Some bosses are under the impression that only autocratic leaders are synonymous with being a good leader. As the top guy they need to be a Mr. Know It All! Their demeanor displays this expert attitude so much, that their employee doesn't hesitate to criticize them at the first sign of their un-worthiness. One indication of this is the employee will immediately disrespect any authoritarian leader as to his inability to provide an adequate response to an employee situation or question. In other words, the response given by the leaders must be perceived as being equal or superior to the response that the employees would give...and they're the judge!!

We can very logically assume that this belief among the employers and employees has been deep-rooted during the era of the industrial revolution, during which the authoritarian leader was a common denominator. Throughout this period all of the leadership roles within an organization were only accessible by the most educated, thus experts of the subject at hand. As for the bulk of the work force, they were not educated and as a consequence relied heavily on the expertise of their boss.

Times have changed

Yes, not only is our current workforce much more educated, but the products that we are producing or the services that we are providing are much more complex in nature and often requires a team of experts within their own respective discipline. This rapid fundamental change within our industries and professional organizations paved the road towards the obligation, for a leader to be successful and able to lead in a manner that voluntarily extracts and combines all of the available human potential.

The Autocratic leader in you should only surface periodically!

I'm definitely not a big fan of the authoritative style or approach, especially when used frequently or inappropriately. However, I will preach its virtues when used tactfully. There are situations where one needs to properly be an authoritative leader and able give clear, detailed and un-debatable directions to his team or a member of the team, in order guarantee the team success in addition to information for the rare occasions when we need to be autocratic leaders.

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