Authoritarians literally believe that the only way to run things is to put a bully in charge of them. Not only don't they believe in democracy or cooperation, they don't believe in free speech or markets either.
(Markets are acceptable to an authoritarian only insofar as the bully in charge and his buddies are permitted to lie to, cheat, and steal from other market participants. It is strictly forbidden for other market participants to voluntarily organize to exclude the bully. Any form of organization that does not have a bully in charge of it is illicit to the authoritarian mindset.)
Yeah the real “alpha” types are more afraid of steamrolling people than coming off as weak. They know there’s nothing wrong with submissive and vulnerable folks.