Pros And Cons Of Distributive Leadership

A leader is the person who drives his/her followers to a certain goal. There are different reasons and motivations for people to follow another person. The motivation of the leader or the leadership style is also different in different cases. This paper aims to explain leadership traits and provide pros and cons of charismatic leadership and distributive leadership. Distributive leadership can also be referred as democratic leadership. Both styles have their own benefits and shortcomings. For this reason, different styles are more efficient different situations. For instance, charismatic leaders might be more influential in politics whereas democratic leaders might be more innovative in business. There are certain traits in a leader according

Usually, charismatic leaders not only inspire their followers but also their opponents as well. Charismatic leaders use their body language as well in their speeches because nonverbal language is one of the most important parts of charisma. Shamir et al. argue that charismatic leaders usually refer to history to give meaning to their actions and set goals for their followers. Moreover, they give examples from the lives and actions of former charismatic leaders to rationalize their own actions. In Jackson’s speeches, there are references to Kennedy and Carter. Another important reference in the speech of a charismatic leader is the reference to collective identities. It is important for the linkage between the follower and the leader towards a common goal. However, it has to be a wide and inclusive identity. For instance, a black leader like Jackson, refer to a rainbow to define American nation. Moreover, charismatic leaders refer to values and moral justifications while giving hope to their followers and referring to faith. The charisma of a leader is directly related to his image in the minds of his followers. He had to be reliable and the followers should have faith in him. To sum up, charismatic leaders need to understand their followers and should create common goals where they link themselves to them with self consistency and self

Sometimes, this might be the negative side of charismatic leadership. Moreover, if he is so ambitious, he might put his personal goals before his purpose. For example, a charismatic leader might easily turn into a dictator if he believes that majority of the people support him for no matter what. A charismatic leader should be able to differentiate his personal goals and his duties. There is another potential problem for charismatic leaders. If they do not delegate their tasks because of their over-trust in themselves and lack of trust in others, they might be overwhelmed with their tasks and can be affected negatively. Moreover, the systems may get into a deadlock after the charismatic leader is gone. It might not always be possible to replace a charismatic leader with another one. For this reason, distributive or democratic leadership might be a good alternative where more than one person takes