Which leadership style focuses on group support and solidarity rather than making difficult decisions based on facts?

The focus of group support and solidarity is closely associated with the concept of groupthink. Groupthink refers to a psychological phenomenon where the desire for harmony and conformity in a group results in a dysfunctional decision-making process. Members of the group may prioritize consensus and cohesion over critical evaluation of alternative ideas or solutions, which can lead to poor decision-making that is not based on factual analysis, but rather on maintaining group unity.

In this context, groupthink highlights how leaders or groups may inadvertently suppress dissenting viewpoints in favor of group solidarity. This leadership dynamic can be detrimental, as it compromises objective analysis and can lead to flawed outcomes because the group may ignore important factual considerations to avoid conflict.

On the other hand, transformational leadership is oriented towards inspiring and motivating followers towards achieving greater goals, often incorporating factual information to drive change. Task-oriented leadership focuses on the completion of specific tasks and may rely heavily on facts and efficiency. Transactional leadership emphasizes the role of supervision, organization, and performance-based incentives, again drawing on factual evaluations of success.

Thus, the emphasis on group support and the tendency to avoid difficult decisions based on facts aligns well with the characteristics of groupthink.