Example Of Different Types Of Bosses Essay

Organizations, businesses and governments require a figure to oversee coordination of activities, planning for future events and handling of subordinates’ issues. This requires a boss with authority to dispense of those duties and achieve the goals of the social structure. Different people have different leadership styles, and this may be prompted by several factors including the situation at hand, as well as the goals and vision of an organization. Therefore, there are various principles of categorizing bosses. Bosses can be broadly placed into three categories depending on their decision making and interaction with employees; these classes include the autocratic, democratic and paternalistic types of bosses.
Autocratic bosses make most of the vital decisions by themselves, without much regard to the ideas of their subordinates. Therefore, decisions made in the organization reflect the ideas, personality and values of the boss. This arises from the need to project a confident image of a well-managed organization. This creates a robust organization with a clear leadership structure. Some autocratic bosses supervise their decisions quite closely to ensure that all the decisions get implemented. Other types of autocratic leaders give their subordinates some degree of independence in implementing the decisions. There is a downside to this management style because some ideas may not be popular with the employees. This immensely hampers their motivation and creates hurdles during the implementation stage.
Bosses who adopt a paternalistic approach make decisions unilaterally but take into account the best concerns of the subordinates and the organization. Paternalistic bosses are benevolent; they make unilateral decisions but explain how decisions best suit the organization and employees. A paternalistic boss controls decision making process in the organization but also shows kindness and passion towards the subordinates. This is in contrast to the autocratic boss who makes decisions without taking into account impact on the subordinates. Communication takes place downwards (from the boss to the subordinates) and questioning the authority does not occur. The staff is dependent on the boss for guidance and seniority is a significant factor in the organization.
The third category of bosses is the democratic boss. This is the boss who ensures that all the employees take part in decision making process. Therefore, a decision is agreed upon, through a consensus, by a majority of the staff in an organization. Communication takes place in both directions (from the boss to the staff and vices versa). This is the best leadership style when an organization needs to make decisions that require the input of specialists from various departments. The intention is to improve the morale of the workers since they take part in making decisions. Democratic leaders act as the mentors of their subordinates; they inspire the staff to manage their own areas in the organization. The boss only needs to communicate the vision and mission of the organization and the staff do the rest to achieve those goals.
A boss has to perform several roles and deliver in that capacity. This requires adoption of a management style with a particular decision making process and interaction with the subordinates. On this basis, the boss can be democratic, autocratic or paternalistic. This depends on how the boss makes decisions and exercises power over subordinates. Some management styles bring the best out the staff while others create conflicts within the organization depending on the expertise and capacity of the boss to streamline and communicate goals. However, current organization trends avoid the use of the word boss and encourage the use of the word manager.