"Nobody is going to delegate a lot of power to a secretary that they can’t control.

"

– Micheal Bloomberg

How do you picture an autocratic leader?

We picture someone barging into the room and telling people what to do.

As the name hints, autocratic leadership is a boss-centered approach to leadership. The leader has
absolute control over the entire operation. They have a top-down approach to communication. They
dictate instructions, policies, and activities and expect the followers to comply. You can see high power
dynamics going on between the leader and the followers.

Autocratic leaders give little to no importance to socializing and team-building activities. These leaders
take no input or feedback from group members. They assess a situation from their own perspective.

Key Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership Style

1.) Works best when a quick decision needs to be made.

2.) An autocratic leadership style might help suppress a conflict in the short run. But it does not solve
the conflict.

3.) There occurs a colossal lack of trust in this leadership style on the subordinates. It is why the power
to make all the decisions lie in the hands of the leader.

You may be an autocratic leader if you:

• Have self-confidence

• Are self-motivated

• Communicate clearly and consistently

• Follow the rules

• Are dependable

• Value highly structured environments

• Believe in supervised work environments

Benefits: Autocratic leaders can promote productivity through delegation, provide clear and direct
communication, and reduce employee stress by making decisions quickly on their own.

Challenges: Autocratic leaders are often prone to high levels of stress because they feel responsible for
everything. Since they lack flexibility and often do not want to hear others’ ideas, these leaders are often
resented by the team.

Example: Before an operation, the surgeon carefully recounts the rules and processes of the operation
room with every team member who will be helping during the surgery. She wants to ensure everyone is
clear on the expectations and follows each procedure carefully and exactly so the surgery goes as
smoothly as possible.

Advantages:

1.) Faster decision-making

2.) Strong motivation to the leader

3.) Suitability.

Disadvantages:

1.) No role in decision-making

2.) Exploitation of employees

3.) No opportunity for creativity

4.) Frustration

5.) No development of leadership skill

6.) Slavery attitude.