While autocratic leadership is one of the least popular management styles, its also among the most common. Authoritarian leadership style has evolved from authoritarian forms of government or monarchies. This leadership style can be problematic when overused because it can come off as domineering and tyrannical. In contrast we also have the bureaucratic approach of management. This style of leadership is based on the traditional premise that leaders are good managers who direct and control their people.
An autocratic leader will not listen to the ideas of her subordinates and will make all highlevel decisions on her own. After reading this article, you will understand the basics of this powerful leadership style. 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. The author takes a contrary look at the perception that in order to be effective, managers must use a participative leadership style. This compliance is almost automatic, we really dont think much about it, we just do it for example, if you are driving and a police officer pulls you over and asks see. Dec 30, 2017 authoritarian, or autocratic, leadership tends to be viewed rather negatively, even though it is among the most common leadership styles in the business world. Leadership is the ability to move a group towards a common goal that would not be.
This creates solid deadlines, task assignments, and higher levels of quality control. Authoritarian leadership is reliant on one individual for decisionmaking and takes little input from team members. As a psychologist familiar with leadership research and theory, i believe that donald trump exhibits the characteristics of an autocratic leader simply put, autocratic authoritarian leaders. In the authoritarian leadership style, a closed circle of distrust and mutual discontent is formed. This leader has full control of the group or team, leaving low independence inside of the group. This may also be as a result of managements inability to effectively plan, organize and control.
The most effective teachers will alternate between authoritative, authoritarian and permissive depending on what will. The first describes a sort of manager that implements directive methods because he or she refers to laborers in disbelief. Like other leadership styles, the autocratic style has both some benefits and some weaknesses. The images are directly translated into the world of leadership, even though authoritarian leadership. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers. 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. Leadership style which increases level of commitment in organization from the below table and chart we can find that 53.
An authoritarian leadership style is exemplified when a leader dictates policies and procedures, decides what goals are to be achieved, and directs and controls all activities without any meaningful participation by the subordinates. Certainly gen x employees have proven to be highly resistant to this management style. The managers that focus on transformational leadership focus particularly on developing the overall value. Authoritarian leaders make unilateral decisions and prevail over subordinates. We draw from theories of motivation and personenvironment fit to explain the mediating roles of psychological safety and organizationbased selfesteem, and the moderating. Authoritarian leadership focuses on the task objective set by the leader. Leaders in institutions of higher education have been observed to be exhibiting autocratic leadership style. The first step in leadership is for the individual to understand the options for leadership and to determine the type of leader she is or aspires to be. Department of industrial engineering and management, jss academy of technical education, bangalore, india. Individual cases of management practice suggest perspectives on determining the style of leadership. Participative management and its links to rewarding strategies and job satisfaction in smes article pdf available april 2018 with 14,028 reads. An authoritarian leader makes decisions on policies, procedures and group objectives with little or no input from his or her team members or followers.
The authoritarian leadership style provides clear stepbystep instructions, with little option for variation or. The authoritarian or autocratic leadership style is demonstrated when a leader makes all decisions without considering input from staff. Sep 20, 2017 we look at the main traits of some differing styles of leadership, and how they could affect your working relationships. Also known as the authoritarian leadership theory, the autocratic leadership theory involves taking charge of the group in the same way a dictator might take control of a country. Generally this approach of management is known as a efficient and fair style of management. Successful instructional leadership styles in education. R department of industrial engineering and management, jss academy of. Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and allow input from. Pdf leadership styles and conflict management hassan ga. Mar 06, 2016 the benefits of authoritarian leadership. Classroom teaching styles are as diverse as the classroom teachers themselves.
While those who rely on this approach to heavily are often seen as. This person can be the leader, manager, or business owner, who typically has complete control over a project, work area, or whole business and makes decisions with little to no input from group members. Researchers of this study categorized leadership styles into three main styles of leadership, which helped to organize the observations into more simplified data. Typically, authoritarian leaders make choices that are based on their own. Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. In an autocratic leadership style, the person in charge has total authority and control over decision making. The use of the term leadership style has become much more common in recent years and has largely replaced the term management style in the work of management thinkers. After reading this article, you will understand the basics of this powerful leadership style what is authoritarian leadership. In academic libraries, university and collegepolytechnic librarians are the managers of the libraries and will be described as leaders in this work. Leadership style quiz participative or authoritarian. This article explains authoritarian leadership in a practical way. This study was motivated by the premise that no nation grows further than the quality of its educational leaders.
The time that it takes to reach a group consensus can be crippling for a project. For the long term, adopting nothing but an autocratic leadership style can be more damaging than rewarding, as it is seen as a cold, dictatorial, im right management style, which can undermine people and stifle creativity. Such leadership, as a style of exercising formal authority and position power, may inhibit employees extrarole behaviors in the hierarchical role structure. Unflinching focus the most notable advantage of this style is that the task at hand gets done. Such a leader has full control of the team, leaving low autonomy within the group the leader has a vision in mind and must be able to effectively motivate their. Autocratic leaders make all the decisions themselves. In lewins experiments he discovered that the most effective style of leadership was democratic. Authoritarian leadership and employee silence in china.
Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership, is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Leaders in institutions of higher education have been observed to. As long as the team members are capable and motivated this can work, but can create problems if not. These autocratic, or authoritarian, leaders come to mind. The impact of autocratic, democratic and laissezfair. The transactional leadership theory often uses management by exception, working on the. Authoritarian leadership is a now outdated form of management that, especially in recent decades, is sure to create a lot of resistance among employees. The purpose of this theoretical debate is to examine the wider context of leadership and its effectiveness towards improving school management.
Dec 30, 2015 authoritarian leadership, also known as autocratic leadership, is a management style in which an individual has total decisionmaking power and absolute control over his subordinates. Part 1 focuses on authoritarian, or dictator leadership. Leaders using the authoritarian leadership style often make decisions on. Pdf leadership styles and conflict management hassan. There is an ongoing debate about the concepts of management and leadership with some. In a study conducted by okoroji, anyanwu, and ukpere 2014, a democratic leadership style was found to be the most effective style because student. Authoritarian leadership, also known as autocratic leadership, is a management style in which an individual has total decisionmaking power and absolute control over his subordinates. Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decisionmaking. In the corporate world there is also misuse of authoritarian leadership, where it has a negative effect on employee motivation. There is also a clear division between the leader and the followers. Such a leader has full control of the team, leaving low autonomy within the group. Some transaction cost effects of authoritarian management. Here are the authoritarian leadership style pros and cons. Autocratic leadership also known as authoritarian leadership relies primarily on the use of authority in groups and in organizations goethals, 2004.
Authoritarian leadership is the most misused leadership style and examples of political autocratic misuse are evident in dictatorships where the citizens civil rights are exploited. Authoritarian, or autocratic, leadership tends to be viewed rather negatively, even though it is among the most common leadership styles in the business world. However, the ability to be a good leader is critically important to the persons effectiveness and advancement in the healthcare career. The authoritarian style was first described by psychologist kurt lewin in a study that identified three key styles of leadership. The term authoritarian leadership is used interchangeably with autocratic leadership and it is essentially defined as a style of leadership that is exemplified by the individual in charge taking control of all the decisions, with little or no input from members of the group. This academic evaluation examines recent theoretical developments in the study of educational leadership in school management. Authoritarian leadership autocratic authoritarian leaders, also known as autocratic leaders, provide clear expectations for what needs to be done when it should be done, and how it should be done.
An authoritarian leadership style is when a leader manages strategies and techniques, chooses what objectives are to be accomplished, and coordinates and controls all exercises with no significant cooperation by the subordinates. It is a style that is characterized by personal control over all decisions that must be made for a team. Jul 23, 2018 this article explains authoritarian leadership in a practical way. Authoritarian leadership, a powerful leadership style. In this global competitive environment, sharing and team effective leadership style is necessary to reduce the attrition rate. Authoritarian leadership this series of four articles will explore four different leadership styles and how the style can affect a group in accomplishing a goal. People with an authoritarian leadership style make decisions without consulting anyone else on the team. Authoritarian leadership, a powerful leadership style toolshero. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently with little or no input. Transformational leadership style and organizational performance transformational leadership style focuses on developing the followers and considering their needs. Its a style of leadership where a manager is the most powerful entity and it is the primary decision maker gordon, 20. This style is reminiscent of the earliest tribes and empires. No one in the team has any power to decide anything. There are many identified styles of leadership, and servant leadership is one that has grown in popularity in the last few years.
From the effective leadership styles only it is possible to achieve organizational goal productively. A theoretical basis of authoritative type is the theory of x and y by douglas mcgregor. Autocratic leadership is a form of management where authority is in the hands of one person alone. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers. Authoritarian leadership explained define teamwork. The most effective teachers will alternate between authoritative, authoritarian and.
Negative reinforcement and punishment are often used to enforce rules. We examine the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee silence behaviour with 324 employees in 16 stateowned manufacturing enterprises in china. Aug 04, 2017 the authoritarian style was first described by psychologist kurt lewin in a study that identified three key styles of leadership. Every type of leadership or style has its share of advantages and disadvantages. The paper studies democratic style of leadership and how. We explore employees role perceptions to better understand how supervisors authoritarian leadership decreases extrarole behaviors ocbs. It is a style of management based on the logic, order and the use of formal authority because of this we can say that it can work with the autocratic management style. Authoritarian leadership is a leadership style in which the leader dictates and controls all decisions in the group and task. Likert 4 management leadership styles study and its findings give a through the perspective of the leadership styles, and how each leadership style influences the organizations structure, value system, attitude towards workers, productivity level, and total environment of the organization.
Jun 27, 2018 classroom teaching styles are as diverse as the classroom teachers themselves. You might say it is a request that induces compliance or obedience. When the authoritarian leadership style is brought into the situation, then the direction provided by the leader can produce results. This style is necessary within organizations and companies that demand errorfree outcomes. In the past several decades, management experts have undergone a. While democratic leadership has been described as the most effective decisionmaking style, it does have a downside.
In the 1970s, robert greenleaf created this term to describe leaders who influence and motivate others by building relationships and developing. Lewins framework defines three styles of leadership, particularly around decisionmaking. It essentially is a scenario wherein the leader has the last word and it is only the leader whose value, opinion or decision matters. In order to determine the impact of the leadership style on organizational performance, the research hypothesis was formulated. Autocratic leadership style unl digital commons university of. Laissezfaire leaders have very little involvement in decisionmaking, mostly leaving everything up to their team. The word authoritarian comes from the greek language and derives from the word autocratic. Because knowledge is seen as power, critical information may be withheld from the team. Swarup 20 argued that autocratic leadership style is a classified leadership style. Autocratic leadership is vital in many workplace environments. Often referred to as autocratic leadership, authoritarian leadership is about control, organisation and discipline and while it still has a place in the leader s toolbox, it was regarded as the most prominent style almost one.
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