How to Confront an Authoritarian Leader

Authoritarian leadership can be found anywhere; and it is often found in industries such as construction, manufacturing, nuclear power, and the military. The benefit of this leadership style is the ability to make urgent decisions and to ensure critical tasks are performed in very specific ways, often for safety purposes. The style, however, can attract or encourage people who want power, control, and authority over people and all decisions (policies, procedures, tasks, structures, changes, improvements, rewards and punishments), even when they are not urgent or critical. They can become overbearing, demanding obedience and compliance, using threat and punishment as a means for control.

The downside of such leadership is costly to organizations.

The fallout from blanket authoritarianism:

• Poor communication can result in unreported mistakes.
• Lack of information-sharing and transparency can result in errors and omissions.
• High stress levels among employees, especially if mistakes are not tolerated, often leads to high turnover and absenteeism.
• Lack of engagement means lost opportunities for innovation, improvement, and wellbeing in the workplace.
• Toxic culture and an unfair or even abusive environment generates blame and shame.
• Poor relationships result in lack of cooperation, especially between the leader and their employees and co-workers. The lack of trust and mutual respect often generates resentment, which can result in intentional sabotage or backlash.

How do you confront such a leader?

The reason everyone wants to confront such leaders is because unnecessary authoritarian behavior generates a fight, flight, freeze, or appease response. The reason most people avoid that confrontation is because such leaders have the power to punish anyone who threatens their authority. So how can you talk with leaders who are authoritarian even when it's not called for? Here are some communication strategies to try.

When the boss triggers you

Tune in. Instead of reacting, take a moment to consider how you want to respond...and when.

• Pause: Take a moment for self-awareness and self-management.
• Breathe: Take a couple slow deep breaths, which will activate your parasympathetic nervous system, reducing stress and helping you think and act calmly and intentionally.
• Get Curious: Ask yourself some important questions and be a good observer of other people’s behavior, especially your boss. For example:
  • Does this situation require one person to make an urgent decision?
  • What’s going on for me?
  • Is it critical right now to do this in only one specific way?
  • What might explain my boss’s behavior? What else? And what else?
  • When is my boss most open and available to listen or engage and when is he or she most oppressive?
  • What is the positive outcome that I want?

Then get ready to talk...

When you want to have a conversation with the boss, first tune in, then ask for the opportunity to talk when the boss is most open and available. Plan ahead, and use two simple conversation practices: generative questions and positive framing. A generative question broadens our view and understanding of a situation, thereby changing our thinking and possibilities. A positive frame is simply talking about what you want instead of what you don’t want. If the situation is problematic, flip it and talk about what you’d like to have happen. Here are some examples:

• Ask generative questions:
  • When might be a good time for us to talk, I’d like to share something with you.
  • Is now a good time we might talk for a few minutes about an idea I have?
  • Would it be valuable to you if we could shave three minutes off our production sequence? I have an idea.
  • I heard you want us to improve quality, may I share a suggestion?
  • If you’re feeling very courageous: Would it be valuable for you to know how to interact with us to get the best and most productive work out of all of us?
• Use a positive frame:
  • I know turnover is hard for all of us and especially you because you have to hire and break in new people every month. Would you be interested in how we might lower turnover and increase retention? [This is all about behavior change and building better relationships.]
  • I’m a little unclear about the bigger picture. I think we all might be better at our jobs if it was clear to all of us. Would you share your vision and goals for improving productivity and quality so we can better help you achieve them? [This is all about communication, clarity, and transparency and your ability to contribute.]
  • If you’re feeling very courageous: We’d like to help you become one of the best supervisors in the plant with the highest quality and safety record. Are you interested? [This is all about behavior change, of course.]

What if I supervise the authoritarian? 

If you don’t report to the authoritarian, but you supervise that person, then you have the flexibility to have a more direct conversation. It’s still a good idea to tune in first—pause, breathe, and get curious—so you can be aware and intentional. Then ask generative questions and use positive framing. Here are some examples:

• Ask generative questions:
  • When are you at your best with your employees? How do you motivate them and encourage high performance? What else might you do?
  • What are your strengths as a leader? What are your aspirations to be even better?
  • What opportunities do you see for improving your leadership? What results do you want from that improvement?
  • We appreciate your ability to make critical decisions effectively and to ensure key processes follow standards. Not everything in your area, however, requires you to be the sole decision-maker or the only one with power. How might you engage your employees to improve culture and productivity/performance? Where might you empower them to make decisions?

• Use a positive frame:
  • Your area has the highest turnover in the plant. How would you like to flip that into the highest retention rate? What do you think you can do to create an environment where people want to stay and work for you?
  • The company is recognizing that to be competitive in the industry, we need to be more collaborative and encourage greater employee engagement. This requires a very different kind of leadership style than you are used to. What do you think it means to be a collaborative leader? We’re going to offer several professional development courses [show them], which one would you like to attend first?
  • We’ve had several conversations about your leadership style and what is required to be in a leadership position in the company. Would you like to explore other non-leadership roles at the plant, or do you want to leave the company? How might I support you in finding a different position or an organization that would be a better fit for you?

If you're an organizations with foremen, supervisors, or managers who are strong in their authoritarian leadership skills, but uncomfortable when collaboration is called for, consider signing them up for our Conversation Bootcamps. We help all leaders recognize when and how to engage their employees in problem-solving, planning, and decision-making.

Fostering a conversation worth having with an authoritarian leader can be a challenge. It is often not welcome if there is the slightest hint that authority and power are being challenged. Keep the focus on workplace outcomes and stay inquiry-based to keep it from becoming personal. To deepen your understanding for how to have these conversations, visit our website at www.cwh.today. Attend a Conversation or Strategic Conversations Bootcamp (virtual or on-demand).

Shared by Cheri Torres, PhD. This article was inspired by questions several people have recently asked about engaging with authoritarian leaders. Someone asked during a recent conversation bootcamp how to deal with the authoritarian, non-team player on the team, another about a narcissistic supervisor. Just yesterday one of our certified trainers asked a similar question about a client dealing with her authoritarian adult children. You can’t always develop a caring, mutual relationship with such individuals, but you can always have practical conversations or walk away.

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