This week let’s look at one of the leadership styles which is often very effective, but also comes with a dark side: Autocratic Leadership.
This leader has positional power, which means that they have power because of the position they fill. “Do it because I said so” is a common modus operandi of many “old-school” pastors. They tend to be inflexible, intimidating, unwilling to listen to others’ views, and impatient, and consider questioning directives to be disloyal. Autocratic leadership, also referred to as traditional or command-and-control leadership, manifests itself by requiring their own approval of projects and activities of subordinates, centralized management, and giving strict directives to team members without seeking their input.
It is often understood that power is the currency of modern leadership and that it simply means influence by one person over others; however, according to Weidner & Purohit, contained within its dark side are the addictive properties that can overtake good leaders. Staff members, lay leaders and the congregation may desire a more democratic way of doing things, but unfortunately, autocratic leaders justify their authority based on their appointment from God, Himself. When people disagree, it is unlikely that they will influence the command-and-control leader to change their ways. Rather, they will probably leave the church, as will talented staff members.
According to C. S. Lewis, “Power is what pride really enjoys: there is nothing that makes a man feel so superior to others as being able to move them about like toy soldiers. It is a spiritual cancer.” This is why the Christian leader is directed in scripture to not be dictatorial, or to lord it over others, because power is not intended to be merely a right, but also a responsibility, and the misuse will result in negative consequences. However, with all the dark side identified, it must be stated that autocratic leaders are also quite productive. They have the ability to get things done, and churches will benefit from their drive and the demand that others do as they instruct. They may be dictators in the eyes of some, but they are effective and have the ability to draw followers to them. The critical turning point though is for them to gain humble intelligence, which will make a huge difference in the way that they function.
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Impact
When the humility factor is added to the leadership style of Autocratic-Command-and-Control, the humble pastor outcome is that the leader becomes a strong, effective leader balanced by gentleness and compassion and open to the ideas and opinions of others. They still have some commanding qualities, but people will be willing to fall in line behind this leader as the pastor validates them.
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For more on this style of leadership, check out this week’s video at https://youtu.be/dqhGXlIYhmA
We’ll continue to take a close look at the many styles of pastors in the weeks to come.
Please stay tuned.
Lead well. Lead humbly.