Leadership style in Brazil

There are some leadership styles that used in the working environment. However, each country in this world has different leadership culture that also affecting the leadership style that being used in that country and what kind of leadership style that fits best.

For example is in Brazil, the business is hierarchical. People there prefer to have an authoritarian leader or manager. The leadership style is related with the Hofstede’s Theory on power distance level, which is Brazil, is medium to high. This power distance is characterized by the downward communication style. However, Brazilians also expect a paternalistic manager, because the subordinates are more likely to be more loyal and commit to the manager than the organization itself. There is a close supervision, and the manager will most likely to directing and controlling the employees. Managers in Brazil tend to keep the line between employee and boss clear, but still maintain the friendly atmosphere.

Brazilian working culture also can be considered to be low satisfaction at work and low competition amongst people of the organization. Relationship with their family also seen as very important for the Brazilian, that’s why it’s common in Brazil to hire people from the same family to be their subordinates or partners. And they make sure that their working life won’t interrupt their family time.

Because Brazil scored high in collectivism, Brazilian managers tend to use a group-approach to leadership.

Brazil also has more flexible time, and punctuality is not seen as an important thing to them. It’s normal in Brazil to be few minutes late in a meeting, and sometimes it’s even considered as a sign of disrespect if people arriving fifteen minutes early in a meeting.

According to GLOBE, the leadership qualities that are most desired in Brazil are Charismatic/Value-Based and Team-Oriented. Charismatic/Value-Based leadership means that the leaders are encouraging, inspiring, and believe in their employees. As for the Team-Oriented leadership, shows the importance of group amongst the employees.

Based on the Brazil leadership culture, the Brazil leadership style can be categorized as both Authoritarian and Paternalistic. Because as we can on the explanation above, Brazil has a hierarchical business structure, and Brazilians expect to have an authoritarian leader that could give them clear instructions, without having them to questioning about it. It can be seen also from their communication style, which is downward communication. However on the other side, Brazilians also expect a paternalistic manager who can guide and supervise them also.

So, because the Brazilians expect a manager to be both authoritative and paternalistic, Brazil still can be considered as using both leadership style based on their leadership culture.