Autocratic Vs.

Democratic Leadership Styles

Leadership characteristics can be generalized as either autocratic or democratic. The
autocratic leader tends to lead by authority and uses coercive power. Oppositely, the
democratic leader will delegate authority and use expert and referent power to influence
employees. One difference between a mechanistic structure and an organic structure in
an organization is the chain of command. Similarly, a difference between an autocratic
and a democratic leader is how decisions are made. At the one end of the spectrum, the
autocratic side, the manager makes a decision and announces it. This is similar to the
mechanistic organizational structure where there is a strict hierarchy of authority and the
decision-making is centralized. At the other end of the spectrum, the democratic side,
the manager defines limits but lets the group make the decision. This is similar to the
organic organizational structure where the decision-making tends to be informal and
decentralized within a relaxed hierarchy.

After matching the autocratic style with a mechanistic structured organization and the
democratic style with an organic structured organization, it is clear that an autocratic or a
democratic leader may have difficulty functioning in the oppositely structured
organization. Beginning with the autocratic leader working in an organic organization,
one major challenge may be learning to work on a team. Organic organizations tend to
have many teams and task forces. An autocratic leader is most comfortable with just
making a decision and announcing it, however in a team structure they will most likely
have to ‘sell' their decision to the group in order to get any response or action. Learning
how to communicate and work along with employees could be the largest adjustment an
autocratic leader would have to make in an organically structured organization.