Bureaucratic Leadership Style

The Bureaucratic Leadership Style was one of three leadership styles described by Max Weber (1947) along with charismatic leadership and traditional leadership styles.    The bureaucratic leadership style is based on following normative rules and adhering to lines of authority.

The characteristics of the bureaucratic style include:

• Leaders impose strict and systematic discipline on the followers and demand business-like conduct in the workplace
• Leaders are empowered via the office they hold - position power
• Followers are promoted based on their ability to conform to the rules of the office
• Follower should obey leaders because authority is bestowed upon the leader as part of their position in the company

Weber was the first to distinguish between transactional leaders such as bureaucratic leaders and transformational leaders such as charismatic leaders.  Weber also believed that most leaders exhibited characteristics of all three styles.

Other forms of this term include - bureaucratic leader, bureaucratic leaders