A leader’s style has to do with the manner in which he
carries out his responsibilities, and how he is perceived by
those he is leading. The basic styles of leadership are
autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire, but a number of other
styles are described in the leadership literature. The styles to
some degree represent a swinging pendulum. The autocratic is one
extreme and the laissez-faire is the opposite extreme; the
democratic is in the middle. A range exists with each basic
style, so that a person could be extremely autocratic, or
autocratic but almost democratic. This section outlines the
basic leadership styles but your leadership style may not fit
all of the description of any particular style.
Definition of Autocratic Leadership
The autocratic style is leader centered. The autocratic
leader is a dictator. He considers decision-making a one man
operation, and thinks of himself as the man. He considers
himself superior to his followers, and mainly seeks
obedience from them. He determines policy and procedure. He
decides the who, the what, the how, the when, and the who
with. He usually makes decisions with little hesitation; in
fact, he may consider hesitation in decision-making a sign
of weakness. He has a tendency to make decisions in all
areas, because he sees himself as the decision maker. He may
even be viewed as an expert decision maker in every area by
his followers. He will use threat, manipulation, or force to
accomplish his will.
The autocratic leader assumes that people dislike work
and will avoid it. People will not do anything unless
coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with
punishment. He further assumes that people prefer being
directed, wish to avoid responsibility, have little
ambition, and place the highest value on security.
Christian leadership should not be autocratic to this
extreme. It lacks love and compassion and obviously
comes across as arrogant. Nevertheless there is a
place for some manner of autocratic leadership within the
church.
Autocratic leadership is not all bad. Many
examples of autocratic leadership can be found in the
scripture. Moses, Joshua, Nehemiah, Peter, Paul, and others
could be used to illustrate an autocratic style of
leadership. The autocratic style is especially an
appropriate style when the leader is speaking with the power
of the Old Testament prophet, “thus saith the Lord.” God
does speak to individuals, especially leaders, and reveals
His will to them, and they need to speak with a clear sound
and say this is the way to do it. The autocratic leader,
however, who misuses this and attempts to force his will on
people with the words of a false prophet, creates problems
in churches.
When to use
Autocratic leadership is very appropriate in times of crises
or emergencies. Decision-making is faster when only one
person is involved in the process. Autocratic leadership is
appropriate when a person is training others who don’t know
enough about the task to make decisions. Autocratic
leadership is appropriate when there is rebellion and the
situation is filled with disturbances, then one person needs
to take over.
Problems with this style
Problems do exist when this is the only style of leadership.
One major disadvantage of autocratic leadership is that it
fails to develop leadership in followers. The leader makes
all the decisions. In fact, the autocratic leader will
stifle creativity and discourage innovation. He must tell
the group what to do, when to do it, where to do it, and who
to do it with. People learn that the autocratic leader is
THE leader and they stop trying to do anything. Work may
actually stop when he is not physically present, because no
one else can make a decision. Generally an autocratic leader
will not develop an organization that can continue after he
leaves. Things may fall apart when he resigns, because he
has developed neither individuals nor the organization. A
Christian leader especially needs to be concerned with
developing other people, and this style will present special
problems to a Christian.
Another problem of the autocratic
leader is that he is viewed as being insensitive to the
feelings of others. The autocratic leader has power and
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts
absolutely.” This is where the term dictator comes in. He is
not viewed in a positive manner. Most people do not want to
work for the autocratic leader because he is seen as so
careless of human feelings.
The autocratic leader
also works without a checks and balance system. The leader
prefers not to answer to anyone. He doesn’t want anyone to
question his authority. When he is right, he is very right;
but when he is wrong he is very wrong. Some type of shared
leadership or team leadership can avoid some serious
pitfalls.
Autocratic leader that is paternalistic
A very special sub-classification of the autocratic style is
the paternalistic style of leadership. This type of leader
has a father attitude toward the group and is deeply
concerned for the welfare of each individual in the group.
The leader looks on the followers as his children and he is
very concerned for his followers. He is a father, however,
and is to make the decisions for his children. A young
seminary graduate may go as an associate pastor to an older
man who may treat him as a son. The educated and ambitious
followers will resent this style of leadership where they
are treated as children. If the paternalistic leader will
allow his “children” to grow up and become leaders he can be
a very effective leader. He can protect from some dangers,
teach how to do it, and gently loosen the apron strings. A
mentor is often this type of leader.
