Introduction

Leadership is a social influence process in which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of
subordinates in an effort to reach organization goals
A leader can be defined as a person who delegates or influences others to act so as to carry out
specified objectives
Anderson (1959) defined the democratic leader as one who shares decision making with the
other members
Gastil (1994) defined Democratic leadership as distributing responsibility among the
membership, empowering group members, and aiding the groups decision-making process
Why Democratic?
Democratic leadership is associated with increased follower productivity, satisfaction,
involvement, and commitment (Hackman & Johnson, 1996)
Member satisfaction and nominations for leadership are greater under democratic leadership
(Bass, 1990; Stogdill, 1974).
The significant drawbacks to democratic leadership are time consuming activities and lengthy
debate over policy, participation plays a key role for increasing the productivity of leadership
(Denhardt & Denhardt, 2003; Hackman & Johnson).
Differences from other styles
Democratic leaders differ from autocratic and laissez-faire leaders
Unlike autocrats, democratic leaders expect people who report to them to have in-depth
experience and to exhibit self-confidence.
Unlike the laissez-faire style, which delegates authority to experts, democratic leaders are
involved in the decision-making process

Case of Apple
Apple almost failed in mid 1980s
Steve Jobs adapted and became participative. But later became autocratic. BOD requested him to
resign. He returned and changed his approach to leadership and embraced the collaborative,
problem-solving process also known as democratic/participative leadership.
In Business
Democratic leaders can be effective in business if they surround themselves with experienced
players.
Works best in
Biotech R&D divisions
Housing construction sites
Universities
Information technology companies
Companies: Google, Amazon.com etc
Live Examples
Indira Nooyi (CEO and Chairman of PepsiCo)
Muhtar Kent (CEO of Coca Cola)
Democratic leadership pros
Increased Job Satisfaction (Employees have increased job satisfaction and a sense of
empowerment)
Trust in Relationships (are built on mutual trust between labor and management)
Absenteeism is lower (among employees with a stronger commitment to performance)

Productivity increases (as a result of a solutions-centric workforce that has input).

Creativity and innovation increase (among employees through team collaboration)
Challenges
Leaders can become overly dependent on the expertise and experience of subordinates.
Collaboration can consume valuable time getting input from people who arent in agreement.
Fast, incisive decisions may be difficult or even impossible, resulting in missed deadlines.
Relying on consensus from people who are misinformed or lack accurate data can be costly.
Leaders can become burdened by the challenge of overseeing experts on collaborative teams.

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