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Authoritarian And Authoritarian Leadership Style Essay

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Authoritarian, or autocratic, leadership tends to be viewed rather negatively, even though it is among the most common leadership styles in the business world. The term creates a negative image in most minds; an idea of dictators and tyrants. The images are directly translated into the world of leadership, even though authoritarian leadership can have much to offer.
In this guide, we will examine the main concepts behind authoritarian leadership and study the core characteristics of the style and the leaders who use it. We’ll also delve into the advantages and disadvantages of the framework, before looking at examples of authoritarian leaders with their weaknesses and strengths.
1 Understanding the different contexts of authoritarian leadership

To understand authoritarian leadership and how it works, you should study the history of it. While authoritarianism has been around for a long time, the idea of didn’t form into an official leadership style until the publication of a few major studies. The work of Resis Likert and Douglas McGregor has heavily influenced the birth and popularity of the leadership style.

Rensis Likert’s study of leadership

In 1960s, an American social psychologist Rensis Likert developed a model describing different management and leadership styles. He and his colleagues set out to identify how leader’s communicate with subordinates and what behaviours help improve the productivity of industrial organisations.
The Liker four-fold model of leadership

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