Article worth reading

"Empowering leadership not always the answer."

"Empowering leaders who give their employees room to think and behave independently are often perceived as more effective than the traditional directive leader who issues specific orders. But according to U.S. researchers, this isn't necessarily so.

In certain types of environments - including fast-moving entrepreneurial businesses – command-style leadership can be more effective, argue Dr. Keith M. Hmieleski and Dr. Michael D. Ensley."

"Directive leaders – those who instruct people to carry out designated tasks and reprimand those who stray - are seen as old-fashioned and possibly downright stifling."

Most striking among the findings is that the empowering style of leadership, commonly thought to be most effective with heterogeneous teams in environments of rapid change, was clearly shown to be less effective under those very conditions.

"Fast-moving environments demand fast decisions," said Dr Hmieleski. "That's where directive leadership comes in. A directive leader can rapidly clarify what work needs to be done in the moment and by whom."

As a result, Hmieleski argues that the benefits of directive leadership and the drawbacks of empowering leadership have been downplayed."

So bring back the boss who can tell you what to do instead of the wimp who tells you he has NO IDEA and wants you to flounder around on your own so he has someone to blame when things go wrong!