Preview

Compare and Contrast Autocratic and Democratic Leadership Styles

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
899 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Compare and Contrast Autocratic and Democratic Leadership Styles
Autocratic leadership is a classical leadership style with the following characteristics: manager seeks to make as many decisions as possible, manager seeks to have the most authority and control in decision making, manager seeks to retain responsibility rather than utilise complete delegation , consultation with other colleagues in minimal and decision making becomes a solitary process managers are less concerned with investing their own leadership development, and prefer to simply work on the task at hand. Whereas Democratic Leadership is the leadership style that promotes the sharing of responsibility, the exercise of delegation and continual consultation. The style has the following characteristics: manager seeks consultation on all major issues and decisions, manager effectively delegate tasks to subordinates and give them full control and responsibility for those tasks, manager welcomes feedback on the results of intiatives and the work environment and manager encourages others to become leaders and be involved in leadership development.

The Autocratic leadership style approach is when the leader of the group (director, supervisor and etc.) makes all decisions by himself/herself, defining by himself/herself all the activities of subordinates and refusing any initiative from them. The Democratic leadership style approach is when the leader of the group involves subordinates in decision-making process based on group discussions, stimulating their activity and sharing the decision-making authority with them.

Autocratic leadership style is more aggressive comparing to the democratic style. The Autocratic leader alone determines the direction of the department or organization by making decisions and in many ways this style allows to achieve great results and productivity.
The autocratic leadership style is seen as an old fashioned technique. It has existed as long as managers have commanded subordinates, and is still employed by many leaders across the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Wgu Leadership Task 3

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the last style mentioned in the scenario, Manager 3 demonstrates a democratic type of leadership. Subordinates are involved in the process of decision-making, unlike autocratic. This type of leadership is focused on the employees’ contributions in suggestions and opinions. Manager 3 as a democratic leader holds the final responsibility, but he/she is known to delegate authority to other people, who determine work projects.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Authoritarian and democratic leadership styles are similar because both of these leaders get to decided what team final say is. But the way that they make the final decision is different because an authoritarian leaders strict and you have to listen to them no matter what they say, because they have the authority over all of the group and whatever this type of leader says is always the final say as you can't argue back. However, a democratic leader is less strict as this type of leader is somebody who gets everybody involved and listens to what they have to say. Although they still have the higher authority but not as much as an authoritarian leader they still have the final say.…

    • 3008 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    | Is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers. Autocratic leadership involves absolute, authoritarian control over a group.…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Authoritarian leader makes quick, clear and precise independent decisions without any input. Even if there was, it wouldn’t affect the overall decision making as it needs to be decided quickly. The appropriate leader that would use the common traits of an authoritarian leader would be an officer in the army because usually they are loud and demanding.…

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ant Colony

    • 1742 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Leadership can be categorized in three different ways. These ways are Authoritarian, Democratic, and Laissez-Faire type leadership. Those who lead in an authoritarian manner are those who give orders and have things done their way and their way only. Democratic leaders strive to gain a consensus from others and are open to others ideas before making there final decisions. A leader who demonstrates laissez-faire type leadership is one who is highly permissive and provides little or no direction and gives others as much freedom as possible.…

    • 1742 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Autocratic Leadership

    • 2326 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Thus, leaders feel that the best way to conduct their job is to practice different style whichever suits the best to the situation. thus a leader may use transactional leadership style, autocratic leadership style, laissez faire leadership style, participative leadership style, transformational leadership style etc. while practicing the style of autocratic leadership style, the leader would make all the decisions by himself, build strict guidelines which is to be followed by all the employees, having centralized power and authority etc. the leader using bureaucratic leadership style would have strict guidelines for everything while and would want all the activities to go as per the guidelines and may be lacking in flexibility and creativity in operations. A leader practicing charismatic style of leadership or transformational leadership style would be constantly offering inspiration and enthusiasm to its employees and gain high level of commitment from the employees towards the jobs and roles of the organization. A leader using participative style of leadership would be continuously engaging employees to discuss and participate in decision making in taking actions for long term and short term while using their suggestions to form the policies and in building the strategies of the future. A leader who…

    • 2326 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Public Services

    • 2846 Words
    • 12 Pages

    AUTHORITARIAN: This style is also know as Autocratic Leadership, it is a dictatorial method of leading, low concern for followers and high emphasis on task, typically reinforced with threat, punishment, and often ruthless exploitation of workers, who have little or no freedom to resist or desert. This style is used when the leader dictates policies and procedures, decides what goals are to be achieved, and directs and controls all activities without any meaningful participation by the employees.…

    • 2846 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It’s more of a group of people who are in charge. Supervision is minimal as individuals take the responsibility for their behavior. In this type of style, subordinates are encouraged to express their ideas and make suggestions, but, however, shared decisions are not likely to occur in all aspects of the organizational operations. According to the article, “Leadership styles”, Brennen states, “Democratic leaders sell ideas. They tend to be warm, confident, and friendly” (n.d.). Employees are encouraged to participate. High levels of expertise are preferred, such as lawyers, doctors, teachers etc. Democratic leadership improves…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    They value input from all stakeholders, encourage collaboration, and create a sense of ownership and accountability. Autocratic Leadership: In contrast, autocratic leaders make decisions without much input from others. They have a clear vision and provide specific instructions, which can be effective in certain situations that require quick and decisive action. Laissez-Faire Leadership: Laissez-faire leaders adopt a hands-off approach, giving their team members autonomy and freedom to make decisions.…

    • 1893 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The authoritarian leadership style has been compared with a dictatorship, meaning that one person has the authority over the employees. This type of leader is often the one in charge of making the plans for the whole group or unit, and the employees or subordinates are expected to carry out the plan according…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In most workplace situations, no one style is used on its own, a good leader will change the style as the situation changes. The factors that determine the style are the same which ever leadership style is used whether Autocratic , Democratic or Laissez-faire they are :- the situation or the task, the team and their readiness , the behaviours of the team and the environment. Leaders own abilities.…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leadership Style

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Each leadership style (Authoritarian, Democratic, and Laissez- Faire) has a purpose and depends on the environment for which it is used. I preferably would want to lead an organization in a democratic setting because we live in a democratic environment; therefore our mentalities as individuals are to naturally have an opinion on how we function in our society. Based on its history, this leadership style is most effective because it values team members input, and receiving feedback will always empower them to be a part of something special. Also, this gives them a sense of responsibility and will motivate them to put their energy and effort towards making the organization better; which will make them more accountable.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When thinking of leadership styles one thing to consider is what defines a good leader. Hood (2010) suggests that an effective leader influences and encourages others to achieve goal setting and goal attainment. A good leader recognizes that there is always something new to learn. Effective leaders set direction, build commitment and confront challenges through clear communication and soliciting staff feedback. Authoritarian leaders remain in control, they are task oriented, and are effective in crisis conditions. An authoritarian leader makes decisions and addresses all problems single-handedly. This…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The authoritarian leader has the need to maintain control of the group and the democratic leader represents an attempt to find a reasonable compromise between the other two extremes. The democratic leader does attempt to provide direction and to perform both task and social leadership functions (Smith, 2012, pp. 240-241). This leader had to be both because he was directly responsible for lives in certain situations, he had to be direct and unquestioned. Yet, there was time he needed and wanted input from his subordinates.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Democratic leadership style is similar to Theory Y Democratic leaders treat subordinates as fully capable of doing the work on their own. Democratic leaders work with subordinates they encourage, they treat each one fairly. They don’t put anyone down, they see themselves as guides. They give suggestions, rather than trying to change them. Democratic leaders provide information, in their evaluation they give objective praise and criticism. (Northouse, 2009)…

    • 1896 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics