What is Laissez-Faire Leadership? Is It Lazy or Is It Fair?

Once you get past the quick lesson in French, understanding the laissez-faire leadership style is a walk in the park. Or should I say “promenade dans le parc”?

In any case, let’s explore what exactly laissez-faire leadership means, its defining characteristics, a little history lesson, some examples, and the pros and cons.

What is Laissez-Faire Leadership?

Laissez-faire is a French expression that means “let it be”. It’s a philosophy that can be applied to business management in the form of laissez-faire leadership. Laissez-faire leaders are known to put a lot of trust in their followers, allowing them complete autonomy to make their own decisions and get on with their work.

They don’t micromanage or provide much guidance. Instead, they give their employees free reign to use their creativity, resources, and experience to get the job done.

That’s not to say that laissez-faire leaders are 100% hands-off. They do take responsibility when needed, but generally let their teams take the lead.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” — Steve Jobs

Characteristics of Laissez-Faire Leadership

To be a laissez-faire leader, you need to:

• Be a firm believer in autonomy
• Provide little or no guidance to your teams
• Be able to take charge when necessary
• Be kept in the know about what’s happening but not be directly involved in it
• Trust others to keep their word
• Monitor performance and give feedback regularly
• Expect employees to solve their own problems
• Be effective at handing out constructive criticism
• Take responsibility for overall actions and decisions
• Be comfortable with making mistakes
• Know who to delegate work to
• Give employees access to multiple resources and tools

History of Laissez-Faire Leadership

Laissez-faire originally emerged as an economic philosophy of free-market capitalism uncontrolled by government oversight. The theory itself was developed by the — you guessed it — French. Namely, French Physiocrats during the 18th century who believed that economic success was impossible when governments tried to, well, govern it.

While the origins of the phrase are heavily contested, rumour has it that it came from a meeting between the French finance minister Jean-Baptise Colbert and a businessman named Le Gendre in 1681. In this mythical meeting, the finance minister asked Le Gendre how the French government could help boost commerce, to which Le Gendre answered “Laissez-nous faire”. In other words, “Let it be.” (I don’t think Paul McCartney had this in mind when writing his ballad.)

It’s important to note that while laissez-faire economics is similar to laissez-faire leadership, the two are not identical. We can thank German-American psychologist Kurt Lewin for developing the concept into a style of leadership in the 1930s.

Lewin, an expert in social psychology, was one of the first to research group dynamics and organisational psychology. In fact, human resources have a lot to thank Lewin for as his research on assessing and managing workplace productivity is still used to this day.

During his studies, Lewin identified laissez-faire leadership as the opposite of autocratic leadership. Together with his team of psychologists, Lewin understood that laissez-faire leadership required the least amount of managerial oversight. It went against the centralised forms of leadership that were the norm at the time (such as transactional leadership).

An interesting thing to note is that Lewin and his research partners decided that neither laissez-faire nor autocratic would cut it as leadership styles. What was their preferred leadership style you might ask? It was, in fact, democratic leadership.

Examples of Laissez-Faire Leadership

Examples of laissez-faire leaders can come from anywhere, even outside of business. John F. Kennedy is sometimes considered a laissez-faire leader, specifically when talking about his space exploration programme. With just the single goal of getting a man on the moon, Kennedy entrusted the entire project to NASA engineers, scientists, and astronauts. And while that giant leap for mankind happened after his passing, the Apollo space programme would not have existed without him.

Another prime example is Sebastián Piňera, the president of Chile from 2010 to 2014. During the 2010 Copiapó mining accident (more lazily known as the “Chilean mining accident”), he led the rescue operation that saved 33 miners trapped 2,300 feet underground. From the very beginning, he recognised the event as completely unprecedented and sought the expertise and assistance of engineers, mechanics, deep-sea operators, doctors, and psychologists. After picking the key players, Piňera took a back seat and let them get on with their unconventional rescue mission.

For an example outside the world of politics, let’s look at the DK in DKNY — Donna Karan. The New York fashion label founder is known as an attentive yet hands-off leader who is always looking for the bigger picture. Her managers report that she places complete trust in them when it comes to decision-making, and only offered feedback once all was said and done.

“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.” — Ronald Reagan

Pros and Cons of Laissez-Faire Leadership

Before you put your beret on and become a full-on laissez-faire leader, let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages.

Pros

✓ Effective when a team is skilled and experienced
✓ Increased productivity and job satisfaction
✓ Higher retention rates
✓ More accountability for employees
✓ A thriving creative culture
✓ Boosts motivation
✓ Encourages personal growth and innovation
✓ Allows for faster decision-making

Cons

❌ Can be difficult for new starters
❌ Accountability can be passed around
❌ Difficult to adapt to changing situations
❌ Lack of structure, support, and clarity
❌ Leaders can appear uninvested
❌ Can lead to organisational silos
❌ Tough to implement in large groups
❌ Can be easily abused by employees

Laissez-faire leadership is a bold way of doing things. It involves complete trust and an insane amount of faith in your subordinates.

And in the age of remote working, most leaders have inadvertently moved into this style of leadership. But is laissez-faire leadership the way to do it? I’d have to agree with Kurt Lewin and say, by itself, it’s not enough — especially for remote workers.

While I’m a huge proponent of freedom and trust in the workplace, taking a more hands-off approach when people need guidance and support more than ever seems at best unwise, and at worst nonsensical.

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Our programmes are data-driven, underpinned by business psychology tools, that will equip your leaders with the capabilities required to lead your organisation through change and transformation successfully. Find out how we can transform your leaders by getting in touch today!

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