I recently accepted a promotion in which my Autocratic style of management will be challenged.
The employee’s here work in teams and my position will be as an advisor to the employees. I believe I might relate to them better if I were to change my managing to the Laissez-Faire Style.
My concern is I have previously worked with some of these employees and they know my present style of leadership.
Does anyone think I should maintain my normal style of management for continuity of leadership or change the way I present myself with the hope of building a strong management/employee team?

The first piece of advise I would give is; remember that different jobs, teams, or goals require different management styles. That’s the reason there are so many different styles.

As for the employees that worked with you before, I think you’ll find they may very well welcome a change from autocratic to democratic. This doesn’t mean you give away decision making authority or overall responsibility, it does mean that you involve them in the decision making process. Since the employees work in teams and there are multiple teams, and since you cannot be everywhere doing everything with them at once unless you clone yourself.

The other issue is that because there are multiple teams you must be able to rely on their ability to make sound judgments about there work such as when they need to involve you for assistance and when they are capable of handling things themselves.

Remember, one of the primary goals of a good manager is to develop those below themselves as professionals. This holds true whether you are working in a gas station or a corporate boardroom, and the only way to do that is to allow them to make decisions and provide the overall grand view (see the forest not the trees) and counseling they need when they need help. It is also the most productive way for a team to accomplish a goal.

I think flexibility is key -- that you employ different styles as different situations present themselves. Also, each individual requires a different type of leadership(have you read Situational Leadership?).

Just as a trainer must accomodate different learning styles to help people learn, so must you as a manager change your styles based on the situation, individual needs and team needs. In other words, there is no single correct management style to follow. Don't pigeon hole yourself.

JR

Norman Dixon's classic On the Psychology of Military Incompetence discussion of autocratic and authoritarian management styles will be of interest to anyone considering how they will adapt their leadership style to meet new circumstances.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/202-2567935-4058248

I'm grateful to my colleague Dave Kenny (PKA Training and Development, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Ireland) for recommending this book to me.

Regards

Scott G. Welch

Wow! The return of "blood and guts" training
or the name it travels under performance counsulting. Why not try the following:
anything by B.H. Liddel-Hart, Ford Maddox Ford, Mcdonald, AJP Taylor, Kagen, Vic Hanson, Eisenhower, Robert E. Lee, JC "Gaul is divided into three parts". Why not study some of WWT II
industry titians and their contributions to training and change, stress et al.

And many many more

Nero