Have you ever noticed how some people can get their listeners’ attention and move them to act? Only some people possess this quality. It’s so charming! Such people are known to have authoritative leadership skills.
These people project authoritative leadership skills as they have a “way with their words.” At least, that’s what the layman term calls it. However, there is a flip side to this style of leadership.
When a leader of this style sees their words’ power, they often lose that sense of good leadership. They may seem more controlling than ‘leading.’ And often, you’ve seen someone with this type of leadership.
What Is Authoritative Leadership Style
I bet you did not know that the authoritative leadership style has been here for decades, and its framework was first laid in the 1930s. In his defining framework, psychologist Kurt Lewin first mentioned the autocratic leadership style, which is an alternative term. It comprises one of the 7 definitions of leadership.
Lewin’s work still serves the great purpose of serving as the foundation for treatises on leadership. Brittanica describes this leadership style as “self-elitist and highly divisive nativist rhetoric.”
Authoritative leadership is one of the major leadership styles described by Kurt Lewin. This leadership style focuses on the leader’s ability to direct their team. Such leaders also display strong decision-making skills powered by their deep knowledge and confidence, making them charming!
The authoritative leadership style focuses on an individual’s clear decision-making and facilitates the team’s greater good. These people are seen breaking the shackles of hardships and leading companies toward success.
Characteristics of Authoritative Leadership
The charismatic nature mentioned in this article’s opening lines soon becomes a misplaced tag of the totalitarian regime that the person follows. Various authoritative leadership examples can be illustrated here, but let’s focus on the constructive ways this leadership style helps organizations. This may also be seen as one of the skills of corporate leadership.
One aspect of leadership skills is recognizing the psychology of the listener. Recognizing how to motivate someone is a skill worth developing. The leader is a prime example of someone with expertise in their field. They are clear in their approach and have strong self-confidence.
They are also some of the greatest conversationalists inspiring people with their words. Authoritative leaders are visionaries who can see what most other teammates cannot, which helps them make tough decisions.
They are also empathetic, which helps them connect with so many people. This also allows them to read people well, making it easier for them to lead people. Their self-confidence shines through their decision-making that does not rely on others.
They are also smart at adapting their leadership style to the situation, which makes them a reliable leader. Their leadership approach involves setting a vision and direction for the organization.
They might not consult someone else to make decisions, but they surely involve their team in creating structured plans. Authoritative leaders are also proactive in taking risks. They also hold their team members accountable for their actions without thinking about how they will feel.
Being people with high emotional intelligence is another helpful characteristic of these leaders. They can effectively build strong relationships that help them bring their team towards success.
Pros And Cons of Authoritative Leadership
Despite having some of the most envious leadership skills, the authoritative leadership style can have pros and cons. How to develop leadership skills is something that we can address after looking at the pros and cons.
The following list offers all the ways authoritative leadership can harm and benefit people:
Pros of Authoritative Leadership
- Empowering: Authoritative leadership style is great for empowerment. It gives the leader enough power to make decisions, thus taking ownership of the work. Consequently, the authoritative leader allows their team members to have the same freedom, which is how the leader does not shy away from holding the members accountable.
- Clarity in vision: Authoritative leadership effectively brings organizational success due to the clarity of the leader’s vision. One of those leadership styles is where the team’s efforts are worthwhile owing to the leader’s guidance. The leader’s vision helps align the people’s efforts towards one goal.
- Open to change: The fact that authoritative leaders do not allow change to scare them shows that they are fluid in their thoughts.
- Crisis management: Authoritative leaders can handle crises proactively. Their propensity to trust their decision-making and self-confidence fuels their ability to manage crises effectively. They can also handle stressful situations better than other leaders.
Cons of Authoritative Leadership
The following cons are also visible in people with authoritative leadership:
- Results in low employee morale: Exercising authoritative leadership can cause a decrease in employee morale. This can be due to several reasons, as people have different schools of thought. A consequence is poor employee retention, which results in significant employee dissatisfaction.
- Heightening resentment: Employees who experience an authoritative leadership style are often prone to resenting their leaders. This is because they can feel suppressed under such leaders. The decision-making powers and the authority can become overwhelming for the recipients of this leadership style.
- Less room for professional growth: In authoritative leadership, the recipient or the employees under the leader are conditioned to depend. This leadership style does not believe in creating leaders across levels so that there is autonomy. This results in low confidence and slow decision-making skills.
- Less creativity: This is one of the biggest buzzkills if you are involved in a creative industry. A workspace that does not appreciate a culture of feedback can cause less creativity and innovation. This is something for the authoritative leader to consider.
The leader does not allow team members much room to share their creative input. This leads to an environment where the employees do not trust the leader and lack autonomy.
- Micromanagement: One drawback of this kind of ‘perfectionism’ in leadership is that the team members feel micromanaged. Dependency and the lack of feedback further validate this. Another example is the supervision by an authoritative leader at every step instead of clear instructions at the beginning.
A dire consequence of this leadership style is poor productivity. This decline is due to the requirement that accomplishing every small task requires a report. A great way to overcome this is through team-building activities for work.
Types of Authoritative Leadership
There are mainly four types of authoritative leadership that govern the leadership style. These are:
- Intimidation: This type of leader believes in moving people through sternness. Authoritative leaders use intimidation as their tool to hold their teams to high standards. Which can often cause problems within the team.
- Reflection: This leadership type focuses on intuition and experience. This helps them apply their knowledge to the issue and address the employees based on it. They do not use sternness, anger, and intimidation to handle their team.
Instead, they are seen as providing guidance and sharing their knowledge as lessons for the team members. They can determine the best strategy for the team members and find ways to bring them closer to success.
- Adaption: These leaders alter their approach depending on the situation. This makes it easier for them to manage a team of different people. For instance, if an employee works best under pressure, the leader will ensure that the task delegation is such.
Their approach will also change depending on the team member’s demeanor. Others may respond to reflection and calm guidance, and the leader can adapt accordingly. This helps them get work done through their members and increases productivity. This aligns with the contingency theory of leadership, making them a competent leader as well!
- Reaction: These leaders need to prove themselves with actions that often overcompensate. This makes their management style intense, which can cause intense reactions in response to their employee problems. This can go in two ways- the employees can work harder and more efficiently, or there is employee dissatisfaction.
Thinktank!
Does any of the above types resonate with you? Which leadership style do you prefer? Tell us in the comments below!
How to Become an Authoritative Leader?
Did you like what you read so far and want to become a leader who can get work with a strong sense of self? Here’s how you can become an authoritative leader pushing the company toward success.
Step 1: Define Your Purpose
As yourself, “What do I bring to the organization as a leader?” No, this isn’t an existential question for you. This is your cue to analyze your strengths and weaknesses and the chance to assess your overall ability. Practice this quick exercise to help you define your purpose as the manager.
One of the examples of authoritative leadership that can help understand this step:
You are responsible for guiding and helping your employees towards career improvement. This is when an authoritative leader can help guide them through their knowledge.
Step 2: Set Your Parameters
Consider the parameters that exist for you, especially those that relate to accountability and boundaries. This will help you see if you can become an effective leader.
For instance, ask yourself how far your assistance would go. How far will you go to help them through an issue? If they are not using their full potential, how can you help them? Jot down the answers and analyze how they align with the organizational goals.
This lets you see if your parameters align with the organization’s. If they do not, you can address them and check again.
Step 3: Improve Your Employee Engagement
If you familiarize yourself with the employees, it will be easier to adapt your approach when helping them through a problem. Interact with the employees and do your best to join your team.
These three vital steps should help you in your journey to become an authoritative leader.
Wrapping it Up!
Thus, authoritative leadership will give you mixed feelings about the work environment that it creates. On one hand, a team member is motivated, on the other hand, they might also develop low self-confidence and be dependent on the leader’s skills.
Similar to the disadvantages, there are advantages. These can be increased depending on the type of authoritative leadership you exhibit.
Are you an authoritative leader? Tell us your observations below.
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