The Pros and Cons of an Authoritarian Leadership Style
Posted on Jul 26, 2022 at 08:07 PM
Leadership styles are more than white and black choices, and today we will talk about the authoritarian leadership style that was in control of the leadership management world a few years ago.
This managing style makes all the decisions, administrative grid, and subordinatesâ relationships go only through the leaders, and all the necessary related details are part of the leadership responsibilities.
In this blog post, we will introduce you to the authoritarian leadership style and the pros and cons of autocratic leadership to help you create the perfect leadership style according to your business.
Definition of Authoritarian Leadership Style:
Authoritarian leadership style is also known as autocratic leadership style, as this term was first defined by Daniel Goleman in 2002 in his ''Primal Leadership'' book as a strict and coercive used leadership, which is the opposite of the democratic style.
More than that, autocratic leaders expect complete obedience from any team member; moreover aim to control everything also, to make all the decisions on their own, as they do not use a guideline for their group members to follow; instead, they typically tell their staff precisely what are the work procedures, when to do it, and how they must do it, without any open window for any personal consulting with the subordinates in the authoritarian leadership style.
Pros of Authoritarian Leadership Style:
As we mentioned previously, autocratic leadership is about the leaders making all the practical decisions. Although too many new business theories do not accept what is called the autocratic leadership style in 2022, however, this authoritarian leadership style also has its unique characteristics to focus on:
- Taking Faster Decision:
With only the autocratic leader being responsible for the authoritarian leadership style, the leader would make a faster decision, as he/she usually will not have to consult or take a participative decision with other people within the organization before taking action.
- Clear Chain-of-Command:
This is a big authoritarian leadership advantage, especially when starting your own business, as each individual will know who is based on the top of the authority structure and will reach for the autocratic leaders directly, saving time and boosting the workflow for each task.
- Boost Productivity:
Making all the decisions by one prominent authoritative autocratic leader will give all of them one type. Moreover, all the decisions will be conflict-free with previous decisions as they are all found by one experienced autocratic leader.
- Lower the Possibility of Mistakes:
When one leader is taking all the leadership decisions, then the series of decisions will make sense, mainly since the autocratic leader controls all the proper studies policies, and dictates the rules and situations, moreover manages the complete indicators and cited outcomes.
- Reduce the Stress on the Fellow Employees:
The others will rarely or never feel the pressure to make an effective decision when the autocratic leaders are essentially taking control of the absolute decisions, issues, needs and ideas managed in the authoritarian leadership approach.
Cons of Authoritarian Leadership Style:
For sure, there are some disadvantages related to the autocratic leadership style and the way the leaders would manage the process in autocratic organizations without any permissive:
- No Culture of Engagement:
The autocratic leaders will control all the big and little management decisions for any critical situation, so workers will not find the chance to participate in brainstorming sessions or any other culture of engagement activities.
- Employees Will Feel Unattached:
In the authoritarian leadership style, the working workforce would feel untrusted and unattached to the company, as they are not asked to speak up, provide opinions, or think with the autocratic leader, so they may feel like losing different traits characterized like they are negative doers only.
- Best Talents Will Slip Out of the Team:
Although a well-structured chain of command has a lot of advantages, yet, it will send a vibe of un developing opportunities, which will often make the talented subordinate look for better opportunities to evolve on all levels.
- Everything Is on the Leader:
Even though an authoritarian leadership style gives the ultimate power to the autocratic leader, this will put all the pressure on one person; also, if this senior and knowledgeable manager takes a day off, or quits, then the real business will be at risk.
- Lack of Team Collaboration:
With no culture of engagement, the authoritarian leadership style, and all the other styles, will have a workforce working individually just to do the assigned tasks without any goal to improve the results.
To Sum Up,
The authoritarian leadership style is an effective and fast management style with much to offer when applied correctly with an influential autocratic leader.
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