Leadership stands as a crucial pillar in the achievement of any organization’s success. Different leadership styles exist, each with its own unique approach and impact. One such style is autocratic leadership, which has been both praised and criticized over the years.

What is autocratic leadership?

Autocratic or authoritarian leadership refers to the leadership or management style in which leaders have complete control over decision making. Autocratic management style is where leaders rarely take input from others. An autocratic leader likes to take control over the direction of their team based on their knowledge and personal instincts. Mostly, this kind of leadership style works best in high-risk situations where there’s no scope for committing errors. Companies might prefer hiring autocratic leaders for a team where team members have limited skills or training.

Often authoritarian leader works best for a small organizations because there are few people in a position to make decisions, and such leaders might be a natural fit. Alternatively, large companies have different layers of management and leadership, making it challenging for an autocratic leader to work efficiently.

Characteristics of autocratic leadership

• Taking into account the consequences of not meeting expectations
• Extremely structured work environment
• Difference between leaders and team members
• Employees have rules and regulations to follow

Types of autocratic leadership

Here’re some type of autocratic leadership you might encounter in your workplace:

Direct autocratic leadership

In this leadership style, leaders explicitly tell employees what to do, how to do it, and when to perform a task. It also includes close monitoring of people executing the tasks.

Agreeable autocratic leadership

In this leadership style, leaders make the final decision but allow employees to choose how to complete assigned work to some extent. They might allow some workplace creativity to complete workplace goals.

Nurturing leadership

Though the leaders make all the decisions, they help upkeep the well-being of employees. Such leaders might allow creativity and input from team members.

Autocratic leadership pros and cons

While an autocratic leader is typically dependable, confident, decisive, responsible, and motivated, this leadership style has various advantages and disadvantages. Some autocratic leadership pros and cons are:

Pros of autocratic leadership

Here’re some few of the pros of autocratic leadership:

Quick decision

With autocratic leadership style there are fewer levels of administration and hierarchy that you inform before implementing the decision. As only the leader makes decisions. This ensures faster decision making, especially in situations that demand an immediate resolution.

Communication

Autocratic leadership style helps in enhancing communication in the workplace. As autocratic leadership encourages one-way communication and ensures information reaches the right audience. As the leader clearly defines goals, expectations, and other information to employees, it helps in simplifying and enhancing workplace communication.

Enhanced productivity

One more pro of autocratic leaders is that information moves quickly and they can influence more efficient project completion. Such a leader increases workplace productivity by guiding employees on what to do and how to accomplish their goals on time.

Reduced stress for employees

Although autocratic leaders play an essential role in eradicating the stress level of employees. These leaders take full responsibility for their work and reduce the workload and pressure from the employees.

Setting clear goals

Autocratic leaders set clear workplace goals to help team members understand what they are responsible for. This gives team members a clear expectation of the job description, reducing confusion about their responsibilities.

Perfect for crisis management

As autocratic leaders knows how to handle crisis and can make most of the decisions in the workplace. Leaders showing such confidence typically helps boost team morale.

Helps in achieving goals

When leaders make intelligent workplace decisions, they can generate positive results and enhance the company’s bottom line. This kind of leadership style can therefore help them achieve company goals efficiently.

Cons of autocratic leadership

Although autocratic leadership offers many benefits, it has some drawbacks as well. Some cons of autocratic leadership include:

Too much micromanagement

An autocratic leader typically supervises small details of the work their team members are performing, resulting in micromanagement. When leaders micromanage tasks and watch every team’s actions, it becomes challenging for the staff members to perform their job duties. When this happens, productivity levels might decline rather than increase.

Creates dependency

As autocratic leadership follows a structure, it becomes difficult for many employees to adjust to the work environment. When an inexperienced leader becomes an autocratic leader, the outcome might not be favorable.

Discourages feedback

Another disadvantage of autocratic leadership is that it might discourage feedback from team members. An autocratic leader might not take a lot of feedback. A workplace that lacks a feedback culture can lead to less creativity and innovation, which an autocratic leader would have to consider.

Lack of trust

Leaders can form strong working relationships with team members only when the team trusts the leaders. If an autocratic leader believes team members aren’t performing as per expectations, creating a culture of trust becomes challenging. Such a culture may not create a sustainable workplace, reducing overall productivity.

Pressured environment

Autocratic leaders make most of the decisions on behalf of their team, which might make them feel stressed, overwhelmed, and pressured.

Lacks creativity

It can sometimes be challenging for a single person to develop creative ideas, compared to people who work as a team. Restricting ideas leads to predictable work patterns that don’t foster a culture of creativity in the workplace. Often, a lack of creativity and innovation can result in slower business growth.

Lowers morale

Autocratic leaders rarely value or seek input from others. An autocratic leader often takes credit for the work the team completed collectively. This may leave their team members disheartened because they do not receive adequate recognition.

Autocratic Leadership Examples

Lets look at some of the examples of leaders with autocratic leadership style

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was known for his autocratic leadership style. He made key decisions without much input from others and was instrumental in Apple’s success.

Henry Ford

Ford revolutionized the automobile industry with his assembly line and autocratic management style. He made all major decisions and expected strict adherence to his methods.

Elon Musk

Musk is known for his hands-on leadership style, making critical decisions autonomously to advance his ambitious goals.

Autocratic leadership can be a valuable style in certain situations but has drawbacks. Leaders must recognize when to employ this style and when to embrace more collaborative approaches, such as democratic or transformational leadership.

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