Autocratic Leadership, Does It Have Advantages?

Autocratic leadership is often frowned upon by members of a task force. The reason is that the leader usually makes decisions that he believes are correct – according to his criteria – without taking into account the opinions of the team.

Now, the group needs to feel heard and that the leader knows that their decisions will not always be the most correct. That is, you need to feel not only an active member of the team, but also taken into account. For all this, autocratic leadership is also known as authoritarian leadership.

Characteristics of autocratic leadership

It is clear that autocratic leadership does not work for everyone. However, in certain work groups it can be beneficial. Next, we will see some characteristics of this leadership style and its advantages.

The work is rigid and structured

Autocratic leadership can be very beneficial for those who tend to spread out or who tend to relax relatively easily. This type of leadership forces you to maintain a certain rhythm of work. While this may be thought to be counterproductive, the truth is that it tends to improve productivity and performance. It is a different way of leading a team that can give good results.

No input from group members

Sometimes this can happen because team members tend to communicate passively. However, the usual is that the leader prioritizes his ideas and decisions, and does not take into account those of the rest of the team.

Although this may seem like a negative thing, at certain times it can be a good option. Let’s think about the moments when you have to make quick decisions and there is no time to discuss them with the team. In these cases, this works very well and speeds up the process.

The leader takes care of the most important

Another characteristic of autocratic leadership is that the person who carries it out rarely leaves an important task in the hands of someone in the group, which requires great responsibility. This, in part, can be positive, as the leader takes over the bulk of the work and prevents stress and pressure from building up in the group. This will allow everything to flow much faster.

Communication is clear

A very positive aspect of autocratic leadership is that the communication is very clear. The group members are explained the rules to follow, the deadlines to meet, and how to do things.

In this way, misunderstandings are avoided and clear guidelines are established that everyone can follow. The best thing about a leader is that he knows how to communicate effectively and clearly what he wants. Without a doubt, this is a very advantageous characteristic of autocratic leadership.

The autocratic leader

As we have seen, the characteristics of autocratic leadership are diverse and can be of great help in certain situations. Therefore, this type of leadership is very effective in the following situations:

• Small groups lacking leadership.
• Very stressful situations and goals.
• Repetitive jobs.

In all these cases, this leadership seeks productivity and focus on specific tasks. However, there is no room for creativity. For this reason, autocratic leadership is not compatible with creative work areas, but rather with repetitive and routine ones.

There are different types of leadership that can be adapted to each work team. However, as we have seen in this case, when they are applied in the correct group they can have multiple advantages. Authoritarian leadership should not always be viewed as harmful or damaging. While it is true that it is much stricter and more limited to the work team, in many cases it is the best type of leadership that works.