Leader Styles: Some Implications for Organizations in India

Abstract

A recent study shows that the index of leader effectiveness in India is the leader's success in terms of expansion of assets or activities. The studies in the West regard leader effectiveness as getting people to want to achieve, an ability to develop people. The Indian concept emphasizes the entrepreneurial role more than that of people development. Only 15 per cent of the leaders in the sample perceived their role as people development. The study identifies three leader styles: (a) the entrepreneurial, (b) the bureaucratic, and (c) the people oriented. All three styles are successful when measured against the objective criteria of profits, growth, and public recognition of the leader concerned. The consequences for the organization of each of the three styles are different. Considering the emerging business and the economic environment in the country, it is suggested that a people-oriented style is necessary. The article suggests some ways of preparing organi zations for the emerging demands of the business environment.