Autocratic Leaders Can Cause Big Problems
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Some leaders are staunch autocrats. They believe that being responsible for team or company performance requires them to control where, when, and how employees do their work.
Others are servant leaders. They leverage their employees’ strengths. They assign tasks that fit with each employees’ natural preferences. They are clear on what the employees are expected to accomplish and encourage their staff to find the best way for them to achieve these results.
Unfortunately, I have experience using both of these leadership styles. Servant leadership is a win/win/win while autocratic leadership can be a lose/lose/lose for the leader, the team members, and the organization. Interpersonal rapport, personal satisfaction, and bottom line results are all stronger with servant leadership.
Servant leaders help employees to feel appreciated and valued, which increases employee engagement, retention, and productivity, resulting in a good bottom line for the organization. Yet, few managers are not servant leaders. 51% of managers think they are showing appreciation to their staff, only 17% of the workforce feels appreciated and valued. 65% of employees have left an organization to escape from a bad boss and the toxic workplace the leader created.
Our economy and our quality of life are both suffering because the majority of managers are ineffective. Only 35% get any training on how to lead people, and only 10% display effective people management skills during their first 10 years in a people leadership position. Many use an autocratic leadership style which frequently backfires.
Autocratic leaders often give employees step by step instructions on when and how to do their work, rather than clearly defining the results they should achieve and giving them flexibility with how to get there. Employees become frustrated with their boss’s micromanagement. (My children have balked when I have used the autocratic style when assigning chores they have done before.) Employees (or spouses and children) may discover ways to do their work that are more efficient and more fun. They may have a more alert mind and more energy in the morning, so want to do their hardest or least-liked work early in the day. Autocratic managers squelch such innovation and insist on following a standard process.
By denying their staff the opportunity to change for the better, autocratic leaders hinder the organization’s future success.
Research shows that when individuals have a sense of control over how they live and work, they have more self-motivation and better mental health. When they don’t have much autonomy, they feel stifled and frustrated. They experience little job satisfaction resulting in less motivation, higher absenteeism, poorer health, and reduced productivity.
Autocratic managers tend to cause more problems than they solve. How long will organizations and society put up with the economic and human toll of ineffective people management practices?
Management skills that empower, encourage, and engage the workforce can be learned. When will you and your organization make it a priority to invest in equipping managers to develop healthy, high performing individuals and teams?
There are few investments that yield a higher ROI than equipping leaders to support their team members for success. When will you invest in sharpening the people leadership skills in your organization?
To learn more about affordable ways to equip your leaders to serve the needs of your employees and increase productivity, contact Cathie Leimbach at cathie@agonleadership.com or 440-320-3113.