Don’t confuse Democratic with a more tit-for-tat approach, like Transactional Leadership* hints toward.
*(Not yet mentioned in this ongoing series.)
You see, Democratic leaders are encouraging and value collaboration. They don’t transact with a reward for a favor; they’re working with you from a common standpoint.
They may bring the coffee one day. They may ask you to grab theirs while passing by the break room. They’re not rewarding a behavior. They’re seeing you on a human dimension.
Much like a form of Democratic government policy, they want to go with the masses. They weigh the value of all opinions.
And, like government, the decision-making process is significantly slower when using this form of leadership.
As much as input into a policy is important, spending too much time gathering input draws out the decision timeline.
One of my favorite aspects of Democratic Leadership is simple:
Personal Investment. Ownership.
They drive their team to feel like they own a piece of the business and control their area of expertise.
Probably one of the best aspects of this leadership form is the investment that generates dedication to the task. In turn, performance improves.
If you live inside the United States of America, the organizational formation and leadership style is intended to be Democratic. Even if it is not an exact Democracy.
A small US Government educational blip: The USA is a Constitutional Federal Republic.
- We use a constitution.
- The power is shared between the federal government to the state level.
- The Republic means we elect people to represent us in government.
Assume you like the framework used in the USA, and look at the description I used for Democratic Leadership again.
Does it help you draw better parallels for recall later?
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Democratic leaders don’t rule—they guide. By inviting others into the process, they don’t lose power; they multiply it.
If you found us searching for any of these terms, I hope my explanation offered clarity. Thank you for visiting!
Angela J Shupe—Stitched Business Solutions 
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