Not all leadership styles are suitable for every occasion, and the autocratic leadership style is the polar opposite of the democratic leadership style. There are many leadership styles used by great leaders throughout the decades.
During the hard times, the autocratic leadership style is often used to make sure everyone works hard towards the company’s goals. Whereas, a less autocratic approach is used when a company needs to realize its true potential.
But how true is this and what can you learn from the autocratic leadership style?
What Is Your Leadership Style?
What is Autocratic Leadership?
Autocratic leadership is also known as authoritarian leadership, it is a form of leadership where the leader has absolute authority, control, and power over the members of their organization.
Autocratic leaders expect absolute obedience from their subordinates.
Leaders who adopt the autocratic leadership style often make decisions based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from their subordinates.
Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leaders are leaders who lead with the intention of retaining control where they expect unquestioning obedience and compliance. Anyone failing to comply will likely be threatened or subjected to some form of punishment.
Autocratic leaders have the following characteristics:
- Manupulative. Autocratic leaders are found to display both overt and covert manupulative behaviours to ensure absolute obediance of their subordinate.
- Inflexible. Autocratic leaders expects rules, regulations, and policy to be straightly followed, any deviation will be subjected to harsh punishment.
- Authoritative. Autocratic leaders expect absolute obediance from their subordinate, and their words are final, questioning of the leader’s words will lead to dire consequences.
Advantages of Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership style can have many advantages and can be an effective way to lead the team in certain circumstances. Here are some of the few advantages of autocratic leadership.
Little room for mistakes
Autocratic leadership often leads to having little room for mistakes in the task that is being performed.
Following strict regulation, policy, and instructions, this leadership style ensures strict compliance and ensuring quality on the final results.
Focus
Utilizing autocratic leadership prevents the task from getting sidelines.
As each subordinate is required to follow the order by the leader strictly without question, the members of the team can concentrate on tasks without the need to participate in process of decision making.
Highly Effective
Having complete control over the team, autocratic leaders are highly effective at making critical decisions under high pressure as they are not required to take into consideration the opinions of their subordinates.
Autocratic leaders are task-driven, thus they are seen as effective leaders who are successful in achieving goals, even under tight timelines.
Disadvantages of of Autocratic Leadership
The autocratic leadership style is not a very popular leadership style, because it has a few critical disadvantages that can have a negative impact on the team and the organization as a whole.
Lack of involvement
The major disadvantage of autocratic leadership is the lack of involvement.
The team members are not allowed to voice their opinions, thus they have no power or opportunity to make any changes.
The absence of the ability to voice out their opinion leads to the team members feeling disconnected from the organization which can be bad for morale.
No room for creativity
Autocratic leadership does not cultivate creativity or innovation in the organization.
In an autocratic environment, the leader makes all the decisions and the rest of the team members will just follow orders without question.
There won’t be any room for creativity or innovation in the organization, as the culture is only about following orders and doing what you’re told rather than thinking of new ideas on your own.
Demotivated
People will feel unappreciated in an autocratic environment because it feels like their worth is all about following orders without question.
As the leader often lacks empathy and focuses only on the task and the results instead of their people, the people will feel that they are like a tool.
Each team member will feel that they are all replaceable and expandable, thus feeling demotivated and unsatisfied at work.
Authoritative vs Authoritarian (Autocratic) Leadership
“Authoritative” and “Authoritarian” leadership sounds similar but have very different meanings.
Authoritative leaders are people focus leaders, they command authority through the respect they gain, guide by example, and inspire their team into action towards a common goal.
Authoritarian leaders are task focus leaders who command authority through their position in the organization, they demand results and motivate the team into action through strict orders.
| Authoritative Leader | Authoritarian Leader |
| Provide guidance | Demand results |
| Provide feedback to maintain enthusiasm | Feedback in the form of punishments |
| Mentor and mentee relationship | Absolute obedience |
| Lead with respect | Lead with power |
| Success is shared by the team | Success is only because of their leadership |
There are many differences between authoritative leaders and authoritarian leaders.
Authoritative leaders have a firm understanding of the challenges, know exactly what needs to be done to overcome each challenge, and have a clear vision for achieving success. These leaders are known to be visionary leaders, who inspire motivation and offer direction and guidance to complete a project, or a goal.
Authoritative leaders have the following characteristics:
- High self-confidence. Self-confidence to know the instructions they set will lead to the goal and achieve the task.
- Ability to adapt. Capable identifing any challenges, and know what need to be done that will lead to success.
- Empathy. Understand the feeling and emotions of the team.
Authoritative leader say, “Let’s do this!”
Authoritarian leader say, “This is an order!”
Authoritarian leaders are often seen as dictators, and lead the team through commanding leadership. It is often viewed as a more negative approach, but it can be highly effective in the right situation.
When is Autocratic Leadership Effective?
Autocratic Leadership is most effective in situations where control is essential and there is little room for error, whereas decisions must be made in a split-second judgment to ensure the success of the task.
Autocratic leadership is seen to be the most effective in an organization such as the military, sports, emergency situation, certain healthcare areas, and situations where the team members require close monitoring or supervision.
Famous Autocratic Leaders
Regardless of your opinion on autocratic leadership style, here are a few famous leaders in history that great leaders are known to successfully use the autocratic leadership style to lead their organization.
- Adolf Hitler. Austrian-born German politician who started the World War 2 and was the dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945.
- Benito Mussolini. Italian politician who founded and led the National Fascist Party, and he is Europe’s first 20th-century fascist dictator.
- Bill Gates. American business magnate, software developer, investor, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft and utilize autocratic leadership during the start of his career, which later developed other leadership style as he grow his organization.
- Larry Ellison. American businessman and investor. He is the co-founder, of Oracle Corporation.
- Elon Musk. Entrepreneur and business magnate. He is the founder of companies such as; SpaceX, Tesla, Inc, The Boring Company, co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI.
Example of Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic Leadership in the workplace
Leona Helmsley is often recognized for her harsh autocratic leadership style within the Helmsley Hotel Empire.
She commands her subordinates to provide the best for her hotel guest. Often manage her subordinates in an insensitive way that leads to gaining her the name of “Queen of Mean”.
Nonetheless, she always ensures that things will always get done.
Autocratic Leadership in business
Business owners such as Elon Musk are ambitiously known for setting exceptionally high standards for all their hires. These leaders are slow to hire and fast to fire.
Every single product that his employees create or design, he demands perfection. Even if it means discarding an idea or a project that the team has taken months of effort in developing.
Autocratic Leadership in emergency situations
Leadership during an emergency situation such as a fire, or disaster response has the potential to influence a person’s life. During these times, the team will be under high stress and requires quick actions.
Questioning the decision made by the leader will often cause the loss of precious time that can lead to death or serious injury.
Autocratic Leadership in Sports
In sports, the team’s coach, team captain, or referee often takes an autocratic approach. These people will adopt an autocratic leadership style because they are expected to make fast decisions. These decisions cannot be questioned, if they allow players to question their authority, players will think of them as weak and lacking leadership skills.
Autocratic Leadership in School
Many examples of autocratic leadership are seen in school. Teachers and principals will not ask the class if they way to come to school the following day but demand their attendance.
Students who disobey the school rules or question the authority of the teachers or principal will be given detention or other forms of punishment.
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