Autocratic Leaders?

I spoke on Inspirational Leadership at the General Management and Communicartion Skills Programme at thew SIRC of the ICAI. I gave the participants a case study to discuss and present. While presenting their views, they used the phrases Autocratic Leader and Participatory Leader.

Now, the word Autocratic Leader is essentially an Oxymoron combining as it were two essentially incompatible concepts. Leaders are people who inspire trust, affection, adoration and admiratrion. These emotions can never be kindled by an autocrat, who prefers to command rather than convince the team. Autocratic Management styles can be seen as acceptable only in the services where discipline is the difference between life and death. Some managers who rely on authority derived from designation and positional power use the autocratic style. They can never be called Leader and are invariably hated by their teams if not openly, at the very least behind their backs.

Another “autocratic” style is that of the dictator. This style may initially command a slavish following due to cultism or extreme and illogacal adherence by the group to a dogma. Such despots like Adolf Hitler and Idi Amin invariably end up in ignominy and public contempt. So mucgh for “Autocratic” Leaders!

The term participatory leader is a tautology or useless repetition. A leader is always participatory. Truly Inspirational Leaders are always democratic; every voice is heard and addressed; decisions are based on consensus and agreement rather than by enforcement of the will.

To insist that a Leader should be participatory is like stipulating that a fish should live in water! There is no other way! Inspirational Leaders use the Purpose Empowerment Praise Model and

a) Share the same Picture to ensure that every member of the team is crystal clear on what they are supposed to do;

b) Empower their teams through Meaningful Delegation of authority;

c) Go bryond monetary rewards by praising the team constantly and unstintingly.

Inspirational Leaders Inspire by Example. They command respect and adoration by playing their roles effectively rather than by throwing their designation at the other person.