Democratic leadership is a professional management approach that places high value on team participation and collaboration. Also called participative leadership, it’s one of several leadership approaches that may be used in business.
How do you recognize this approach? Defining democratic leadership depends on recognizing the power structures at play in your organization. In a participative leadership structure, both employees and managers are encouraged to share feedback, communicate with transparency, and be creative and collaborative.
What Is Democratic Leadership?
In the 1930s, social psychologist Kurt Lewin coined the term democratic leadership as one of three primary leadership styles: autocratic (boss-centered), democratic (team-centered), and laissez-faire leadership (hands-off, focused on delegation).
What is the definition of democratic leadership? In contrast to the autocratic method, democratic leadership is participative leadership, meaning that followers are involved in the process of decision-making; in contrast to laissez-faire leadership, democratic leaders still direct the work in a larger sense and might even make the final call.
Democratic leadership traits include:
Inclusive decision-making
If an employee at your company were asked to describe democratic leadership, they might say it involves giving them a role in the decision-making process. The leader actively seeks their input and fosters creative problem-solving and collaboration. Democratic leaders tend to be more transparent about processes and goals, sharing information with the team in order to inform their brainstorming.
Trust in team input
Democratic leaders encourage team members to share their input. Crucially, they’re also able to integrate this information into their decision-making. These democratic leaders are skilled communicators and active listeners. Their direct reports will feel that their perspective is valued and taken into account.
Structured collaboration
A common myth about democratic leadership is that it’s a free-for-all with no rules or structure. While this may be the case in some organizations, the most successful uses of the collaborative leadership style will have guidelines in place. In practice, this might mean creating specific channels for feedback or input, and being transparent about goals and processes.
Accountability through consensus
Regardless of their leadership style, leaders are accountable for ensuring that their team achieves its goals. But in a democratic model, leaders use consensus to ensure that staffers feel connected to the team and the company’s goals. In fact, McKinsey research shows that employees feel most motivated by goal setting that involves a mix of team and personal goals – and when they have a role in setting goals.
Is Your Leadership Style Truly Democratic?
Use the questions below to assess whether you embody the participative leadership style — or just think you do.
- I regularly ask my team for input and consider their feedback before reaching a decision.
- My team understands how decisions are made and goals are set.
- I am generally able to reach consensus with my team.
- The people who report to me feel comfortable giving me news I might not want to hear.
- I regularly hear a wide range of perspectives and opinions from my team.
So, what was your result: Is your brand of leadership style empowering your team or holding them back?
When to Use (and Not Use) Democratic Leadership
Knowing when democratic leadership is effective is essential. Not every use case is appropriate for this leadership style. Further, you may find it effective at some times and not at others. For example, when you’re in a time crunch, you may need to reel in a consensus-driven approach and apply more authoritative (which doesn’t necessarily mean autocratic) methods.
Best Use Cases for Democratic Leadership
When should democratic leadership be used? In short, any time there are tangible benefits to encouraging collaboration, creativity and ownership.
Here are a few examples:
- A tech startup might be willing to sacrifice traditional hierarchy for productivity gains and a shot at outmaneuvering the competition.
- On the flip side, an established corporation might choose to embrace participative leadership in order to innovate new products and approaches. Former CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi was known for empowering her employees to share their insights and ideas.
- Some industries and business units are more known for embracing this type of leadership, including tech companies, research and development units and health care teams.
Situations Where It Falls Short
It’s also important to know when not to use democratic leadership. Rigid compliance environments, crisis response and large organizations that value a certain amount of conformity are not a good fit for this approach.
For example:
- The military uses a transactional approach to leadership. Service members are expected to fulfill certain requirements and meet specific goals before being promoted to the next rank.
- Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, is known for his laissez-faire approach to leadership. Berkshire Hathaway typically does not interfere with the day-to-day decisions of the companies in which it invests–and for good reason. Buffett says, “Most managers use the independence we grant them magnificently, by maintaining an owner-oriented attitude.”
- In contrast, Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, “would involve himself in hiring decisions that most global CEOs would delegate,” per Claudio Fernández-Aráoz at Harvard Business Review. His style is best characterized as transformational and authoritative.
Pros & Cons of Democratic Leadership
The advantages of democratic leadership include greater productivity, reduced employee turnover, and an improved employee culture. The disadvantages, however, include cost, inefficiency and management strain.
Pros & Cons of Democratic Leadership:
- Greater innovation and productivity
- Reduced absenteeism and employee turnover
- Improved employee culture
- May be more expensive than top-down leadership styles
- Less efficient
- Requires more managerial effort
Why Democratic Leadership Is Good
The pros of democratic leadership are obvious – especially from an employee perspective. Multiple studies have shown that employees want to work for organizations that value their input and give them autonomy at work. Those plusses have benefits for employers, too – more highly engaged workers are more productive, have better job satisfaction, are less likely to be absent and more likely to stay in their jobs.
Why It Can Be Challenging
However, there are disadvantages of a democratic leadership style, including the time, effort and expense of managing a team in a collaborative fashion. It’s obviously easier for one person (the leader) to make decisions and then convey those decisions to the team … at least in the moment.
In short, this type of leadership is hard. It’s also not the right fit for every organization, all the time.
How Democratic Leadership Compares to Other Styles
Lewin identified three main categories of leadership as autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire. Since then, researchers have added other leadership styles, including authoritative, coaching and transformational.
These styles differ in terms of the leader’s role, the decision-making process, the autonomy of team members, and the method of feedback delivery. Each style has its pros and cons, and different styles may be appropriate for different situations, goals or business cycles.
Democratic
Democratic leadership encourages participation from members of the team, as well as management. Team members discuss policies and participate in the decision-making process, although democratic leaders may delegate tasks and make final determinations. The democratic style is characterized by collaboration, mutual respect and (limited) individual autonomy.
Autocratic
If there’s a polar opposite of democratic leadership, it’s autocratic leadership (also known as authoritarian leadership). In the autocratic model, the leader makes all the decisions – including the manner in which the work is performed – without any input from the team. All power, responsibility and authority lie with the person in charge.
Authoritative
Authoritative sounds similar to autocratic. However, while an authoritative leader is more rules-focused than some other types, they generally don’t insist on managing every aspect of the work. In fact, they can be a democratic leader, provided that they engage their teams in a collaborative process before determining the best path forward. This leadership model requires an inspiring leader who is able to connect their direct reports’ individual efforts to the larger goals of the organization.
Bureaucratic
Bureaucratic styles focus on rules, hierarchy and doing things the “right” way. This can be a boon for large organizations or complicated tasks. However, employees who prefer to have more input into their work may find this approach overly rigid.
Coaching
Leaders who take a coaching approach to management will focus on their direct reports’ strengths and weaknesses. These leaders work with their teams on an individual basis to help them achieve their professional and organizational goals.
Laissez-faire
Also known as a “hands-off” approach to leadership, a laissez-faire style prioritizes autonomy and delegation. To be effective, laissez-faire leaders must be comfortable allowing team members to resolve their own issues and trust them to hit their goals. They must also be able to provide their reports with the tools they need to be successful.
Servant
Similar to the coaching approach, the servant style focuses on empowering group members and helping them fulfill their professional goals. Servant-style leadership approaches focus on developing an inclusive environment and fostering the emotional health of employees.
Transactional
Transactional leadership relies on a “carrot or stick” approach to motivating workers. Leaders who ascribe to this philosophy evaluate team achievements against specific benchmarks (for example, SMART goals). The transaction in the name has to do with the exchange between manager and report: if the employee does what’s asked, they’ll receive a reward, e.g., a bonus, positive evaluation, raise, promotion, etc. If not, they’ll be “punished,” or at least, denied the reward.
Transformational
In contrast with the transactional approach, transformational leadership seeks to inspire employees through active listening, leading by example and demonstrating enthusiasm for the mission. Transformational leaders have top-notch communication skills and the ability to engage with others in a genuine, meaningful way.
Which leadership style is best?
That depends on the team, company culture, industry and goals. For example, a large business unit may necessarily be somewhat bureaucratic, while a startup in an emerging field will need to incorporate some aspect of coaching in order to build the skills that they need to succeed. And any organization can benefit from incorporating assessments for employee purpose to build a more inspiring culture.
Further, most organizations combine two or more styles. It’s entirely possible to lead democratically and transformationally or authoritatively and transactionally.
The “right” leadership style is always what works best for your organization at a given time.
Examples of Democratic Leadership in Action
With benefits like innovation, productivity and improved employee retention, it’s no wonder that some of the world’s most successful leaders adopt a democratic style. Which CEO has a participative leadership style? Here are a few examples of this approach in action:
Sundar Pichai (Google)
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is widely known as a calm, low-key leader who empowers his employees and leads with empathy. This has led to some grumbling from executives who might prefer to move with more speed.
However, as one former vice president put it in an interview with The New York Times, “Would I be happier if he made decisions faster? Yes. But am I happy that he gets nearly all of his decisions right? Yes.”
During Pichai’s 10 years at the helm, Google has continued to dominate search and the digital ad space, as well as expanding into artificial intelligence.
“As a leader, it is important to not just see your own success, but focus on the success of others.” – Sundar Pichai
Satya Nadella (Microsoft)
Like Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been steering a massive tech giant for around a decade. Also like Pichai, Nadella recognizes the power of empathy to inspire and encourage teams to do their best work.
Nadella is known for championing inclusion and diversity efforts at Microsoft, including building a stronger pipeline for female and BIPOC leadership. He’s also spoken publicly about combating bias in artificial intelligence.
“If you have empathy for your people, they will do their best work, and you’ll make progress.” – Satya Nadella
Sheryl Sandberg (Meta)
Sheryl Sandberg, formerly COO of Meta, has made mentorship a building block of her leadership, identifying it as a “key building block of success.” Her work with Lean In was a watershed moment for gender equity, encouraging women to pursue leadership roles in business and technology.
“We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.” – Sheryl Sandberg
Barack Obama (leadership crossover example)
Barack Obama was a Democratic president, but he also exhibited some characteristics of small-D democratic leadership. For example, Obama used online tools to increase government transparency and build consensus with voters around his Affordable Care Act initiative.
Some commentators have noted elements of transformational and authoritative leadership in the Obama presidency. Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice once said of Obama’s decision-making style, “He listens to various viewpoints. He elicits dissenting views. He weighs those rationally and pragmatically. But then he tends to make a relatively swift and clear decision.”
“We see the future not as something out of our control, but as something we can shape for the better through concerted and collective effort.” – Barack Obama
How to Strengthen Your Democratic Leadership Style
Ready to drive improved productivity and innovation (with a neat side effect of increased psychological safety for your employees)? Try some of these ways to improve democratic leadership style.
Use asynchronous input tools
Enable your team to give you feedback when it’s convenient (and less confrontational). Set up tools that allow them to provide input when and as they like.
Rotate decision ownership
One common problem with creating an environment where feedback is welcome is that you’re likely to hear it most often from the same few people. The same goes with asking for volunteers to run meetings, spearhead projects or own deliverables.
Rotating decision ownership means that everyone gets a turn at being in charge of reaching consensus. As a bonus: you may find that some of your less collaborative employees are more willing to compromise once they’ve been on the other end of the process.
Define limits of collaboration clearly
In business, as in government, there is rarely such a thing as a true democracy. Make sure your team knows the limits and structure of your collaborative process right from the beginning.
Document decisions publicly
Transparency is a hallmark of participative leadership. Make sure your team knows how goals are set, decisions are made and success is measured.
Ultimately, democratic leadership is best when certain conditions are met. Your team should understand how the process works, what goals you’re hoping to achieve and how to share feedback.
How Democratic Leadership Supports Scalable Mentorship Programs
Mentorship thrives in organizations that practice a democratic leadership style — here’s why.
Mentorship Encourages Distributed Decision-Making
Research shows that mentorship helps employees build critical-thinking and decision-making skills. Mentoring programs empower employees to build better judgment, which supports the participative foundation of democratic leadership. Leadership mentoring supports the development of new democratic leaders, who will continue the positive cycle.
Democratic Leaders Model Vulnerability and Growth
What did most of the democratic leaders listed earlier have in common? The ability to be vulnerable, humble and open to feedback. Leaders who invite input from their team are modeling good mentorship. They listen, ask questions and involve employees (or mentees) in co-creating development paths.
Mentorship Creates Micro-Democracies Inside the Organization
Start a mentorship program, and you will be launching a microcosm of democracy. Several types of mentorship programs have the added benefit of breaking down hierarchy and encouraging cross-functional collaboration.
For example, peer mentoring circles facilitate knowledge sharing and build employees’ skillsets while also allowing them to build relationships with colleagues. Meanwhile, leadership development programs can utilize high-potential and peer mentoring to build a better, more diverse leadership pipeline.
“Above all, let us choose to believe in each other because now and always — we are in this together. When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.” – Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks
Supporting Democratic Leadership with Software
Employee engagement tools help automate and streamline the process of democratic leadership in the workplace. A mentorship software program offers:
- Team polling features to facilitate rapid input
- Decision tracking platforms
- Peer feedback and review cycles
- AI-powered mentor matching to reduce administrative burdens
- ROI reporting to help secure buy-in from senior leadership – and uncover new growth opportunities for the future
Democratic leadership thrives in organizations that enable transparent collaboration. Employee community software helps reinforce the participative model.
Want more proof? Check out our case studies and learn how the Chronus platform has helped companies like Amazon, Paychex and HCLTech create scalable, custom solutions. Or schedule a demo and see for yourself!
Leadership Style Myths & FAQs
Which of the following is another term for a democratic leadership style?
Another term for the democratic leadership style is participative leadership. You might also hear it called collaborative leadership.
If the leadership style is democratic, then the emphasis is on who?
The word democracy comes from two Greek words: demos, which means “people,” and “kratos,” which means power. Therefore, it means “power of the people.” In democratic leadership, the emphasis is on the power of the employees to contribute to the organization.
Who has a democratic leadership style?
Several famous democratic leaders in business and government have or had a participative leadership style, including U.S. presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson and CEOs Steve Jobs and Jack Dorsey.
