Autocratic and Participative Leadership – A Comparison
Leadership is the ability to influence followers to achieve group goals (Tost, Gino, & Larrick, 2013). The autocratic and participative leadership styles will both achieve the outcome, but the techniques are different. Autocratic leaders use a hands-on approach while participative leaders use a political tactic. Despite the method, a conflict will arise. The leader’s actions will determine if there are a winner and loser or if the parties will compromise.
Autocratic Leadership Leaders who employ an autocratic style use direct actions to dictate the rules, regulations, events, and culture (Nelson & Quick, 2011). In short, this type of leader makes all the strategic decisions for the followers (Gill, 2014). Followers have little power to stray from the leader’s guidelines (Nelson & Quick, 2011). Autocratic leadership is stereotypically a masculine style of governance (Arnold & Loughlin, 2013). Donald Trump, Chairman and President of The Trump Organization (http://www.trump.com/biography/), is an example of an autocratic leader. In 2006, Trump was
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If the leader uses this approach to conflict resolution, then it will lead to a competitive strategy and there will be a winner and loser (Nelson & Quick, 2011). On the other hand, organizations with participative leaders are familiar with group discussions and teamwork. Hence, both leadership styles (autocratic and participative) should get to know the people and the root of the problem before making a verdict on the situation (Cialdini & Martin, 2012). After the leader hears both sides, they should bring the parties together to discuss and negotiate the best course of action, therefore, using a cooperative strategy to produce three winners (Nelson & Quick,
Throughout this class, we learned that leadership can be defined in many ways by different authors. The definitions depend on many things and different variables. One way of we can attempt to define is through characteristics of the leader, the followers, and the situation (Yukl, 2013). Yukl, 2013 defines leadership as being “the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives” (Yukl, 2013 p.7). The character of the leader influences situations and followers in different ways. The characteristics of the followers also call for a different type of leadership style
When looking at the three traditional styles of leadership of authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire; I believe that I generally fall in to the category of democratic. In breaking down leadership further into theories, I hold the leadership behaviors which are that of the Interactional Leader.
...esearch of the situation. This leadership style is beneficial in situations where a quick decision is necessary. The downside to this type of leadership is people who tend to use an autocratic leadership style are seen as controlling and dictatorial. This type of behavior can lead to resentment with the other group members.
Lewin, Leppit, and White were cautious in the conclusions the drew from this study. They noted that autocratic leadership does get results and is preferred over democratic leadership. However they observed that autocratic leadership can create tension, apathy, frustration, and dependence by the group on the leader. Further, the researchers found that some of the differences in the behaviors of the children were associated with the presence or absence of the leader. Specifically, constructive effort declined in the autocratically controlled children groups. Finally, they observed very little value in laissez-faire control ---an essentially “no-leader” approach to leadership.
The authoritarian style of leadership for many may seem harsh and extremely cut and dry. However that is not the case. For some people the best way to function is to create a system that works best for their planning ideas and methods. The Authoritarian style of leadership is the best method in this scenario. It allows one to plan in great detail how a scenario should play out and what each person involved should to do to meet the end goal. Perhaps because of the word authoritarian it seems
According to Northouse 2010, Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. By this definition, a leader is a person who rules or guides or inspires or influences others. A leader is someone other people are willing to follow, almost without question. A leader may not always make the right decision, but are confident in the decisions that they make. Leaders are not afraid to admit when they are wrong, they accepts responsibility and a leader know when to change direction when a wrong choice has been made. For, even after a few mistakes, a true leader will not lose the confidence of his or her followers; he will rally the followers to move together while creating opportunities for doing the right thing.
The main concern of the leader is the job to be done. In order to be sure, he creates specific programs and directives. He is very close to autocratic style.
In the past people believed that leaders are born not made. Now the definition of leadership has been changed because now we believe that leaders can be made through education. Leadership plays important part in every field and organization to achieve higher goal. According to Kelly, “leadership is a process of influence in which the leader influences others toward goal achievement” (Kelly & Crawford, 2013, p. 168). Nowadays there are many leadership theories and have different perspective and suggestion. I have chosen two theories to discuss in this paper that is Autocratic leadership theory the Transformational leadership theory. Both theories are total contradictory with each other because both have a different perspective.
In autocratic leadership style, the leaders take direction ship and make decision in own. They do not transfer any domination to the others.
Autocratic leaders have been described as controlling, power-orientated and closed-minded (Bass 2008). They stress obedience, loyalty and strict adherence to the rules (Bass 2008). Autocratic leaders may be disliked by their team, but this may evolve into appreciation and fondness once the positive results of their leadership become evident (Bass 2008). Although staffmay dislike autocratic leaders, they often work well under them (Bass 2008). Schoel et al (2011) found that well-liked leaders might be perceived as ineffective while disliked leaders might be perceived as
Nayab, N. (2011, September 28). Examples of Companies with Autocratic Leadership. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from New York Times website: http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/77233.aspx
There are a few different types of well known leadership styles, authoritarian, delegative, and democratic. To assess my leadership style I used two online tests to help me determine my style. I felt the results were accurate and I fall into a democratic style/participative style. If I am leading I prefer to include the group and get their feedback on solving issues. However, I still make the final decision after listening to the thoughts of the group on a particular topic. This is considered to be a positive style of leadership that is inspiring to the group involved. The leaders decision making tends to be more accurate due to the input of other experts. (Cite)
Participative leaders or better known as democratic leaders include team members and others, but making the final decision is up to the participative leader. Participative leaders build confidence and knowledge within team members because their inputs matter within decision making. It helps team members think their opinions help with decisions. If there is change that needs to be implemented a participative leader helps team members understand the change in positive way. I would definitely consider myself a participative leader because I love gathering as many opinions from people just in case I don’t see the situation from another point. It helps me put everything in a good perspective.
Autocratic I (A1). The leader takes a decision completely at his discretion without the knowledge or consent of the team members in this style of leadership. This style of decision making is possible only in cases where there is not a lot at stake with the out come of this decision, when the employees’ decision is not exactly crucial for the outcome of the project, or when a leader thinks decision can be arrived at based on the information at hand and thinks any additional information isn’t needed from the team members to take a good and calculated decision.
Autocratic leaders also known as authoritarian leaders are leaders that have absolute authority over subordinates, are in control of the situation they are in, dictate and enforce orders, rarely consult with or ask opinions of others, are highly task driven, and the emotional needs of people are a low priority. The advantage of an Autocratic leader is they typically achieve results quickly; they would make a great leader during the time of crisis or when a project