Autocratic (or Authoritarian) Leadership: Advantages And Disadvantages
One of the topics in which social psychology or organizational psychology has been most interested is leadership, and in these subdisciplines of behavioral science, much research has gone in that direction.
How does leadership affect our occupational health? And our performance? These are some of the questions that researchers have asked themselves and tried to answer in this article, in which we are going to focus on a very specific way of managing teams: autocratic leadership
Psychology’s interest in understanding leadership styles
The type of leadership exercised by supervisors will always have consequences on workers (or subordinates if we are not talking about the workplace). Generally, We usually talk about negative or positive leadership styles depending on the consequences on subordinates For example, the transformational leadership style is considered positive because it takes into account the needs of workers and positively influences the reduction of stress.
However, it must be taken into account that the situation will determine whether a leadership style is good or bad, since depending on the type of tasks to be carried out, the profile of the employees, etc., there will be certain advantages and disadvantages in that particular style. context, in that particular organization, to apply one style or another successfully.
In this article Let’s review the most important characteristics of autocratic leadership and we are going to expose its advantages and disadvantages.
The autocratic leadership style is one of the most common in companies It is characterized by being a unidirectional leadership style, in which superiors make decisions and set guidelines without the participation of the group. The leader brings together the power and the employees obey his orders.
Given its unidirectional nature, this is the type of leadership that It usually occurs “by default” in people who do not have much experience in a high or intermediate position with people under his supervision, given his apparent simplicity: “I do and you obey.” However, this makes it the first choice of many leaders simply because they are unaware of other ways of managing teams, which generates many problems: it means that it is very common that the functioning of the organization or that specific department does not fit well with that way of leading.
Outside the workplace, autocratic leadership is the leadership used by dictators, and that is why it does not have a very good reputation. Authoritarian leadership has received a lot of criticism due to different factors:
Although other leadership styles have become more popular in recent decades (for example, democratic leadership), The truth is that the autocratic style also has its advantages
Recommended article: “Useful psychological keys to improve business leadership”
Characteristics of the autocratic leader
Autocratic leaders have different characteristics that define them. They are the following:
Advantages and disadvantages of the autocratic leadership style
Organizational contexts are complex, and that is why it cannot be said that there is one type of leadership that is the best in all cases. Therefore, from a purely pragmatic point of view, autocratic leadership has advantages and disadvantages to take into account, although in general it is never recommended to apply it in its purest or extreme version. Let’s see what the positive and negative points of this way of leading are.
Autocratic leadership is beneficial if used in situations where there is little time to make group decisions or the leader is the most experienced member of the group. Therefore, when it is necessary to make quick and decisive decisions, it is the best alternative. For example, in professions in which emergency situations exist: paramedics, military, police, firefighters, etc.
Likewise, autocratic leadership can be effective with employees who require close monitoring of their tasks, since this prevents them from relaxing, and improves performance, productivity and the speed with which they carry out their work.
Disadvantages
Criticism of this leadership style is based on a series of disadvantages that are a consequence of the application of this type of leadership. The authoritarian leader does not take into account the opinion of workers and employees, because for him they are simply individuals who must obey his orders. Many employees may feel unappreciated and undervalued, leading to the decision to leave the company.
Studies have shown that some workers perform less with this type of leadership and, as scientific data shows, it has a greater negative impact on stress (or burnout) and workers’ well-being, unlike other types of leadership. like the transformational. It is not recommended at all for companies in which their intellectual capital is creativity.
On the other hand, autocratic leadership generates a feeling of insecurity and fear at the prospect of breaking the rules, even for a reasonable reason; Therefore, it may happen that when something goes wrong, employees limit themselves to working as if nothing were happening so as not to “raise their voice” and bring bad news to higher levels of the company.
Nowadays, Many companies opt for other leadership styles, such as transformative or democratic, because authoritarian leadership limits the development of its workers. Furthermore, worker expectations have changed in recent decades, and workers are increasingly demanding. As mentioned above, the success or failure of a leadership style will be determined by the situation, and while a leadership style may be good for one organization, it may not be good for another.
The leadership styles most used in companies today, in addition to authoritarian leadership, are:
