Characteristics of Laissez Faire Leadership Style

The laissez faire leadership style wants all components of the education agent to carry out their duties freely. This type relies on the ability to influence other people to be willing to work together to achieve the goals set by the way various activities are left to subordinates.

Literally meaning og word “Lassez” itself is permissible and “faire” is free. So the notion of laissez-faire leadership style is to give to others the principle of freedom, including subordinates to carry out their duties freely in accordance with the wishes of subordinates and this type can be implemented in organization that really have human and natural resources well and are able to design all needs school independently.

In terms of leader behavior, this type of leadership is strongly influenced by a typical or character leader and typically this is a defector. A leader who has characteristics of Laiessez Faire leadership style actually does not lead in his organization. He frees his followers to do what they want.

Laissez-faire leaders are the opposite of autocratic leader, and are often referred to as liberals, because it gives the education workers much freedom to take their own steps to face something. If the autocratic leader dominates, this type of laissez-faire leader surrenders the matter entirely to the members.

In the type of laissez faire leadership, the leader practically does not lead, because he allows his group to do whatever they want. For example, in a school meeting, the headmaster hands over everything to the education staff, both setting goals, implementing procedures, activities to be carried out, and the facilities and infrastructure to be used.

The headmaster is passive, not directly involved with education staff, and does not take any initiative. Principals who have laissez-faire usually position themselves as spectators. Even though he is in the midst of the education staff at school meetings, because he considers leaders not to express too much opinion, so as not to reduce the rights and freedoms of members.

In the organization he leads, chaos is something that is prone to occur. This happened because of his leadership style. In the freely work atmosphere, it cannot be avoided the emergence of various problems, for example in work confusion conflicts and arbitrariness.

This can happen because each individual has a different character and goals that want to be carried out so that as a result each of them is arguing. They may end in fighting power and fighting strength and unfair competition among members. It is happened because leaders have no role in uniting, directing, coordinating and mobilizing their members.

The success of this laissez faire leadership style does not lie in the leader. Success occurs because the entry of people who are dedicated and reliable in carrying out the task. This type of leadership can be successful because of the services of those who are followers.

Leaders who have this characteristics of laissez faire leadership style tend not to use the rules in their organization. To overcome problems or set organizational goals, he delegates to subordinates. The style of communication carried out by this type of leader is more of a liaison style. He connects the various thoughts of those who become his followers.

Read also: Characteristics of A Leader : Good and Bad Leaders

Characteristics of Laissez Faire Leadership Style 

The characteristics of laissez faire leadership style are:
a) Leaders provide full freedom in making decisions either in groups or individually with a minimum participation of leaders even seeming indifferent.
b) The leader gives absolute freedom to his staff in determining everything that is useful for the progress of his organization without guidance from him
c) Leaders do not participate at all in the organization they lead.
d) The leader gives spontaneous comments on the activities of members and he does not try at all to evaluate or not evaluate the teacher's performance.

Some of the reasons that cause a "laissez faire" in leadership style, include:
• Because of the lack of enthusiasm of the work of the leader as the main responsibility of the success or failure of work activities of an institution
• Because of the lack of ability and skill of the leader himself. Especially if there are more capable subordinates, more talented than the leader, so that the leader tends to choose the safest alternative for himself and the prestige of office according to his opinion, namely by giving the widest possible freedom to each staff member, to the group as a whole, to establish "policies" and programs and ways of working according to their respective conceptions that are considered good and right by themselves.• Problems with the difficulty of communication, for example because the location of a remote leader.