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John Maxwell, a foremost authority on leadership, defines a leader as one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
When one attains a leadership opportunity, the onus is on them to adopt a leadership style.
Leadership is best served through learning; in the absence of such, it can be an uphill task. This can be remedied through executive coaching, especially when one lacks leadership and management experience.
Throughout history, great leaders have applied different leadership styles to realize their objectives. It can range from the transformational approach of Mahatma Gandhi's democratic leadership of Richard Branson, the laissez-faire leadership of Queen Victoria, the Charismatic leadership of Martin Luther to the abrasive style of Napoleon Bonaparte.
A leader can opt for a leadership style based on prevailing culture, personality traits, past experiences, etc. One of the leadership styles one can choose is the Autocratic leadership style.
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Autocratic leadership style, also known as authoritarian leadership, is a leadership style that, in a nutshell, means my way or the highway. Only one person gets a chance to make decisions on important tasks, including complex decisions.
The autocratic leadership style is about control from the top to the bottom. Such a leader shows the following leadership behaviors:
An Autocratic leader is one whose management style takes little or no input from other team members. Unlike other leadership styles, the leader exercises absolute decision-making power.
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Unlike other forms of leadership, Autocratic leaders rarely accept advice and prefer authoritarian control. Other team members merely act as subordinates to implement the leader's vision.
The primary characteristic of many autocratic leaders is a big ego and the need to control other members to be seen as a strong leaders.
Team members who disagree with this leadership style are often shown the door.
One of the most recent poignant examples of an Autocratic leader is Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced former CEO of Theranos.
In his tell-tale book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, John Carreyrou, the Wall Street journalist, explores her autocratic leadership style. Here is a passage from the book:
Elizabeth Holmes had no work–life balance as she worked 16 hours a day, seven days a week, and purportedly slept only four hours a night. She expected a similar commitment from employees, whose hours she monitored, questioning the loyalty of those who balked at her demands. Her autocratic style included divesting her board of power, as was evident when she "took offense" at an employee's simple question about the role of her board, leading her to proclaim, "I make all the decisions here."
Donald Trump also preferred the autocratic style. His leadership was characterized by autonomous decision-making that played little in established structures. Thus, those making critical decisions were often dumbfounded by his desire to exercise absolute power.
Elon Musk, a genius of our time, has also been known to prefer authoritative leadership. He seems to prefer team members' productivity more than their welfare. He famously sacked his personal assistant, Mary Beth Brown, when she asked for a raise.
Other famous autocratic leaders include Idi Amin, Roger Ailes, and Helen Gurley Brown.
Whereas in the modern world, Authoritarian leaders are frowned upon, there are some instances where it serves a purpose. To understand why we need to revisit Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y on human work and management.
This theory explores that there are broadly two types of employees in workplace environments.
Theory X defines negative traits, while theory Y defines positive traits in co-workers.
Theory X postulates that employees:
Theory Y postulates that employees:
Autocratic leadership works with theory X employees and delivers bad results with Y employees, especially in an evolving work environment.
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Autocratic leadership is effective in situations such as:
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Like other leadership styles, the Autocratic management style has advantages and disadvantages.
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The following are the major characteristics that define autocratic leadership:
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The autocratic leadership style works when a leader has the following skills:
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In Authoritarian leadership, the leader is most likely to encounter resistance. To ensure that this form of leadership works, do the following:
Leadership positions come with their fair share of challenges. Many leaders are often judged by the results and rarely by the process.
Getting a new role might come with anxiety and irrationality. A McKinsey study found that 74% of US and 83% of global leaders are unprepared for effective and inclusive leadership in their new roles.
This is precisely why leadership coaching, like the one we offer, is paramount. Our executive coaching, delivered by experienced professionals, is tailor-made to ensure that you execute your leadership role successfully.
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