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Pros And Cons Of Authoritarian Leadership

Decent Essays

There are several different styles of leadership that can be used by a leader, whether if it is within the public services or not. Each style works at different points of a situation; therefore, a leader must be able to change between the required leadership style to ensure that a task is completed to the best of a team’s ability. It is unlikely that only one type of leadership would be required during a task, so if a leader cannot adapt, the task may not be completed.

Authoritarian
Authoritarian leadership; also known as autocratic leadership; is an extremely direct style of leadership where the leader remains in control the whole time and tells the other team members what they must do. The team are expected to follow orders without question or negotiation, therefore this could demoralise a team due to their opinions and ideas not being heard. It is best to use authoritarian when: a leader knows all the information, there is a strict deadline to which the team must work to, or the team is used to this style of leadership as the leader can be very demanding which people may not be used to. Authoritarian leadership may not get the best response from a team as it mainly relies on intimidation to work efficiently.
Authoritarian leadership is mainly seen within the military (British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy) where discipline is a major factor of their training and day to day life.
There are both pros and cons with using authoritarian leadership, depending on

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