Question

laissez - faire leadership by joseph cates (1) last year, pulaski high school got a new soccer coach, coach dillon. (2) when he began, he displayed a style of leadership that he himself called \laissez - faire.\ (3) this french term means he is \hands off\ in directing the team. (4) he is available for guidance and support, but overall he lets the team make choices about what they are going to do in practice. (5) if someone decides not to show up for practice, no big deal—its cool. (6) if half the team wants to run one kind of drill and the other wants to run another, we have to work it out among ourselves. (7) at first, many students, myself included, and parents were concerned that coach dillons methods would lead to laziness and catastrophic failure for our soccer team. (8) im happy to say that i was wrong, and the method of self - directed leadership has worked surprisingly well. (9) for laissez - faire leadership to work, however, team members absolutely must have high motivation, willingness to collaborate and compromise in problem solving, and willingness and ability to do the hard work necessary to succeed. (10) without these things, players cannot efficiently run the team with minimal guidance. (11) i went to the source to find out his reasoning behind his coaching method and how he knew it would work for pulaski high schools soccer team. (12) \before i became the coach, id seen you guys practice several times. (13) your previous coach was very directive, but i saw qualities in the more experienced boys that made me feel certain that being on the soccer team could be an exercise in self - directed leadership. (14) im here to help people refine their skills, and i can even help solve problems, but the key to the teams success is practice. (15) you dont need me barking orders to do that.\ (16) this leadership style is not suitable for every team, because players must be at a certain skill level and maturity to be able to do the work and make wise choices. (17) in the case of our team, laissez - faire coaching has built confidence in players, because we know that our coach believes we can do the work.

Explanation:

Answer:

A leadership style where the leader is "hands - off" (laissez - faire), available for guidance but lets the team make choices. Requires high - motivated, collaborative team members. Not for all teams; builds confidence when players have skill and maturity.