Yvon Chouinard chose the leaderless management style for his brand Patagonia, which provides many advantages. He only accepts very independent and purposeful people in his team and then allows them to show creativity. The benefits of this approach are the development of flexible thinking of employees and openness to new ways of doing business (Raz, 2016). In addition, Ivan maintains open lines of communication with employees, which allows the company to find a solution to any problem quickly. The laissez-faire leadership style encourages subordinates to take personal responsibility for their work and its results.
Potential problems with the leaderless management style may be a lack of accountability. No one is in charge of taking responsibility for the success or taking the blame in case of failure. In addition, a higher level of stress is created: subordinates may suffer from high-stress levels if they feel unsupported by their leader or unsure of their abilities. Starting a business in this style, I would have concerns about how to recruit the right team. It would be necessary to look for creative professionals with solid skills and extensive experience in their work.
I would keep the autonomous decision-making aspect of this approach because it can lead to higher employee retention, as motivated professionals and experts will improve their work environment. In addition, it seems to me that such an aspect of this approach as the possibility of a quick course correction is beneficial. Motivated people who work autonomously are usually able to overcome obstacles and adjust course much faster than when they need to get approved. I want to avoid such a drawback of the approach as missed deadlines. The fact is that self-organizing teams without supervision or leadership tend to miss completion dates. To prevent this, I would always set a clear time limit for employees.
Reference
Raz, G. (2016). Patagonia: Yvon Chouinard [Audio file]. How I Built This with Guy Raz. Web.