Leadership: pros and cons of different styles
11 April 2025Leadership is a key element in the success of a company or team.
There are different leadership styles, each with its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. Choosing the right style depends on the context, goals, and corporate culture.
Autocratic leadership is a style in which the leader makes decisions centrally, without consulting the group. It is effective in emergency situations, allowing quick decisions and more control over activities, but can demotivate employees.
Democratic leadership, on the other hand, involves the team in decision making. The leader leads, but listens to and values the opinions of others, creating a collaborative and participatory environment. It encourages team involvement, stimulating creativity and collective problem-solving. However, it can lead to slower decision-making and potential conflicts if clear direction is lacking.
Transactional leadership is based on clear exchanges: the leader rewards or penalizes employees based on results. It is useful for managing structured tasks and well-defined roles, but can generate rigidity and little innovation due to team motivation based on rewards and not shared values.
Transformational leadership deeply inspires and motivates team members, aiming for personal growth and the achievement of ambitious goals. The leader acts as a visionary guide and example to follow, stimulating innovation and a sense of belonging. However, it requires strong leadership qualities and may generate pressure and high expectations; it may not be well-suited to highly structured or bureaucratic environments.
Laissez-faire or delegative leadership is a leadership style that relies on giving autonomy to team members. In this approach, the leader intervenes only when necessary, providing resources and advice. This style is effective in settings with highly skilled and independent teams, where creativity and personal initiative can thrive. The risk is that of a lack of direction and coordination, leading to possible inefficiencies especially when deadlines are tight.
While it is clear that there is no absolute best leadership style, and that the choice must be made according to the needs of the context, it is equally certain that good leadership skills positively influence a company’s environment and results, while the lack of high-profile leaders leads to a decrease in all measurable parameters in a work environment.
A good leader must be flexible and able to adapt his or her approach according to the situation and the people he or she works with, and his or her role is now indispensable in any context.
To grow into a leader one must develop one’s individual gifts, beyond the particular skills needed from context to context.
Bologna Business School has always been attentive to personal development, which runs parallel to learning in every training offered.
To strengthen leadership abilities, BBS has designed two dedicated programs focused on continuous improvement, to become effective leaders who know how to lead teams and companies in the complex and ever-changing world of global business.
The part-time, on-campus, six-day Leadership in Action Open Program in Italian is a program that focuses on the “functioning” of individuals. In a mix of assessment, e-learning, classroom, exercises, coaching and project work, this course makes analysis of oneself and others the focus from which to improve one’s ability to manage people under difficult conditions, under pressure and in a landscape of uncertainty.
Three modules, Leadership Fundamentals, From Awareness to Action, and Experience the Future, and a final project work will bring participants new insight into the concept of leadership and the tools they need to get involved in one of the most challenging and rewarding areas of work: managing teams, dealing with people.
The Open Program Interpersonal Skills for Business, part-time, hybrid in Italian, is based on the idea that the quality of the relationships built within the workplace determines business dynamics, making them a true strategic asset.
Relational skills and mindset require a powerful and innovative methodology, completely experiential, capable of triggering lasting multi-level learning. Through group dynamics, theatrical techniques, and coaching, participants will enhance their awareness of interpersonal behavior, unlock their potential, and cultivate practical relational and personal competencies.
Four modules structured over seven and a half days make this course a key to improving one’s own behaviors and understanding those of others, to collaborating and becoming a leader of one’s team, and to embarking on or turning one’s career in human resources.
