Autocratic Leadership
Jerk Leaders and The 'Secret ' to High Performance and Loyalty

Autocratic leadership was not Tony's dominant style, but he could be a jerk sometimes. Beverly, was an autocratic leader, she could be a jerk too. Both, were leaders I worked for at different companies, early-on in my career.

If Tony called me today, I'd take his call, be happy to hear from him and would be willing to help out, if asked. If I didn't love my business so much, I'd even consider working for him again. Now if Beverly (autocratic leadership style) called... I wouldn't even take her call and I wouldn't call her back. I'd never ever consider working for her again!

No leader is perfect. Leaders can carry a heavy load of responsibility full of pressure, change and competing interests. So, having the "I just did something that makes me look like a jerk, autocratic leadership" moment, is just part of being a leader and a part of being human.

Tony certainly had what I thought were 'Jerk Leader/Autocratic Leadership' moments.

Having an autocratic leadership style is when a leader dominantly tells their employees what they want done and how they want it accomplished, without getting the advice of their team. Studies show that if used predominantly, employees resist, productivity declines and turnover increases.

So, what did Tony do differently that evokes such loyalty from me 10+ years after working for him?

There are 'secrets' to being an effective leader and these 'secrets' do not involve being perfect. In fact, they're not 'secrets' either, it's just that so few leaders do them well, they seem like secrets.

There are four specific skills a leader can hone to improve high performance and commitment. Avoid the problems of autocratic leadership by accessing our four leader skills memory jogger card. (Opens a new window.)

Tony, while not perfect, had honed these skills.

The first skill is very different from autocratic leadership, it is the ability to Cultivate a Positive SENSE OF SELF in Others. This is the ability to sustain or build self-confidence in others.

SENSE OF SELF definition: A measure of a person's self awareness of "who" they are - the ability to discern one's own self-worth.

This is one of the things that made Tony different. He believed in us, in me. And he expressed that belief all day every day, even when he was being an autocratic leader and sometimes jerk, and even when I didn't always deserve it.

Tony had this ability to show that he cared and that he expected the best from each of us. This caused each of us to do more, and to try to be more. He never yelled, he never demeaned, and he never had to push. His leadership was that of a wise and friendly mentor.

We measure this ability to Cultivate a Positive Sense of Self in Others in our online 360 feedback survey, and teach this skill in our Competitive Advantage Leadership Life programs Go to Competitive Advantage Leadership Life Skills..

The survey items in our 360 Feedback survey shed insight into leader's dominant leadership actions and behavior, revealing autocratic leadership gaps and great leader strengths. Even tho' he could be a 'sometimes jerk', I'd give him a 4 or 5 (with 5 being the highest score) on all of these items. Autocratic leader, jerk Beverly, the other leader I mentioned at the start of this article, would be rated a 1 or 2 (the lowest score possible).

360 Feedback Survey Items for Cultivating a Positive Sense of Self in Others:

• Establishes trust and creates a non-threatening environment.
• Helps clarify the roles and expectations for each person on the team.
• Makes clear how individual roles are important to team success.
• Offers words of encouragement and positive recognition on a regular basis.
• When solving problems, asks team members for input.
• Before giving constructive feedback, affirms the positive contributions of the individual.
• When needed, helps others overcome difficulties and roadblocks.
• Encourages others to think and solve problems for themselves.
• Delegates effectively and provides challenging assignments.
• Helps team members think about and learn from disappointments and setbacks.
• When discussing an aspect of performance, asks for the team member's self-evaluation.

How do you think your team would your team rate you in these areas? Does the autocratic leadership style sneak in too often?

The overall theme in the survey items are actions that demonstrate that the leader believes, at a core level, that each person is valuable.

When autocratic leadership is not dominant and a belief in others is intact the leader will offer encouragement, direction and involvement in the work. Employees start to bring not only their body to work, but their heart and soul. They start to care more, to do more and be more.

The Gallup survey studied the negative impact of autocratic leadership, and was able to demonstrate the correlation between employees who're engaged and business results. Go to my Gallup Survey article, now. When employees have a leader like Tony, they are engaged, inspired and committed and they share:

"This leader makes sure that my opinions count, I've received positive feedback and recognition in the past 7 days. My supervisor cares about me."

1. Use the 3:1 ratio. One constructive criticism for every three statements of specific praise. Recognition is powerful, powerful, and powerful. Do it more than you're doing now, and watch the difference on your team.
2. Clarify individual roles. Develop and share a performance dashboard for each position. This is the top 3-5 focus areas and goals for each job. This brings clarity, direction and empowers people with your expectation that they must perform. As taught in our Hiring and Interview class.

3. Before you share your input and feedback about an employee's performance, ALWAYS ask their view first. This tip is crucial because it:
1. Teaches people to self assess
2. Demonstrates that you care about what they think and how they feel
3. Provides insight for you on that person's level of self awareness
4. Helps the employee become more receptive to feedback
5. With the simple act of asking their view first, you improve the probability that your feedback will be heard and that the employee will take positive action.

So yes, you can be a 'sometimes autocratic leader and jerk' and still be an effective leader. The 'secret' is to focus on Cultivating a Positive Sense of Self in Others. Your future business career success, depends on it.

"You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership." ---Dwight D. Eisenhower

To read about the next crucial leadership skill that will help keep you out of autocratic leadership 'trouble'. Click here.

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Check out this powerful online team building and coaching program, My Inspiration4Life. To read my review of this program, read this article on workplace motivation.

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