Don't be a jerk

I was once asked during a job interview to describe my leadership style.  I don't remember exactly what I said, but I do remember saying that I didn't exclusively use one specific style.  It was kind of a trick question, as there are a number of different types of leadership styles that are classified in a number of different ways by a number of different authors.  Personally, I like the classification scheme that the author and leadership expert Daniel Goleman proposed in his article, "Leadership That Gets Results" in the March/April 2000 issue of the Harvard Business Review.  Goleman talks about six different leadership styles:

1. Authoritarian
2. Paternalistic
3. Democratic
4. Laissez-Faire
5. Transactional
6. Transformational

As Goleman emphasizes in his article, which is consistent with the current research by a number of leadership experts, good leaders don't rely on just one style.  Rather, good leaders switch between the different leadership styles as a particular situation dictates.  What works well in one context may not necessarily be the best style to use in another. 

All of Goleman's leadership styles deserve further discussion, but I wanted to focus today on the so-called "authoritarian" leadership style (note that other authors have called this style the "autocratic" or "command and control" style).  I am particularly interested in this type of leadership style, as it is commonly associated with the type of leadership style frequently used in the military.  I will admit, I was just a physician in the Navy, but I can honestly say that I completely disagree with the suggestion that military leaders prefer to use the "authoritarian" leadership style.  Military leaders give orders, and orders are generally followed.  However, in my experience, military leaders also use a variety of leadership styles and don't just rely upon the authoritarian style.

I have also found that popular belief holds that the authoritarian leadership style is best in so-called "life and death" situations (this may be at the root of the misconception that the military most commonly utilizes the authoritarian leadership style).  Again though, in my experience, crisis leadership doesn't necessarily require authoritarian leaders!  I have been in a number of crisis situations during my career - for example, observing leaders or actually being the leader during the resuscitation of a child who has suffered a cardiac arrest or during a mass casualty event) - and in virtually all of these cases, I have rarely found that the authoritarian leadership style is used.  Moreover, in most of these cases, when the authoritarian leadership style is used, it's not been as successful.

I am not saying that the authoritarian leadership style should never be used.  There are probably situations that it should be used or teams that respond better to it than any of the other leadership styles.  But (and this is a big "but"), I can emphatically state that being authoritarian leader doesn't give you the right to be a jerk.

Authoritarian leaders are not jerks.  Plain and simple.  Leaders are not jerks.  The converse is also true - jerks are not leaders. 

So, if you want to use the authoritarian leadership style every once in a while - go for it.  However, using this leadership style doesn't give you the right to be a jerk.  Treat people with respect - just as you would want to be treated.  And don't be a jerk.