Leadership styles refer to the different ways that leaders use to influence, communicate, motivate, and guide their teams. There are many different leadership styles, and the most effective style will vary depending on the situation, the team, and the leader themselves.
Some of the most common leadership styles include:
- Autocratic
- Paternalistic
- Democratic
- Laissez-faire
- Situational
Introduction to autocratic leadership style
Autocratic leadership is a style of leadership that keeps all decision-making at the center of the organization in the hands of only one person.
Instructions and orders from the leader are issued quickly and passed down to workers with an immediate response. There is only one-way top-down communication as workers are only given limited information about the business. Opinions and suggestions from the employees are ignored and there is little or no opportunity for feedback. This can cause resentment amongst workers, who want to contribute and accept responsibility, as they have little opportunity to make real impact.
Motivation is likely to be low causing alienation and demotivation of the workforce possibly leading to high levels of absenteeism and labor turnover. Workers can become so accustomed to listening to the autocratic leader that they become dependent for all guidance, hence will not show any initiative.
An autocratic leader is one who makes all the decisions without any discussion with others and tells subordinates what to do. This leader will decide and set business objectives without any input from workers. He will also decide how these will be achieved by not delegating any responsibility nor giving information to staff. Workers will be supervised closely to check to make sure that tasks have been carried out and completed. Autocratic leaders are more interested in the completion of the task than the welfare and motivation of their workers.
Autocratic leadership style is used in situations when critical decisions have to be made fast. Leaders will have to take full charge and issue orders to reduce the unfortunate consequences of the incident. This will limit damage to the business or danger to others during times of crisis. For example, when dealing with serious health and safety issue at work, in military forces, by the police, during an oil tanker disaster or a railway accident, when handling a hostile takeover, etc. Additionally, this leadership style can be used when workers are unskilled, so they need to depend on the directions and instructions of leaders.
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In summary, autocratic leadership is task-oriented leadership style in which workers are told what to do and how to accomplish it; workers have no say in the decision-making process. It is the leader that makes all the decisions without reference to anyone else and prefers not to delegate any responsibility. There is high degree of dependency on the leader which can create de-motivation and alienation of staff which then results in high absenteeism and labor turnover. This style may be valuable in some types of business where decisions need to be made quickly and decisively.
