Participative Leadership refers to a leadership style where every member of an organization works together in the decision-making process. Participative Leadership, also known as democratic leadership, occurs when the leader asks his team members for their input, observations, and suggestions before decision-making on his own. Steps in Participative Leadership 1. Group Discussions The leader encourages group discussion about a specific issue. 2. Sharing information The leader shares all the information regarding the issue with his team members. 3. Pitching in ideas The team members share their input. 4. Summarized information The leader processes and summarizes the information. 5. Decision-making The group makes the best possible decision based on their information and ideas. 6. Executing the decisions Every member participates while executing the decision. Types of Participative Leadership 1. Consensus Participative Leadership The leader must have the approval of every member before making decisions. 2. Democratic Participative Leadership The leader has more power than the group as he has the final say in the decision-making. 3. Collective Participative Leadership Decision-making responsibility falls equally on the group who is responsible for both the process and the result. 4. Autocratic Participative Leadership The leader holds maximum power and it is he who is more responsible for ideas than the group. Traits of Participative Leadership - Encouraging employees to put forth their ideas. - Improving and increasing employee morale. - Complete transparency. - Offering opportunities to employees for training and counselling. Participative and Democratic Leadership Styles - In both leadership styles, it is important to have cooperation between a leader and other members. - In Participative Leadership decisions are taken together in Democratic leadership the leader takes the final call. Benefits of Participative Leadership - Motivation and cooperation - Free-flowing ideas - Cohesive thinking - Minimize competition - Unity - Boost morale - Independence - Employee leverage - Retention - Company opens up Examples 1. Sir Richard Branson This video is on Participative Leadership and it has the following sub-topics. Time Stamps 0:00 Introduction 00:21 Definition of Participative Leadership 00:36 Steps in Participative Leadership 01:17 Types of Participative Leadership 02:12 Traits of Participative Leadership 02:39 Participative and Democratic Leadership Styles 03:14 Benefits of Participative Leadership 03:50 Participative Leadership Examples