This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
The Leader Is In Control
This is command and control leadership. The effective leader can supervise his or her followers because they know at least as much about the task as the follower does. Because the leader knows a lot about the tasks, he or she can structure, support, coach, or delegate to followers appropriately. It has to be said that many managers, while being aware of the need to change their style according to the followers' needs, actually have strong preference for a particular style and often tend to use that one style inappropriately. This can lead to all kinds of problems and issues as followers receive too much or too little structure, for instance.
In organizations where the command and control style is the prevalent leadership type, promotion is usually based on technical competence. Nonetheless, it is a very effective way of thinking about leadership when known tasks are being done by people who know how to do them.
Currently, many consulting firms and partnerships employing specialists use this type of leadership quite widely because it is an information-based approach. The senior partner knows more than the junior, and therefore applies their knowledge to guide the junior to do their best work. At the time when these ideas first were being discussed (in the 1970s), there was little distinction made between management and leadership. The words were for most purposes interchangeable. Now we notice that many people describe this type of leadership behavior as management.