Three forty in the morning: At 3:40 a.m. oven two at the Mill Lane bakehouse stops heating. Four hundred rolls are ready to bake, and the vans leave for the three shops at five.
Priti's orders: Priti, the head baker, does not call a meeting. 'Tom, rolls into oven one. Maya, the bloomers wait. Ade, clear the racks.' Nobody argues, and nobody is asked.
At five o'clock the vans leave full.
Priti leads like this every night, not only when an oven breaks. She decides what is baked, in what order and how, and tells the six bakers. She does not ask for their ideas, and when they offer one she does not want it. A leader who keeps all, or almost all, of the decisions in their own hands, and neither asks for nor values ideas from the staff, is using autocratic leadership. Instructions go down; almost nothing comes back up (one-way communication).
What it gives
- Fast decisions: nobody has to be consulted, so the rolls were moving within a minute
- Clear instructions: every baker knows what to do and who is in charge
- One method every night, so every loaf comes out the same
- Staff who are unsure, like Ade in his first weeks, are told exactly what to do
What it costs
- The staff's ideas and expertise are ignored, so better ways of working are missed
- Staff who are never asked feel undervalued and lose motivation
- The team depends on the leader: the night Priti is off sick, nobody decides
- At its worst a climate of fear, so good staff leave and must be replaced
When it suits
- An emergency or a hard deadline, like 400 rolls by five
- New, unskilled or inexperienced staff who need clear direction
- Routine tasks where safety or consistency matters most
- It suits badly: skilled, experienced staff with ideas of their own
What the deadline hides: Rosa, the most experienced baker on the shift, has twice suggested a faster way to shape the rolls. Both times Priti said, 'We do it my way.' Rosa has stopped suggesting anything, and she has started reading Goldcrust's job adverts.
The hidden cost: The style that gets the vans out at five can lose the people who know most. Replacing an experienced baker means advertising, interviews and weeks of training.
So autocratic leadership is fast and clear. It suits an emergency, and a new baker like Ade who needs to be told what to do. It fits badly with skilled people who have ideas of their own, and it leaves the team stuck on the night the leader is not there.
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Lena's family of 20: Lena knows the birthday of every one of the 20 people who work for her. She cares for them like family, and she also decides for them.
How Lena looks after her staff
- Each of the 20 gets a cake on their birthday.
- When Maya's mother was ill, Lena gave her two weeks off on full pay before Maya had asked.
- In winter she pays for taxis so the night bakers do not walk to Mill Lane at two in the morning.
How Lena decides for them: Lena decides, on her own, that everyone works on Christmas Eve and has Boxing Day off, 'because families should be together'. Nobody is asked.
And when a counter assistant left for Goldcrust last year, Lena took it as a betrayal.
Lena leads like the head of a family. She treats the staff warmly, as a parent treats children, puts their needs and wellbeing first, and in return expects loyalty and obedience (paternalistic leadership). The leader is a parent figure: a patriarch, or here a matriarch. The decisions still stay at the top, as they do with Priti, but they are made with the staff's welfare in mind.
| Priti on the night shift (autocratic) | Lena with her staff (paternalistic) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides | Priti, alone | Lena, alone |
| Are the staff asked? | No | No: Lena believes she knows what they need |
| What the leader cares about | Getting the bread out on time | The staff's wellbeing, as well as the bread |
| How it feels to the staff | Orders from a boss | Care from a parent figure |
| What the leader expects back | Obedience | Loyalty and obedience |
What it gives
- Staff feel cared for and secure, so they are loyal to the business
- Loyal staff stay, so fewer have to be recruited and trained
- The leader puts staff needs and wellbeing first, which builds trust
- Decisions are still quick, because the leader makes them
What it costs
- Staff are treated like children and get no say, even over their own holidays
- Skilled or independent staff may resent it and feel their ideas do not count
- Staff rely on the leader to decide, so few learn to take responsibility
- Loyalty is expected back, so leaving or disagreeing can feel like betrayal
- Hard to keep up as a business grows: Lena can know 20 birthdays, not thousands
When it suits
- A small business where the leader knows every member of staff
- Staff who value security and care more than a say in decisions
- A long-serving team that likes a family feel
- It suits badly: skilled staff who want to be involved, or a large firm
Kind is not the same as consulting: Lena is generous, but generosity is not a say in decisions. A paternalistic leader decides for the staff, in what she believes is their interest.
Naming the style: Asking the staff what they think is a different style, however warm or cold the leader is as a person. To name a style, look at who makes the decision, not at how kind the leader is.
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Should High Street open at 6:30?: Commuters queue outside the High Street shop before it opens at 7:30. Lena asks Aisha, the shop manager, whether it should open an hour earlier.
How Aisha decided
She waits
Aisha does not answer that day.
She asks the team
At Monday's team meeting she asks her four counter staff.
They add what she missed
One points out that the 6:40 bus stops at the door. Another says an early start suits him but not a colleague with small children.
They build a rota
Over the week they sketch an early rota between them.
She decides
Then Aisha decides: the shop opens at 6:30 from next month, on the rota her team built.
Aisha asked for her team's ideas and brought them into the decision (democratic leadership, also called participative leadership). The leader actively asks the staff for their input and encourages them to take part in decisions. Communication runs both ways. The leader may take the final decision after listening, as Aisha did, or the team may decide together.
What it gives
- Better decisions: the counter staff saw the bus stop and the rota problem that Aisha missed
- Staff feel valued and trusted, so motivation and commitment rise
- People work hard to make a plan they helped to make
- Staff learn to weigh up decisions, which prepares them for promotion
What it costs
- Slow: the question took a week, which is no use when an oven fails at 3:40
- Staff may not know enough to judge, for example what an extra hour costs
- Some staff do not want the responsibility and would rather be told
- If ideas are asked for and then ignored, staff feel it was only for show
When it suits
- Skilled or experienced staff whose knowledge is worth hearing
- Decisions that are not urgent, so there is time to listen
- Changes that only work if the staff support them, like a new rota
- It suits badly: an emergency, or staff with no knowledge of the question
Asking is not handing over: Aisha listened for a week, but the decision to open at 6:30 was still hers, and so was the responsibility for it.
A democratic leader leads the discussion and stays accountable for the result. Leaving the team to decide everything, with no guidance, is not democratic leadership.
Put Aisha's week of conversations next to Priti's one minute at 3:40 in the morning. Each was right in its own place. Talking the rota through is what made it work; talking the broken oven through would have kept the vans waiting.
Rosa's rye: Lena wants a rye bread for the autumn. Rosa has baked rye for years; Lena never has.
What Lena gives Rosa
- Monday afternoons in the Mill Lane bakehouse.
- $500 for trial flour from Valley Grain.
- One sentence: 'Show me when you are happy with it.'
Then she leaves her to it. She does not check in, set a date or ask how it is going.
Lena has let go of the decisions and left Rosa to make them, with little or no supervision (laissez-faire leadership, from the French for 'let them do'). The leader provides what the staff need and is there if asked, but the staff decide what to do and how to do it.
What it gives
- Experts use their own judgement: Rosa knows more about rye than Lena does
- Being trusted with freedom motivates skilled, self-driven staff
- Creative work thrives, because nobody insists on one right way
- The leader's time is freed for other work
What it costs
- Little direction, so the work can drift away from what the business needs
- Nobody checks progress, so problems are found late
- It is unclear who is accountable when something goes wrong
- Staff who need guidance feel lost, and their work suffers
When it suits
- Highly skilled, experienced and self-motivated staff
- Creative or research tasks with no single right method
- Work with no urgent deadline
- It suits badly: new or unskilled staff, or anything urgent
Twelve weeks later: Rosa's rye is the best bread Mill Lane has ever made. It also costs $4.20 a loaf to make, and Lena's loaves sell for $3. Nobody told Rosa the cost it had to hit, because nobody told Rosa anything.
Now picture Ade: Now picture Ade, in his first month, given the same freedom and no instructions.
When laissez-faire works: Laissez-faire works only when people have the skill and the drive to use their freedom. It works better when the leader at least says what the result must achieve.
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Priti's week, after Rosa nearly left: In one week Priti, the head baker, leads in four different ways. One leader, four styles, one week.
Priti's week
Monday, 3:40 a.m.
An oven fails. Priti gives orders, and the vans leave on time.
Tuesday afternoon
Planning the Christmas range. Priti asks all six bakers for ideas, and Maya's spiced loaf goes on the list.
Wednesday
Rosa's rye trials. Priti leaves her alone.
All month
Ade is new, so Priti shows him each step and checks every tray.
There is no one best style. A leader should change style to fit the people being led, how able and ready they are, and the kind of task in front of them (situational leadership). Priti has not become a different person. She reads each situation and chooses the style that fits it.
Three questions before choosing a style
Who are the staff?
How skilled, experienced and willing are they? New or unsure staff need direction; experts like Rosa need room. The staff's ability and readiness come first.
How urgent is it?
An oven failing at 3:40 leaves no time to ask anyone. A rota for next month does. The less time there is, the more the leader decides alone.
What is the task?
Routine work where safety and consistency matter suits clear instructions. Creative work suits freedom. A change that needs everyone's support suits asking the team.
| Style | Who decides | Suits | Fails when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autocratic | The leader, alone | Emergencies, deadlines, new or unskilled staff | Staff are skilled and have ideas |
| Paternalistic | The leader, for the staff's good | Small firms, staff who value security | Staff want a say, or the firm is large |
| Democratic | The leader, after asking the staff | Skilled staff, no rush, changes that need support | It is urgent, or staff lack the knowledge |
| Laissez-faire | The staff | Experts, creative tasks | Staff are new, or the work is urgent |
| Situational | Depends on the situation | Mixed teams and changing tasks | The leader misreads the situation |
What situational leadership gives
- The right style for each job. Fast when it is urgent, open when there is time, hands-off with experts.
- Each person led the way they need. Ade gets direction and Rosa gets room, so both do their best work.
- It grows with the team. Priti can tell Ade what to do in June and ask his opinion by December.
What it asks of the leader
- Skill. Reading people and situations is hard, and a wrong reading means a wrong style.
- Consistency. Staff who see the leader switch may not know what to expect, or may suspect favourites.
- Time and attention. Judging every situation is harder across Goldcrust's 400 bakeries than one bakehouse.
Choosing a style in one line: Match the style to the staff, the urgency and the task. Whatever style you choose for a business, say who it suits there, why, and what it would cost.
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