This leadership style is marked with the leader having complete authority and the followers obeying the instructions of the leader without questioning and without receiving an explanation or rationale for such instructions.

Retains all power, authority, and control, and reserves the right to make all decisions.

Distrust of their subordinate’s ability, and closely supervise and control people under them.

Involve themselves in detailed day-to-day activities, and rarely delegate or empower subordinates.

Adopts one-way communication.

Assumes that employee motivation comes not through empowerment, but by creating a structured set of rewards and punishments.

Get work done by issuing threats and punishments and evoking fear.

The primary concern of autocratic leaders remains dealing with the work at hand and not on developmental activities.

Putting forth a more coordinated approach toward fulfilling organizational goals.

Anticipating problems in advance, and better realization of consequences of an action.

Contrary to claims of close supervision with detailed instructions to reduce stress and improve productivity, research suggests that such actions actually demotivate employees, and cause them to becoming tense, fearful, or resentful.

Lack of involvement from the employee in the decision making process leads to employees not assuming ownership of their work, contributing to low morale, lack of commitment, and manifesting in high turnover, absenteeism, and work stoppage.

All power vested with the leader leads to risk of leaders with low moral fiber exploiting employees, indulging in favoritism and discrimination, and the like.

Weak leaders tend to make decisions based on ego rather than sound management principles, and punish employees who dare to disagree with such decisions.

The heavily centralized command of autocratic leadership style ensures that the system depends entirely on the leader. If the leader is strong, capable, competent and just, the organization functions smoothly, and if the leader is weak, incompetent, or has low ethical and moral standards, the entire organization suffers for the sake of a single leader.

The leader reserving the right to make all decisions leads to subordinates becoming heavily dependent on the leader. The team thereby becomes useless in running operations if they lose contact with their leader, and absence of the leader leads to total collapse and shutdown of operations.

The one sided communication flow in an autocratic leadership style restricts the creative and leadership skills of the employees and prevents their development. This harms the organization as well, for the employees remain incapable of assuming greater responsibilities, or to perform anything outside the routine.

The autocratic leader, by taking all responsibility and involved heavily in day to day operations, remains forced to work at full capacity, leading to stress and other health problems.

Autocratic leaders usually remain unpopular and damage working relationships with colleagues. This leadership style is unsuited to build trusting relationships.

Occasions when the situation requires a strong centralized control

When leading an extremely large group

When followers are new or inexperienced

During occasions of contingencies, emergencies

When dealing or negotiating with external agencies or departments

A critique of the autocratic style reveals that it remains best suited in certain situations such as: