Autocratic, Delegative, or Transformative: What Type of Leader Are You, and Why Should You Care?

Fisheries professionals are called upon to provide leadership in many ways, in the context of the work environment interacting with colleagues, in decision-making processes while advocating for fisheries resources and/or fisheries stakeholders, and in service to others in our lives inside and outside of the workplace.   Leadership may take many forms as it enables a shared vision and sense of purpose, motivation, and accomplishment with a group of people.  Leadership theories, articulating both substance and style, suggest several models that may correspond with our talents, abilities, values, and context.  Autocratic, Delegative, Participative, Transactional, and Transformational theories of leadership provide insight from which we can develop our own approaches that reflect the social and political environment in which leadership is required and that support the outcomes we seek to achieve.