The recommended style should be easily applicable and should attract acceptability. While autocratic leadership does have some potential pitfalls, leaders can learn to use elements of this style wisely. This article explains authoritarian leadership in a practical way. Existing definitions of dcmwrstic lcadcrship are inconsistent and inadequate, so this essay provides s clear delinilion that applies lo social groups both large and small. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers. People who abuse an autocratic leadership style are often viewed as bossy, controlling, and dictatorial, which can lead to resentment among group members.
At the end it was concluded that the autocratic leadership is useful in the short term and democratic leadership style is useful in all time horizon. The effects of leadership styles on employee motivation in. There are number of recognized versions, or styles, of leadership, some of which have been shown to be more effective than others. Under this type of leadership style there is no delay as decision rests with single authority and in times of crunch situation where a. Autocratic leadership is a form of management style in which one leader or member of the organisation takes decisions on behalf of the company. Jul 11, 2017 the difference between autocratic and democratic leadership can be drawn clearly on the following grounds. It is a style of leadership where the leader has a task orientation rather than a follower orientation in his or her way of controlling others. To be effective, the leader must be able to have proven competencies in their field, as they are responsible for making most of the decisions in the workplace. Effect of leadership styles on teachers performance in.
The team cannot put forward their views even if they are best for the teams or organizational interests. Autocratic leaders make choices or decisions based on their own beliefs and do not involve others for their suggestion or advice. A critique of the autocratic leadership style characteristics. While modern management theorists deride acrosstheboard application of this leadership style, the fact remains that autocratic leadership style comes naturally to many leaders. That means there is a priority on consistency, with each. Its a style of leadership where a manager is the most powerful entity and it is the primary decision maker gordon, 20. Mostly subordinates like to work under centralized authority and strict supervision 3. Chief librarians that autocratic leadership style, no matter the colour it is painted remains a leadership style that. This type of leadership style is seen mostly in businesses. Autocratic leadership is very similar to the authoritarian leadership style.
While a number of studies have shown that autocratic leadership can increase productivity, this positive result usually lasts only in the short term as it is normal for employees to work harder when placed under tight control. Regression coefficient analysis shows that there is a significant and. Often referred to as autocratic leadership, authoritarian leadership is about control, organisation and discipline and while it still has a place in the leaders toolbox, it was regarded as the most prominent style almost one hundred years ago. Abstract supervisors, administrators, and directors of special education usually use the authoritative leadership style when supervising their special education staffs. In particular a difference between autocratic and democratic approach is vital. By contrast, lead ers using the other styles were either domineering or uninvolved. Autocratic leadership is vital in many workplace environments. That means there is a priority on consistency, with each team member performing their job functions in a similar way. A comparison between collaborative and authoritative leadership styles of special education administrators natasha w. Autocratic leader autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership, is a style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. This paper summarizes and analyzes the available literature of leadership styles and effect.
Therefore, autocratic leaders tend to limit the performance of subordinates. Leadership styles in sports coaching leadership and sport. While autocratic leadership is one of the least popular management styles, its also among the most common. In lewins experiments he discovered that the most effective style of leadership was democratic. Jul 26, 2016 the core characteristics of autocratic leadership. You might say it is a request that induces compliance or obedience. An autocratic leadership style is considered ideal in emergencies situation as the leader makes all decisions without taking into account the opinion of staff. Authoritarian leadership, a powerful leadership style toolshero. Swarup 20 argued that autocratic leadership style is a classified leadership style. Autocratic leadership is centered around and focused on the leader.
Autocratic leadership style, job performance, academic librarians, benue state. This style is reminiscent of the earliest tribes and empires. This leadership style is marked with the leader having complete authority and the followers obeying the instructions of the leader without questioning and without receiving an explanation or rationale for such instructions. Autocratic leadership also known as authoritarian leadership relies primarily on the use of authority in groups and in organizations goethals, 2004. A definition and illustration of democratic leadership. He autocratic leadership or authoritarian is a form of leadership in which the leaders of the organization have absolute power over their workers or the teams they lead the autocratic style characterizes the leader who does not allow the members of the group to participate in the decisions, in a way that ends up dominating and inducing submissive responses on the part of the members. Introduction the approach the librarian managers adopt in directing, guiding and controlling the staff under them determine the pace of progress in their libraries. Autocratic leaders rely on specific rules, policies, and procedures to govern all processes within the workplace. Other analyses of leadership style in a classic paper, tannenbaum and schmidt explored how a leadermanager might be democratic in some situations and autocratic in others. Therefore, the survey was designed to focus on these six leadership styles only. It provides for quick decisionmaking because here only one person i.
Democratic leaders, on the contrary, involve employees. The study sought to investigate the effect of leadership styles practiced in an organization and their effect on employee performance. Because knowledge is seen as power, critical information may be withheld from the team. In this style of leadership, a leader has complete command and hold over their employeesteam.
Like other leadership styles, the autocratic style has both some benefits and some weaknesses. In this type of leadership, the rules and procedures that teams use are quite rigid. An autocratic leadership style is similar to an authoritarian leadership style. The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of different leadership styles autocratic, democratic, and participative style on employee performance. Oct 15, 2018 while there is nothing wrong with embracing the strong leadership style of an authoritarian in specific, highpressure situations, you shouldnt implement these practices at all times or you may suffer from the downsides of the autocratic leadership theory.
Pdf the paper aims at detecting relations between participative management and rewarding strategies as well as employees job satisfaction. Difference between autocratic and democratic leadership with. In order to determine the impact of the leadership style. A critique of the autocratic leadership style reveals that it brings forth some advantages such as getting things done quickly and extracting more work from employees without putting them under stress. Autocratic leadership is the coercive type of leadership in which power concentrates in the hand of one person or a group of individual. The first and foremost advantage of this type of leadership style is that it helps the company in making a quick decision as the decision is centralized with the leader.
Importance of leadership style towards quality of care. The difference between autocratic and democratic leadership can be drawn clearly on the following grounds. Authoritarian leadership is a now outdated form of management that, especially in recent decades, is sure to create a lot of resistance among employees. Downsides of autocratic leadership while autocratic leadership can be beneficial at times, there are also many instances where this leadership style can be problematic. The autocratic leadership style is determined by the leader s power due to the fact that the leader. You may even recognize the names of some of these famous autocratic leaders. While those who rely on this approach to heavily are often seen as. Autocratic leadership is a leadership style that doesnt have a good reputation in todays democratic and participatory work environment. Nov 25, 2014 autocratic leadership is vital in many workplace environments. The paper aims at detecting relations between participative management and rewarding strategies as well as employees job satisfaction in. The two opposing styles are distinguished based on ways in which leaders. Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Influence of autocratic leadership style on the job. This article will cover several examples of autocratic leadership within companies.
It is recommended that autocratic leadership style may be very. Feb 24, 2017 autocratic leadership is more efficient to tackle intra organizational conflicts including the distribution of scarce resources. This leader also tends to retain responsibility and limit delegation and consultation with others. Autocratic leader the autocratic leader makes as many decisions independently as possible and maintains control of the decisionmaking processes. Moreover, mistakes are not tolerated within the blame put on individuals.
Those who over rely on the autocratic leadership style tend to experience many different types of people problems. A comparison between collaborative and authoritative. A manager with this style typically relies on his authority, assertiveness, position and fear to motivate workers to complete tasks on time. A critique of the characteristics of an autocratic leadership style. After reading this article, you will understand the basics of this powerful leadership style. When faced with the need to provide a decision, an autocratic leader is one who. With this style of leadership, all of the decisionmaking resides with the leader, and decisions are made by the leader without consulting subordinates. It is obvious from the writing that diverse initiative styles might influence an organizations viability and execution. This style of leadership is based on the traditional premise that leaders are good managers who direct and control their people. Leadership style on employee motivation and commitment. Pdf the study focused on the impact of autocratic leadership style on job performance of subordinates in academic libraries in port harcourt. This result implied a strong influence of leadership styles in retaining and.
Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decision. Mar 06, 2016 authoritarian leadership is a leadership style in which the leader dictates and controls all decisions in the group and task. While an autocratic style of leadership is considered more traditional and, in some cases, outdated, there are situations where this form of leadership works best, such as. From the effective leadership styles only it is possible to achieve organizational goal productively. Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership, is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Autocratic leadership is an extreme version of taskoriented or assertive leadership. Leadership styles and theory questia online library. The impact of leadership styles on organisational commitment by lebogang khumalo submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the masters degree in business leadership. Negative reinforcement and punishment are often used to enforce rules. Autocratic leadership can be defined as a leadership style, wherein a clear line of demarcation between leader and follower exist, as the leader has got the absolute power of commanding and decision making. Authoritarian leadership is a leadership style in which the leader dictates and controls all decisions in the group and task. The autocratic leader would generally solve an issue and make decisions for the group using observations and what they feel is needed or most important for the. Autocratic leadership is a classical leadership approach, and the corporate equivalent of dictatorship or tyranny. The autocratic leadership style should not be used when.
A critique of the characteristics of an autocratic leadership. How can the current leadership style be finetuned in order to maximize employee output at lorna limited. Autocratic leadership style is a classical leadership approach that functions by commanding workers, without providing them explanations or including them in the decision making process. Leadership styles and theory leadership is the process of motivating a group of people to act towards accomplishing a common task. A definition and illustration of democratic leadership john gastill2 renewed calls for demaracy make it imperative that we understand the nature of democratic lcadcrship. The autocratic leadership style does not instill learning mentality which is crucial to stimulate proactive attitudes among employees sauer 2011. Autocratic leadership is most effective in work environment or in instances where decisions need to be made quickly, or if tasks have to. Autocratic leadership style unl digital commons university of. Before we examine the core characteristics of autocratic leadership in terms of the four key characteristics of the theory and the way autocratic leadership can manifest, its auspicious to consider the theoretical basis of the leadership style. By virtue of their position and job responsibilities, they not only control the efforts of the team, but monitor them for completion often under close scrutiny. Overly autocratic styles led to revolution, whilst under a laissezfaire approach, people did not work together and did not work as hard as they did when being actively led. Democratic leadership style is one where the leader gives.
The impact of autocratic, democratic and laissezfair leadership. A lack of consultation with subordinates may cause that opportunities are missed and risks are underestimated. Leaders in institutions of higher education have been observed to be exhibiting autocratic leadership style. In an autocratic leadership style, the person in charge has total authority and control over decision making. As there is no consultation with subordinates, confidential matters can be kept secretly. Instrumental leadership has a negative influence on effectiveness in small organizations. Also, workers under autocratic style of leadership do not experience higher sense of community than workers under democratic style of leadership juikuei chen and ishuo chen23 1 active participant style. The idea that one person would be in charge of the decisions and procedures can seem uncomfortable to many. Examples of autocratic leadership in high profile companies. Advantages and disadvantages of autocratic leadership. Autocratic style leadership meaning, advantage, disadvantage.
Difference between autocratic and democratic leadership. This style is necessary within organizations and companies that demand errorfree outcomes. Too much autocratic leadership can lead to athletes and players deciding that they no longer wish to work with a coach and may begin to refuse to follow instructions. Leadership styles autocratic, laissez faire, participative. For example, an autocratic style can be used effectively in situations where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group or has access to information that other members of the group do not.
Aug 24, 2018 an autocratic leadership style is similar to an authoritarian leadership style. Its important to understand though, that the problems below are much more likely in low power distance cultures. They cannot criticize or question the leaders way of getting things done. And participation leadership style is most useful in long term and effect on employees is positive. Leadership styles affect on the employee performance and productivity. The authoritarian or autocratic leadership style is demonstrated when a leader makes all decisions without considering input from staff. Participative management and its links to rewarding strategies and job satisfaction in smes article pdf available april 2018 with 12,022 reads. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers. A successful pioneer impacts his or her adherents in a fancied way to accomplish objectives and destinations.
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