Laissez-Faire Leadership

Abstract

Leaders are expected to create significant impacts on their followers. The present study aims to further investigate this corollary by elaborating on the laissez-faire approach in leadership. Generally, leadership in a laissez-faire style is considered destructive. It is assumed that leaders and followers do not remain effective in laissez-faire styled leadership. Followers expect the presence and close involvement of their leader in different situations. And if they do not find their leader's presence, then it is natural that they might think about their leader as incompetent or reluctant. This may later lead them to lose confidence in their leader. In this study, the authors have used social learning theory to elaborate what could be the effects of a laissez-faire approach in leadership on team members' performance. Research has indicated that negative impacts of the laissez-faire approach in leadership are more likely to affect employees who have relatively deeper concepts about mutual relationships.