Advantages of an Autocratic Leadership Style, Essay Example

Autocratic leadership refers to making decisions without consulting anyone. Autocratic leaders tend to retain all the decision making powers to themselves and prefer to exercise total control(Joseph). An example of an autocratic leader may be former legendary Apple CEO Steve Jobs which had zero tolerance policy when it comes to quality. Steve Jobs had a reputation for being a very difficult boss and being heavily involved in almost everything from product development to marketing. There is a reason Steve Jobs and Apple were rarely mentioned without each other.

Democratic leadership involvesincluding others in the decision making process though the leader retains the authority to ultimately make the final decision(MindTools). An example of a democratic leader may be U.S. President Barack Obama who consults with a wide range of stakeholders such as cabinet members, advisors, and experts and even reaches out to the general public on issues such as healthcare. After listening to diverse perspectives, President Obama makes the final call as is to be expected from the nation’s Commander-in-Chief.

Free-rein leadership could be defined as giving complete freedom to subordinates to get the job done(Penn). In this case, a leader that pursues the free-rein leadership style has absolute confidence in the capabilities of his/her subordinates who are usually highly-skilled at what they do. An example of a leader that pursues the free-rein leadership style is legendary investor Warren Buffet who is the head of giant conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway. Buffet has a tradition of hiring highly capable managers who run the various businesses owned by Berkshire Hathaway(Sorkin, 2011).

References

Joseph, C. (n.d.). Advantages of an Autocratic Leadership Style. Retrieved July 31, 2014. Web.

MindTools. (n.d.). Leadership Styles. Retrieved July 31, 2014. Web.

Penn, S. (n.d.). Five Different Leadership Styles That All Work. Retrieved July 31, 2014. Web.

Sorkin, A. R. (2011, April 23). Warren Buffett, Delegator in Chief. Retrieved July 31, 2014. Web.