AUTOCRATIC

LEADERSHIP
By Christian Nyachiwowa
What is Autocratic Leadership?

■ Autocratic leadership is a management style where one person controls all the decisions
and takes very little input from other group members. Autocratic leaders make choices
or decisions based on their own beliefs and do not involve others in their suggestions or
advice. Autocratic leadership involves absolute, authoritarian control over a group
■ Authoritarian: The principle of blind submission to authority, as opposed to individual
freedom of thought and action
Advantages and Disadvantages of an
Autocratic Leadership Style
Benefits Drawbacks
■ It allows for fast decisions to be ■ It creates a work culture based on
made the leader
■ It improves overall communication ■ It creates a system of dependence
■  It improves productivity ■ It creates a lack of trust
■ It reduces employee stress
■ It counters team inexperience
Example of Autocratic Leaders
1. Donald Trump of the Trump Organization
Donald Trump is the definition of the American success story, having set new standards of
excellence in business. He however is also atypical of an autocratic leader who centralizes
decision-making and wields absolute power. He involves himself with the minutest of
details of his enterprise, and limits inputs from a select few in his team
Example of Autocratic Leaders
2. Howell Raines of The New York Times
In the past, the New York Times ranked among the top companies with autocratic leadership. It
had A. M. Rosenthal who was a famous autocratic leader who presided over the company during
the 1970s. While it was not easy to work under such an autocratic leader, the leadership style
raised efficiency and contributed to bottom-line growth in the highly demanding newspaper
industry that requires some form of autocratic control to meet tight deadlines regularly. Howell
Raines, the executive editor between 2001 and 2003 followed Rosenthal’s footsteps. His policy of
using all resources to cover what he deemed were important stories led to unprecedented success,
with the company winning a record seven Pulitzer Prizes in one year. His autocratic style
however led to charges of highhandedness and callousness. His drive to get things done made
him contemptuous, dismissive, and sarcastic, even to senior journalists. He centralized decision-
making and killed stories at will. He disregarded all efforts and contributions before his arrival,
assumed everyone was “lazy” and divided the journalists into “stars,” and “also-rans.” All these
however created distress and dissension among the staff, and morale fell, leading to a decline in
both the quality and quantity of information. Raines was fired after 21 months on the job
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