Leadership Abbreviations

The word leadership defines the process of influencing others, encouraging them to work enthusiastically towards a common goal. There are several classifications of leaders: for example, regarding the formality in their election, it is customary to speak of formal leaders (elected by an organization) or informal leaders (who emerge from a group ).

In any case , the most widespread classification is the one that concerns the relationship between the leader and his followers. In this case, there are authoritarian, democratic and liberal (laissez faire) leaders.

The authoritarian leader is the one who makes decisions on his own and never justifies them. This class of leader calls for one-way communication with the subordinate.

The democratic leader, as for himself, immediately decides to encourage discussion in the group and takes into account the opinions of his followers. The standards and evaluation criteria are explicit and clear.

As far as the liberal leader is concerned, he usually adopts a passive role and leaves power in the hands of the group. He never judges or evaluates others’ suggestions/opinions and lets members enjoy complete freedom of action.

Another classification of leadership is determined by the leader’s influence over his subordinates. Transactional leadership is when group members recognize the leader as the authority and that the leader provides them with resources considered valid for the group. In contrast, transformational or charismatic leadership implies the ability to change the scale of values, attitudes and beliefs of followers.

List of Acronyms Related to Leadership