THE BENEVOLENT DICTATOR

Debut author Hamrick describes what he sees as the ideal leader of an organization.

The author unusually attempts to rehabilitate the term “dictator,” which is commonly associated with self-serving despotism. Specifically, the author advocates a more positive interpretation of the phrase “benevolent dictator” as a person who serves his followers and organization selflessly but does so without forgetting his leadership role, and the hard choices and responsibility that comes with it. Hamrick illustrates this tougher vision of servant-leadership with his “Benevolent Dictator Pyramid”: The benevolent dictator is at the bottom of the organizational structure, a firm’s foundation, while those he leads are perched at the top, where they enjoy the closest relationship to customers. The benevolent dictator creates a culture of accountability and empowerment that inspires subordinates to take the initiative for the good of the organization, and even occasionally engage in “intelligent disobedience” to adapt to sudden changes: “quick decisions made by courageous followers will be in line with the organization’s thinking.” In clear, accessible language that’s free of gratuitous technicality, the author explores the principal preoccupations of this leader, as he defines it, and much of the counsel surrounding these is sound. However, the preoccupations themselves will be very familiar to anyone acquainted with leadership literature, as they include such common notions as innovation, adaptability, accountability, effective communication, and vision. The use of the term “dictator” seems largely a gimmick, as Hamrick employs it so expansively that it includes Jesus Christ and readers’ own parents. Also, given the emphasis on the empowerment of employees, it’s not clear why the book asserts that leaders should present themselves as “omnipotent”; again, it seems like a hyperbolic use of a term to dress a familiar teaching in catchier clothes: that a leader should inspire confidence. Despite such rhetoric, much of the author’s advice is shopworn and conveyed in clichés: “Leaders should not shy away from conflict. They must acknowledge any problem head-on, as it will not go away.”

A formulaic study of common-sense commercial leadership.