Advantages and Disadvantages

Consensus-style leaders offer some significant benefits. They:

• Attempt to understand people's perspectives and needs to ensure they're affirmed and pleased
• Avoid becoming angry to prevent discouragement or upset
• Solicit each person's input and ideas to avoid feelings of exclusion or disillusionment
• Mediate disagreements to help the team find unity and safety
• Give of themselves, often setting aside personal preferences for the common good
• Make themselves available for discussion or assistance
• Help each person contribute to team success without favoritism
• Influence through diplomacy to avoid offending people
• Shrug off personal credit to recognize others
• Avoid blaming others and focus on solutions

As healthy as this work environment may seem, consensus-minded leadership has several potential drawbacks:

• Leaders tend to hold back their opinions to avoid disunity, which diminishes their authority and ability to lead firmly.
• They avoid conflicts they fear may be too difficult to handle, which permits underlying trouble to brew and makes unity tougher to maintain in the long run.
• They take less initiative when outcomes may not sit well with everyone. Passive leaders often miss opportunities for improvement or success.
• They struggle with decisions when they fail to achieve consensus. People may then be reluctant to trust them, especially in tough times.
• Their indecisiveness limits progress, thwarting people's efforts to complete assigned tasks. This causes frustration and disengagement.
• They keep the peace by giving answers they believe people want-but not need-to hear. This misinformation causes errors in direction, judgment and outcomes.
• They skirt around constructive feedback instead of clearly explaining how employee performance must improve. Substandard work or attitudes go unaddressed, and a lack of corrective actions may threaten the organization's well-being.
• They fail to offer directives when the team incorrectly prioritizes tasks. They discredit their own expertise in a misguided attempt to empower their people, which may compromise goals and progress.
• They disfavor change, especially if it may disrupt the comforting status quo. Organizations may fall behind.
• They ignore their personal needs as they tend to everyone else, thereby inviting fatigue, anger, resentment or burnout.

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