and would lose motivation really quickly from a strict rule set,
however other employees may thrive under pressure and quick thinking activities. It all
depends on the type of employees who work for the organisation.
Democratic leaders delegate authority to their staff which will give them more
responsibilities to deal with. This encourages decision making from different
perspectives of the organisation. A democratic leader would listen to points of view from
all of the team members and would not make a decision unless they have heard all
opinions. This type of leader would help motivation and workers are more likely to share
its ideas and experiences within the business. However, by being a democratic leader it
can delay decision making majorly, as the manager is worried about hearing all points of
view first before coming to a decision.
A paternalistic leader believes in the need to support staff. They will delegate
responsibility for specific tasks and encourages employees to come up with
improvements. A participate leader would have the best interests of workers at heart and
would make decisions based on this. An advantage of this would be that because of the
one to one communication made, it is more motivating for team members. However,
