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Bureaucracy is often the butt of many jokes about inefficiency and poor management, but no organization can exist without policies, procedures, and leadership who understands how to navigate them.
This is especially true for large organizations. A bureaucracy with established rules and regulations helps the organization to run smoothly and effectively.
In the context of leadership, a bureaucratic leadership style is a management style that follows a hierarchical structure and adheres to established procedures.
Organizations that follow a bureaucratic leadership style include:
These organizations have a bureaucratic leadership system because it is one of the best ways to run large organizations. Hierarchical structures result in efficient operational systems that are hard to beat.
To further explore the bureaucratic leadership style, we must first identify its key elements:
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The bureaucratic leadership style is defined by strict rules on how to do everything. These rules mean that a leader maintains control through consistent and precise action.
Here are some characteristics of bureaucratic leadership:
Organizations with a bureaucratic leadership style will have a well-defined chain of command. This creates a controlled environment where everyone in the organization has clear roles and responsibilities.
Such an organizational culture reduces ambiguity as each level of authority is explicitly laid out. In essence, there is a clear chain of command that works as follows: junior staff report to their immediate supervisors, and those supervisors report to managers at a higher level.
This creates a clear chain of command that is aimed at maximizing organizational performance.
Bureaucratic organizations typically encourage their members to follow the set rules and regulations. Any deviation from the established procedure is discouraged. This minimizes overlap between roles and prevents confusion.
In a bureaucratic management system, decisions are made based on objective procedures, with little regard for individual preferences or circumstances.
Bureaucratic leaders maintain this formal decision-making method with subordinates. This can minimize the chances of poor decision-making due to emotions or relationships.
Centralized control is a logical result of a hierarchical structure. The decision-making structure for any organization with a bureaucratic leadership style tends to narrow at the top.
In most cases, decisions flow from the top down. Subordinates have little autonomy and must follow instructions from top leaders with little flexibility.
Bureaucratic leadership can be more efficient than other forms of leadership. However, centralized control can make the organization slow and inflexible.
Decision-making is slow because information has to flow to the top, and then team members have to wait for directives. This process can stifle creativity and poorly impact employee motivation.
Bureaucratic leaders often focus on tasks such as achieving goals, meeting targets, or achieving other tangible results. This task-oriented approachworks well in today's corporate environment as bureaucratic leaders can match the relentless push for progress and results.
Additionally, a bureaucratic leader will work with the team to set clear goals, delegate responsibilities, and ensure that every team member understands their specific duties within the organizational framework.
This leadership style helps create consistency in operations and minimizes deviations from established protocols.
This is perhaps the most unique part of bureaucratic leadership. Formal communication channels such as emails, letters, reports, and presentations help maintain order through consistency and clarity. They also leave a permanent record that enforces accountability.
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Now that we can identify a bureaucratic leader, it's time to find out why one would choose this leadership style.
Here are some pros of bureaucratic leadership:
A bureaucratic leader is the best person to manage a large organization with complex interactions between different departments.
A clear chain of command and established rules for the division of labor clearly define who is responsible for what. This makes the organization more efficient because there is less confusion around scope, chain of command, and responsibility.
The world is rarely stable and changes in the business environment can quickly throw off a business without established rules or a consistent management style.
Bureaucratic leadership helps maintain consistency and stability because decisions are based on set guidelines, reducing the risk of arbitrary actions or decisions.
For instance, in most government sectors, there are clearly defined roles for everyone, and if one person leaves the organization, there are clear rules on who will replace them.
The most prominent example of this is countries with a presidential system of government. If the president leaves office or dies before the end of their term, the Vice President steps in to fill the void.
Rules and procedures can seem tedious, but they diminish the chances of favoritism and bias. Bureaucratic leadership, for all its faults, ensures fair treatment for everyone, unlike other leadership styles.
Scaling an organization is one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish, but bureaucratic leadership is built for it. The rules and regulations of such an organization can be applied everywhere.
If the organization grows larger or expands to other markets, its management style will follow. There is no need to invest in new leadership skills; the organization simply replicates the decision-making process across new units or locations.
Bureaucratic leadership is a management style with clear rules for everything, which can help the organization minimize errors. This is especially important for organizations that operate in public-facing sectors or industries that require deep technical expertise.
With clearly defined roles for everyone, employees can focus on tasks that matter to them. This can lead to more efficient performance for the organization.
For tech companies and other innovative industries, specialization can allow the organization to invest in new ideas without risking other operational areas.
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There are many pros to bureaucratic leadership, but there are also several drawbacks. Here are the cons of bureaucratic leadership:
Bureaucratic leadership is inflexible as compared to other leadership styles. Bureaucratic management is rigid because employees must follow a strict hierarchy.
With such an approach, bureaucratic management can be slow to react to changes in market conditions, technology, or regulatory changes.
Slow decision-making due to bureaucratic leadership can make the organization less responsive to urgent problems or opportunities, hindering its ability to stay competitive.
A decisive leader can help mitigate this by investing in a bureaucratic style that quickly passes relevant information to the right person.
Bureaucratic leadership tends to prioritize rule-following and conformity over creativity. Employees may feel stifled in environments where innovation and thinking outside the box are not encouraged, as there is little room for taking risks or experimenting with new ideas.
Bureaucratic leadership works through formal communication channels and this can result in some communication bottlenecks that limit open communication or collaboration across different levels or departments.
Red tape in bureaucratic leadership results from an overemphasis on rules and procedures. This excessive formalization can lead to large amounts of paperwork and complex rules and procedures.
These factors compound and instead of improving efficiency, they drastically impede the organization's ability to operate efficiently.
The official hierarchy of many organizations that have bureaucratic leadership can alienate employees. Employees feel disconnected from the mission and vision of the organization because the leadership style is so impersonal.
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There have been some notable leaders who've used the bureaucratic leadership style to great effect. Here are some of them:
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during World War II, used bureaucratic leadership to lead his nation during the chaos of war. He developed a network of professional relationships that helped his country survive the Nazi onslaught.
Alfred Sloan
Alfred Sloan was a longtime CEO of General Motors (GM). His bureaucratic leadership helped the carmaker become one of the most efficient organizations.
Shinji Sogo
Shinji Sogo was an executive at the Japanese National Railways. His bureaucratic leadership helped the organization develop the world's first modern high-speed train. Japan's bullet trains are admired and the institution's professionals have had zero accidents on the network since its inception.
Steve Easterbrook
Steve Easterbrook was the CEO of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019. His bureaucratic leadership style helped the organization run efficiently and maintain its dominance in the fast food market.
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