Autocratic Leadership Theory - Assignment Example

Autocratic Leadership Theory Introduction Autocratic leadership theory is a leadership or management style whereby an individual exercises control over all the decisions that are made within the organization and little input from all the other members (Lussier and Achua, 2013, p. 315). This means that a manager who has adopted the autocratic leadership model makes all the decisions of the organization based on his own choices and judgment. Therefore, it is characterized by little or no input from group members, the leader making all the decisions, the group leader dictating all the work procedures and processes as well as the fact that group followers are hardly trustworthy with decisions and the important tasks. Autocratic leadership is relevant especially when choices need to be made rapidly without the need to consult a large group of people or when strong leadership is necessary to carry out tasks (Daft and Lane, 2011, p. 45). This is because it lets the members of the group to pay attention in executing the assigned responsibilities without getting worried about making complex or complicated decisions. However, it has been found to be ineffective at times when the leader becomes dictatorial, which may result into resentment by members of the group or the organization. This essay will discuss about autocratic leadership as one in which the every decisions within the organization is made by the leader alone with a discussion of decision-making, participation of members and the dictatorial or authoritarian tendencies of the leader as the major components of autocratic leadership style. An autocratic leader makes all the major decisions within the organization with little or no contribution from the members of the group. He also maintains a total control and ownership of all decisions within the organization and is therefore responsible for both the good and bad outcomes that result from the decisions (Bass, Bass and Bass 2008, p.440). The autocratic leadership also does not rely on ideas or suggestions from other persons or sources and makes the decisions from their perception of the situations. Such a leader only makes the decisions and expects little challenge from other members of the group, and this may lead to a sort of dislike by the members that they cannot contribute ideas or decisions. It is important to note that autocratic leadership style may be desirable whereby the leader is the most knowledgeable or has extensive access to information as compared to other members of the group. Being the custodian of decision-making within the organization comes with both advantages and disadvantages which affects the organization in different ways. The advantages include the fact that decisions are made faster and the leader takes responsibility for any outcome that arises out of the decisions made. This makes autocratic leadership the best leadership style to handle any emergencies that may arise out of situations within the business. The disadvantage include the fact that it might reduce morale within the organization if a particular decision affects an employee in a negative way while he did not participate in making the decision. This may lead to doubts about the credibility of the leader that made such a detrimental decision, which may reduce productivity in the organization. Adolf Hitler was an example of an autocratic leader who made all the major decisions in Germany at the time he was the Chancellor. Through his leadership principle known as the Führerprinzip, he was vested with the ultimate authority to exercise power in giving directions and orders to the subordinates (Frame, 2013, n.p.). Hitler had the final decision in any matter that was to be decided or he had an interest in especially the acts of the army or any military plans. His ability to make decisions under the autocratic leadership theory was helped by the fact that he had a large depth of knowledge and military experience, which offered him an advantage to make quicker decisions with regard to Germany’s military activity. The decisions made by the autocratic Hitler at times worked to the advantage of Germany during the world wars as shown by his successes against France and military victory in 1940. His political skills and talents also helped him exercise autocratic leadership as he managed to lead Germany during times that serious military decisions had to be made. However, making decisions on his own at times led to military defeats that would have easily been avoided had he listened to the advice of his generals. Due to the fact that he was the only decision maker in Germany at the time, he was at times indecisive and stubborn when it comes to making a decision. For instance, he put off making decisions for weeks or even months and this led the defeat of German forces by the Soviets at Kursk in 1943. Germany under Hitler was therefore defeated at the Second World War, as Hitler would not allow other experienced generals to help him make decisions on how to defend Germany against attacks from other nations. Autocratic leadership is also characterized by little participation or input of the members in the running of the organization or entity (DuBrin, 2011, p. 507). In an autocratic system of leadership, the leader has clear expectations of what should be done as well as the manner and the time it should be done. With a clear division of the leader and the group members and who should make the decisions, the leader does not value any input from other members of the group (Yammarino and Dansereau, 2009, p.250). The leader also considers himself as the most knowledgeable member of the group and therefore does not have consideration of any contribution that may be made by other members of the group on how it should be run. In such an organization, the members are allowed to contribute ideas or input to the running of the organization but there is no guarantee that they will be considered or implemented. This is because every decision or act revolves around the leader who has absolute control over every affair within the organization. Whenever members or followers of an organization realize that the leadership is autocratic in nature, they rarely contribute ideas to its affairs, as they know that it does not matter to the organization’s leadership. This often leads to loss of talented staff to rival organizations who will appreciate their input. The remaining staff may not participate or be motivated to work towards the achievement of the missions and goals of the organization. It is therefore important that any leader value the input of all members of the organization so that it operates to its maximum capacity and every member feels part of its affairs. Hitler despised any input from his generals or any other person during the wars that Germany fought in. while the generals, their input, recognized his talents in the war front were usually ignored. Hitler viewed his generals with contempt and even referred to some of them as cowards or stupid whose opinion did not count at all showing his authoritarian nature (Rudani, 2013, p.537). With the leadership characterized by little or no input from other members in Germany, Hitler relied most on his instincts and strategies that ensured that only his input counted. To him, the opinions or input of others did not count as he considered them not to be in line with his conceptions of the war and position of Germany. Hitler shunned the input of his generals due to his low intellect and ignorance in military affairs at the time. His ignorance and despising of input from other members of the military in Germany led to defeats that Hitler and his army could easily have avoided or won. For instance, in late 1942, during the battle of Stalingrad, he followed the fight through a map contrary to the advice of his generals. As already discussed, the lack of input by other members of the organization may lead to their demoralization, which may lead to the downfall of the organization. Under Hitler’s autocratic leadership, his demoralized generals split as they felt unappreciated leading to major lapses in strategy that cost Germany the Second World War. The fact that Hitler never appreciated the advice of input of his lieutenants made him attack Ardennes in 1944 where he was defeated. Autocratic leadership is characterized by authoritarian or dictatorial tendencies in the manner the leader directs or controls the organization (Kleinman, 2012, p. 131). The leader carries out this through direct supervision over the followers in their daily activities and ensuring that they carry out the decision even in a forced manner. With the leader controlling almost all the decision-making within the organization and not valuing the input of the members of the group, there is likely to be resentment by the members of the group. To control the members and have absolute power over them, the leader usually decides to be bossy and lord over the followers through forceful disciplining of the members. The leader therefore uses undesirable means to instil fear among the employees or followers through firings, suspensions and even threats in certain instances. In cases of political power, autocratic leaders usually execute or kill any follower that may not agree with their decisions or acts. Autocratic leadership also uses forced authority to ensure that the followers within the organization implement their directives and decisions. Therefore, once the leader has made a decision, it is upon the followers to implement it or the leader will mete out punishment on them unless the decisions are carried out. It has been proven that autocratic leadership may at times be desirable in handling situations where drastic reorganization of an organization is required for success. This requires that the autocratic leader make decisions jointly with the members within the organization while at the same time putting into consideration their input. Through this, the members feel that they are part of the running and management of the organization and may participate fully in ensuring its success and meeting of objectives. Hitler was authoritarian and dictatorial in all that he carried out as a means of making things be done or carried out during his reign. During the Third Reich, Hitler required that every person must accept and carry out anything that he said that was deemed as the absolute law. Throughout his reign, he imposed death sentences to anyone who failed to follow his decisions and directions on how Germany should be governed. Hitler viewed himself as the ideological face and basis for the Second World War and forced it upon everyone to carry out whatever he wanted carried out or done according to his race and ethnicity (Coyne and Mathers, 2011, p.37). Through authoritarian leadership, Hitler forced his generals to follow all the operational decisions about the war and any person that dissented was likely to be executed. Apart from his dictatorship and authoritarian tendency of controlling the military, Hitler’s autocracy also entrenched dictatorship on how the affairs of the nation are run. He for instance ordered the arrest of all Communist members of the Reichstag and the Social Democrats, after which he ordered absolute authority for his government. He later on abolished other parties in Germany and made the Nazi’s the absolute power thus suppressing any form of opposition to his rule. The Nazi’s under the leadership of Hitler also established terror and ruled by decree whereby there was massive maltreatment and torture of those who were not considered as part of the superior Aryan race. The most memorable of the authoritarian and dictatorial tendency of Hitler’s dictatorial tendencies was the mass murder of persons of Jewish origin showing how autocratic leadership may be bad for an organization. Conclusion Autocratic leadership in any organization is majorly characterized by the leader making all the decisions of the organization without the input of other members and in an authoritarian manner. It is desirable where the leader needs to make the important decisions within the organization and in a quick manner. However, it has the disadvantage of making other members of the business to feel unappreciated or undesired and this may make them be unproductive for the organization. Adolf Hitler who was the German Chancellor at the time of the Second World War is a good example of an autocratic leader whose leadership style revolved around him as the key decision-maker in the affairs of the nation at that time. By making quick and decisive decisions at the time of the war, he was able to win some battles and make conquests of the enemies. However, due to his habit of not valuing the contribution of the other members within his army and his authoritarian tendencies, Hitler lost the Second World War showing how an autocratic leadership style has major weaknesses. References Bass, B. M., Bass, R., & Bass, B. M. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications. New York: Free Press. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=UTZ2npL2HHgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bass,+B.+M.,+Bass,+R.,+%26+Bass,+B.+M.+%282008%29.+The+Bass+handbook+of+leadership:+Theory,+research,+and+managerial+applications&hl=en&sa=X&ei=26SIU8XRNMiS7AbDloGACA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=autocratic%20leadership%20control&f=false Coyne, C. J., & Mathers, R. L. (2011). The Handbook on the Political Economy of War. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=-rSF4xEMhDwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Coyne+The+Handbook+on+the+Political+Economy+of+War&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rqqIU5W8PISiyATQh4LgAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=hitler%20&f=false Daft, R. L., & Lane, P. G. (2011). The leadership experience. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=KOfKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA45&dq=autocratic+leadership+for+faster+decision+making&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KqSIU9vPJafR7Abi14CICQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=autocratic%20leadership%20for%20faster%20decision%20making&f=false DuBrin, A. J. (2011). Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Research-Findings-Practice-Skills/dp/113343522X Frame, J. D. (2013). Framing decisions: Decision making that accounts for irrationality, people, and constraints. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=VuVpEuXSmUkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Frame+Framing+decisions+Decision+making+that+accounts+for+irrationality+people+and+constraints&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iaWIU4eIK4a47QbLqoCYDg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=hitler&f=false Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2013). Leadership: Theory, application & skill development. Australia : South-Western Cengage Learning http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=reoJAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Lussier+Leadership+Theory,+application+%26+skill+development&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8J-IU5_JIome7AaH1YDoBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=autocratic%20leadership%20&f=false Kleinman, P. (2012). Psych 101: psychology facts, basics, statistics, tests, and more! Avon, Mass, Adams Media. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=QftrzSWABvoC&pg=PA131&dq=Autocratic+leadership+is+characterized+by+authoritarian+or+dictatorial&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IayIU6C0Fs6gyAT884GQBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Autocratic%20leadership%20is%20characterized%20by%20authoritarian%20or%20dictatorial&f=false Rudani, R. B. (2013). Principles of management. New Delhi: McGraw Hill Education India. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=3RF_AgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Rudani+Principles+of+management&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3qiIU4qVA-mQ7AbHlICQCQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=hitler%20&f=false Yammarino, F. J., & Dansereau, F. (2009). Multi-level issues in organizational behavior and leadership. Bingley: JAI. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=aOl9irk5HWAC&pg=PA292&dq=Yammarino+Dansereau+Multi-level+issues+in+organizational+behavior+and+leadership+autocratic+leadership&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BqiIU7uCFoWf7Aamu4D4Bw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=autocratic%20leadership&f=false Read More