Leadership is defined as someone’s skill to lead. Whether it is to lead a company, an organization, or just a small group of people, leadership is an important skill for everyone to have. Great leaders with great leadership skill can drive their group to achieve a goal.
Leadership is also needed in order to solve problems. Each person has their own style in leading. Some may be different from the others. Not all are effective to be used, as these styles may vary according to the culture of the people. Read these 20 Leadership Styles that are commonly found in Indonesia. Find out what style suits you the best to develop your leadership skills.
- Autocratic
The autocratic leadership style is where the leader dominates all the decision making. The staff works to follow the instructions of their leader and lacks a role in making decisions. The autocratic leadership style is commonly found in companies where the boss or the manager is feared, therefore the staffs are unlikely in a position to have a voice for pitching ideas or innovation.
- Moralist
Leaders who have this style put forward emotion in working. They prioritize the heart and emotion of their staff. They are commonly said as loving and very emphatic. Even though this style is known best for the staffs, moralist leaders usually are hard in making objective decisions. You may want to read about Social Etiquette in Indonesia
- Analytical
Different from the moralist where they are more likely to make subjective decisions, analytical leaders are known to think objectively. They analyze every aspect to make the best objective decisions from the known facts. They put forward logical-detailed thinking to process information for decision making.
- Delegative
This leadership style is the exact opposite of autocratic leadership style. It is where the staffs have a bigger role in decision making as well as ideas and innovation. The leader tend to give a bigger responsibility for the staffs to solve their own problems. This leadership style is found in companies that aim the development of their staffs.
- Charismatic
Charismatic leadership style is when the leader uses their charisma to attract and motivate people. This style is usually found in leaders who are great in talking and giving speeches. They are visionary, but commonly said as people whose actions are not as strong as their words . Even so, charismatic leaders can easily influence people to join them. Read more about Things to be Aware of in Indonesia
- Transactional
This leadership style is where leaders set rewards or punishments to the staffs based on their performance. The team set a certain goal together as well as their jobdesks to achieve that goal. Staffs that accomplish the goals receive rewards, but the ones who don’t receive punishments or further training. It is the way the leader can motivate the staffs to achieving goals.
- Democratic
The Democratic leadership style is where both the leader and the staffs work together in decision making. Both parties work together to achieve a certain goal. In this leadership style, there is a sense of equality between the leader and the staffs.
- Birocrative
This leadership style is where the leader sticks to the rules. The decision made by the leader is strictly according to the rules applied. The staffs are pushed to work according to the procedure. This leadership style lacks in flexibility and inovation especially in problem solving.
- Authoritarian
Authoritarian leadership style is where all the decision comes from the leader. The staff has no authority in giving ideas or opinions because the leader dominates completely. The staffs works as machines to do what the leader tell them to do.
- Transformational
This leadership style needs high level of communication between the leader and the staffs. With great communication and visibility, the leader can motivate the staffs to improve their productivity to reach the goal. This leadership style requires high involvement of the leader as well as management.
More leadership styles that you may find in Indonesia (11-20)
- Inisiative: High involvement to support the team
- Administrative: Leadership by the book and are limited to change
- Visionary: Gives guidance, encouragement, and motivation to the staffs
- Laissez-Faire: Very low involvement of the leader
- Entrepreneur: Focuses on the result, not the process
- Situational: Flexible to changes according to the current situation
- Military: Demands the obedience of the staffs or team members.
- Dominator: Dominates all the decision and acts like a one-man-team
- Participative: Values the ideas from the staffs and team members.
- Maternalistic: Doesn’t trust the staff as they are considered incapable.
There are a lot of different leadership styles that you can apply. The effectiveness of each style is conditional according to your character as a leader, and the character of the staff or the people you lead. They can be your employee or your team members. In being a good leader, you not only need skills in talking or giving speeches, but you also need the skills to do real action.
Communication to your team is crucial because you will work together to achieve a goal. You also need to understand that each person has their own character and culture. Especially in Indonesia, you can find different people with different cultural backgrounds. It is important for you to know about what kind of people you will be leading to know which style of leadership suits the best. In Indonesia itself, there are many great leaders.
Read also: Indonesian Lifestyle – Indonesian Behavior – Indonesian People
In fact it was because of the great leaders, Indonesia can be an official independent country back in 1945. There are so many Indonesian heroes that lead the nation towards independence! Imagine if they didn’t have a good leadership skill. They won’t be able to unite the whole nation to fight to end the colonialism.
There is no perfect leadership style. Each style has its own advantages and disadvantages. What makes a good leader is when he or she can make the disadvantages as advantages to achieve the goal. There will be trial and error. Great leaders are not just made by one night. We hope with this article you can be the next great leader!
