Liberal management style in management and personnel management

Stimulating creative development.
The absence of strict restrictions in the enterprise is an ideal environment for employees whose activities are predominantly creative. With a liberal approach, they can independently maximize their effectiveness while delivering high quality work, whereas creating creative products under pressure usually leads to worse results.
Reducing stress. Since there are no strict restrictions, employees feel freer and do not experience the stress of having to necessarily complete any tasks. However, in some cases, the lack of strict goals and control over employees, on the contrary, can lead to ineffectiveness and confusion.
Ideal opportunities to show initiative. Due to the fact that employees work independently and are not guided by strict instructions from management, they can take initiative and implement their tasks as part of their work activities, which can lead to significant improvements in labor efficiency and cost reduction.
Loyalty to the enterprise. Being in comfortable liberal conditions allows employees to get used to their employer and reduces the desire to look for a new place of work, where working conditions may be much worse. Which, in turn, significantly reduces staff turnover.

A liberal management style can directly influence labor efficiency both positively and negatively. And in this matter, the manager’s approach and his relationship with the team already matter.

Characteristics of the liberal style

The liberal management style implies an almost complete absence of any control over the actions of subordinates. That is, the leader initially explains the problem, creates the necessary conditions so that the team can begin to solve it, and formulates the task, the result that he wants to see as a result of their activities. And he himself, as they say, “goes into the shadows,” leaving space for the workers themselves to act.

Does not get involved in the process, often even if he observes some mistakes or lack of inspiration or motivation. Its function is now the last, decisive one - to accept and evaluate the result. But the performers themselves will have to be “free swimming”. Independently accepting the most optimal options, and agreeing on who will be responsible for what, as well as what algorithm of actions to take. They also regulate relationships, that is, difficulties that arise, and conflicts independently.

The bosses themselves can only trust the consciousness and devotion of the members of the working group, holding out in moments when an irresistible desire arises to still get involved and make adjustments and changes.

In this case, the leader is simply obliged to establish relations with the established leader, even if he is unpleasant to him, in order to quietly, but still, manage the process. And this requires, in addition to a high level of intelligence, the ability to creatively approach issues in order to masterfully cope with difficulties. Intelligence is extremely necessary precisely in order to clearly formulate tasks, anticipate all events, and provide resources and conditions. And this is not easy, believe me, in the future it will not be able to actively turn on, so it is necessary to calculate everything down to the smallest detail in advance.

Qualities of a leader and subordinates

In such companies, the manager is distinguished by high professionalism and leadership. The group respects him and sees him as a role model. The qualities of a democratic boss include:

openness and accessibility during appeals and personal meetings with staff;
trust in employees;
the ability to delegate rights and tolerate the denial of personal benefits associated with the position.

The manager is obliged to adhere to mandatory non-interference in collegial work.

Employees, for their part, must follow the corporate style, showing the following qualities:

professionalism;
responsibility;
self-control;
desire for personal growth and desire to participate in the life of the company.

Typically, employees involved in common work are interested in achieving corporate goals, value the opinions of their colleagues about themselves and are clearly aware of their control rights.

We are one team

Flaws

For staff

This type of leadership encourages anarchy. Or dividing the group into subgroups. In such cases, an informal leader necessarily appears who seizes power rather than being appointed by management. And depending on his personal characteristics, the general mood and effectiveness of the entire team depends.
Not every person is able to withstand freedom of action. Therefore, there is a risk that if a conflict arises, the participants will not be able to cope with it on their own, which is why the entire planned action plan will be at risk.
Lack of praise can reduce motivation to act, since it is important for everyone to feel important. But the problem is that some people need it excessively, and it is important for them to receive it from the outside, since they do not know how to focus on their own feelings. Why can they unconsciously create a tense environment, seeking recognition from colleagues, even committing sabotage?

For the company

Disadvantages also manifest themselves in the form of passivity and relaxation of employees due to the lack of control over their activities. Without fear of reprimands and reprimands from superiors, for one simple reason - the liberal type of leadership simply does not accept them and does not include them in its list of functions. Employees allow themselves to take work issues lightly and perform their duties poorly.
Often a leader chooses a liberal position only because he does not know how to cope with conflicts and regulate them. Then it becomes safer for him to isolate himself from the process, relieving himself of responsibility for the consequences. And this leads to the fact that the company simply fails, because, in this case, let’s say, it was important, on the contrary, to show character and get involved in the process, strictly controlling the actions of subordinates.
Due to lack of motivation, the speed of work completion is significantly reduced, which may delay the delivery of the project.
The outcome of the project mainly depends on the ambitions and development aspirations of the group of people involved in the work. If they don’t care about career advancement, much less the reputation of their company, then they will “give all their best” accordingly. For example, entrusting the construction of a high-rise building to a foreman and the conscientiousness of the workers, there is a risk of getting an emergency structure.

Example

Examples of the fact that sometimes the liberal style is harmful are such a successful corporation as Coca-Cola. She lost most of her income because, having fired lower-level employees, managers stopped participating in the activity, believing that this would help increase productivity.

But it turned out to be the opposite, and subsequently I had to put in a lot of effort and spend time to recover.

Classical liberalism

The views of classical liberals are characterized by the fact that neither the government nor any group or social unit should interfere in any way with a person's freedom, and the only permissible restriction is when a person poses a real threat to someone else's freedom or property.

Classical liberals advocate minimal interference by government institutions in the lives of citizens. Government institutions should be limited and care, first of all, about ensuring the safety of the population, transparency and integrity of the judicial system, and a peaceful and honest foreign policy. Classical liberals adhere to free market views.

Currents related to classical liberalism are:

neoliberalism;
libertarianism;
conservative liberalism.

While classical liberals were proponents of negative freedom , understood as the absence of restrictions or freedom of choice, modern liberals advocate positive freedom , which involves personal development and individual flourishing.

Advantages

For staff

Work is of interest because a person does what he likes and suits best, and not what he is “ordered to do.” And you yourself know from the article about human energy that interest contains a lot of energy, so you will be less tired when doing something that gives you pleasure. Like little children, they are restless because they follow their curiosity and desires.
With success, the feeling of satisfaction is much higher than that a person experiences with praise. And all thanks to the realization that without clear instructions and control, by showing creativity and using abilities, knowledge and skills, we managed to achieve such a result. This has a positive effect on self-esteem. Since the most stable opinion about oneself is the one formed independently, it is on this that the personality then relies. Yes, you yourself probably know what it’s like to convince a slender girl that she shouldn’t go on a diet... If she thinks that she’s fat, then no one and nothing will influence this decision.

For the company

The advantages are that the group as a whole and each individual individually get the opportunity to express themselves and reveal their potential. In such complete freedom, completely unusual and creative ideas are born that could not arise under other conditions.
People themselves regulate relationships among themselves and establish a clear chain of hierarchy. This is why such a system becomes very stable and able to withstand many difficulties and complexities. Even if several participants drop out during the work process, the team will be able to cope with the project as a whole, distributing responsibilities among themselves. It can exist for many years, creating its own values, rules and traditions. There can be many managers, but nothing will change, unlike other types of management, where when the management changes, either most of the specialists are lost, or the quality and efficiency of the work performed changes.
There are individuals with whom it is impossible to cooperate unless given freedom. And it is also impossible to refuse them, because they are valuable and capable of brilliant creations. But as soon as you try to put pressure on them, then consider that you yourself, with your own hands, have sent your planned project to the trash can. So liberality contributes to the emergence of masterpieces and discoveries, this is especially significant in the field of science and medicine.

Democratic

The work and management style of a democratic leader is completely different from an authoritarian one. This style of work implies an equal distribution of duties and responsibilities among company employees. A democratic leader gathers around himself a team of subordinates who can be relied upon. Such a team that solves problems and launches even complex projects, and for this there is no need to coerce or intimidate employees. At the same time, there will still be responsibility, because a democrat is not a liberal-permissive person, but a leader aimed at a specific result.

Democratic managers also achieve great heights in business and politics, just like authoritarian ones. Only they create a more benevolent atmosphere than autocrats.

Recommendations

Although this type has several names, it is important to maintain a balance, remaining liberal and not bringing matters to complete connivance and lack of control. Therefore, be discreet in checking and observing, periodically contacting the group leader.
Look at the article “Ways to develop lateral thinking”; this knowledge and training will help you learn to make non-standard decisions and get out of difficult dead-end situations.
Most often, it is important to simply create the appearance that you have power over the employees and the process. After all, if you are honest with yourself, it becomes clear that you depend on the decisions and abilities, qualifications of a group of people, and that you can only wait and believe that they will cope. This can create a lot of tension, which will then affect your health, and negatively. Therefore, study the article about methods of getting rid of stress, and put them into practice to maintain balance and calm.
To initially cope with both the leaders and the rest of the employees, so that they listen to you, you must be an authority for them. This is when you can leave the work to be done to them. But what if the boss has low self-esteem and lacks self-confidence? These are significant shortcomings that will make concepts like respect and authority more mythical and unrealistic. Therefore, work on yourself, and here the recommendations in the article about the best methods for achieving success will help you.
Learn to take responsibility and resolve conflicts. This will improve the general atmosphere and add respect and a certain status to you. You will learn how to do this easily and skillfully here.

Where would such management be appropriate?

While in some organizations this style may lead to a decrease in work efficiency, in some cases it is the best solution.

This applies to creative teams. For such people, having a tough and authoritarian boss has a bad effect on their work and the creation of new creative ideas. Designers, marketers, photographers and other creative individuals are on this list.

The liberal style promotes the release of their potential and a calm psychological atmosphere among employees. If you take this nuance into account when working with creative people, you can set up the effective work of the entire team and get the maximum of interesting and workable ideas.

Social liberalism

Social liberalism is a direction that emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century. It advocates some degree of government intervention in free market mechanisms to ensure the survival of the socially poorest. Social liberalism focuses on moral liberalism, emphasizing the secular nature of the common public space and the absolute freedom of the worldview of citizens along with the right to choose in subjective matters.

The term “liberalism” itself is understood differently in different parts of the world. In the United States, liberalism refers to the social liberalism initiated by the welfare state policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal administration. In Europe, on the other hand, the word has a more classical meaning, associated with limited government power and free markets.

Liberalism is based on the autonomous individual with the right to freely act in accordance with his interests. A person's private life is an integral sphere of life and is protected by the universal principle of non-interference by the state (liberal fundamentalism).

In a democracy, all power belongs to civil society. Justice in society is ensured by the rule of law and the equality of all citizens before the law. The establishment of liberal democracy as a humanistic direction in the development of society is a political aspect of globalization and is associated with the provision of unconditional status of legal protection of the individual.

Psychology of Political Leadership

The psychology of political leadership, which studies the main factors in the success of ideologies and parties, links the origin of all types of leader behavior with the desire for power.

Different typologies of political-psychological processes focus primarily on the internal qualities of a leader, highlighting several styles of behavior:

“Agitator” - seeks to achieve support through propaganda, verbally influencing the public.
“Administrator” solves the problems of the organization; he tends to convince with actions, not words.
“Theorist” - his actions are aimed at a narrow target audience, which is usually engaged in solving ideological problems.

Leadership styles primarily describe the individual traits of a political leader, but psychology also includes theories of different ways to persuade followers.

The most popular types of political influence are the coercive type, which is characterized by authoritarianism, the dramatizing type, which achieves the goal primarily through manipulation, and the impartial one, the most rational approach, more capable of rational presentation of facts than any other.

Economic liberalism

Economic (market) liberalism is a set of views on the economy. He rejects all restrictions that interfere with free economic development and free competition in the market. He is against government intervention in the economy.

The economic principle of liberalism is based on the leading role of competition, which is a guarantee of freedom in material life. Consequently, the state must support and develop competition through antimonopoly measures. In the system of social relations, liberalism supports non-violence and restraint.

Diversity of Leadership

Modern leadership is inherently a multifaceted phenomenon: it is impossible to be a highly focused specialist in one area and, without good social, analytical and critical skills, achieve success and recognition among others.

Therefore, a true leader must develop skills that will help him in organizing a team, in gaining authority and in the ability to achieve his plans. Key leadership skills include being reflective, diagnosing problems, being flexible in decision making, partnering, directing others, and inspiring.

Positive liberalism

The burning questions of liberalism are as follows:

whether people have positive rights as members of a community;
whether citizens can have positive expectations in addition to protection from injustices that other people may inflict on them.

For most modern liberals , especially in the US and EU, the answer is unequivocally yes. In their view, people have positive rights based on membership in a particular nation, political or local entity, and have the right to expect to receive certain benefits and certain protections.

Classical liberals would answer no. In their view, people do not have such rights as members of a community because such rights are necessarily in conflict with the more fundamental "negative" rights of other members of the same communities.

If people have positive rights as members of a community, they therefore also have the right to expect the state to regulate the economy and other areas of society, because a person cannot cope with all the circumstances of life on his own. If people have the right to participate in public life, then they also have the right to education and social protection from discrimination as representatives of that public.

Many liberals hold very different opinions about the precise number and nature of these rights that should be recognized.

Libertarianism

Libertarianism , which developed from classical liberalism, is sometimes considered a branch of liberalism and sometimes considered an independent, distinct ideology.

The modern libertarian tradition claims to be the ideological successor to “classical liberalism.” However, many oppose this merging of two concepts that they consider to be separate and actually opposed.

Libertarians argue that the free market cannot satisfy all of society's needs. Libertarianism and liberalism are fundamentally incompatible because the checks and balances provided by liberal institutions conflict with libertarian support for complete economic deregulation.

Friedrich Hayek and others prefer to simply call “libertarianism” “liberalism” rather than emphasizing ties to the founders.