LEADERSHIP POWER & INFLUENCE:Positional Power, Being an Effective Leader

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Leadership & Team Management MGMT 623

Lesson 19

LEADERSHIP POWER & INFLUENCE

Leaders use power as a means of influencing followers and attaining group goals. Getting things done

through others. Leaders achieve goals, and power is a means of facilitating their achievement. Power is

the capacity of a leader to influence work actions or decisions.

Sources of Leadership Power:

· There are two sources of the power used by leaders:

The power of the position

The leader's personal qualities

Position powers:

Person powers:

Reward

Expert

Coercive

Referent

Legitimate

Rational

Information

Charisma

Positional Power:

Coercive Power

The coercive power base is being dependent on fear.

It rests on the application, or the threat of application, of physical sanctions such as the infliction of

pain, the generation of frustration through restriction of movement, or the controlling by force of

basic physiological or safety needs.

At the organizational level, A has coercive power over B if A can dismiss, suspend, or demote B,

assuming that B values his or her job.

Similarly, if A can assign B work activities that B finds unpleasant or treat B in a manner that B

finds embarrassing, A possesses coercive power over B.

Reward Power

The opposite of coercive power is reward power.

People comply because doing so produces positive benefits; therefore, one who can distribute

rewards that others view as valuable will have power over those others.

These rewards can be anything that another person values.

Coercive power and reward power are actually counterparts of each other.

If you can remove something of positive value from another or inflict something of negative

value upon him/her, you have coercive power over that person.

If you can give someone something of positive value or remove something of negative value,

you have reward power over that person.

Legitimate Power

In formal groups and organizations, the most frequent access power is one's structural position. It

represents the power a person receives as a result of his/her position in the formal hierarchy.

Positions of authority include coercive and reward powers.

Legitimate power, however, is broader than the power to coerce and reward. It includes acceptance

of the authority of a position by members of an organization.

Leadership & Team Management MGMT 623

Person Power:

Expert Power

Expert power is "influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge."

Expertise has become a powerful source of influence as the world has become more technological.

As jobs become more specialized, we become increasingly dependent on experts to achieve goals.

Referent Power

Its base is identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits. If I admire and

identify with you, you can exercise power over me because I want to please you.

Referent power develops out of admiration of another and a desire to be like that person; it is a lot

like charisma.

Referent power explains why celebrities are paid millions of dollars to endorse products in

commercials.

Charismatic Power

Charismatic power is an intense form of referent power stemming from an individual's personality,

physical, or other abilities that induces others to believe in and follow that person.

When charismatic power exists, other forms of power lose their significance because followers give

the charismatic leader the right to hold the reins of power and make the decisions that define the

vision and goals of an organization and its members.

Many charismatic leaders can excite a whole organization and propel it to new heights.

Charismatic power can have a dark side; charismatic power can be abused.

Some argue that charismatic power is an advantage only when a formal hierarchy of authority

places some checks on the power of this person.

The Leadership Position

Leadership is needed in all areas of society and at all levels of responsibility

· Power and responsibility come with the office of leadership

· Titles of leadership include:

President

Chief

Captain

Manager

Director

Supervisor

Power is important to get things done and lead the way to get the job done.

Bases of Power: following are the bases of powers;

Legitimate power based on formal position of the leader

Reward Power leader's ability to deliver rewards a worker values

Coercive Power deliver punishment for wrong behavior

Expert Power belief in superior task knowledge of leader

Referent Power Personal attractiveness of the leader

Sources of Leader Power:

Furniture and office arrangements

Prominently displayed symbols

Appearances of title and authority

Choice of clothing

Presence or absence of crisis

Power Cues:

Commanding Large Personal Space

Leadership & Team Management MGMT 623

Maximizing Body Size

Touching

Breaking Eye Contact

No Excessive Smiling

Avoiding Submissive Language

Being an Effective Leader:

First Competency- an effective leader has people waiting to join the team

Second Competency - a leader of commitment and focus with meaning

Third Competency the management of trust

Fourth Competency management of self

Fifth Competency: Focus on providing appropriate delegation.

Sixth Competency: Monitoring or update meetings

Seventh Competency: Develop the skill of letting others "RUN WITH THE BALL"

Asserting Leader Influence:

Use Rational Persuasion

Make People Like you

Develop Allies

Ask for What You Want

Extend Formal Authority with Expertise and Credibility

Using Power and Politics for Leader's Future:

Use Persuasion over Coercion

Use Patience over Impatience

Be Open-Minded Rather Than Close-Minded

Use Compassion over Confrontation

Use Integrity over Dishonesty

Contrasting Leadership and Power:

Leadership

Power

1. Used as a means for achieving goals.

1. Focuses on goal achievement.

2. Requires follower dependency.

2. Requires goal compatibility

with

3. Used to gain lateral and upward

followers.

influence.

3. Focuses influence downward.

How do Leaders Acquire the Power Needed for Leadership?

Acquiring and using power and influence: There are three dimensions of managerial power and

influence.

Downward.

Upward.

Lateral.

Effective Leaders /Managers build and maintain position power and personal power to exercise

downward, upward, and lateral influence.

Leadership Authority:

Views on leadership authority:

Top-down

Bottom-up

Lateral

Leadership & Team Management MGMT 623

The top-down theory holds"

Leadership authority is based on position in a social hierarchy. Power flows from the highest level to

the lowest

In an organizational pyramid: Workers support managers, Managers support executives. The pyramid

serves as the basis of most classical organizational structures

The top-down concept is the traditional view of leadership.

The right of authority is derived from the right of private property.

Transfer of authority:

The Board appoints executives to manage the organization.

Executives give authority to managers and employees.

Bottom-Up View:

The

bottom-up

theory

holds

that

Power

flows

from

below

because

people can reject a directive by saying no. Saying yes or no affirms or

denies

the

authority

others.

This

theory

was

first

described

Chester Barnard of AT&T

According to Barnard, an order will be accepted if four conditions are met:

The person understands the order what a superior gave.

The order is consistent with the organization's goals.

The person believes that the order is compatible with his/her interests and he can do what the

superior says.

The person is mentally and physically able to comply with order.

Leaders must make sure that:

Directives fall within their subordinates' zones of acceptance.

If not, orders may be met with resistance and even hostility.

Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up

Both views have merit that by accepting employment, employees should acknowledge, the

authority of Leaders is to make decisions and give orders, the employee's duty is to comply and

obey the orders.

How do Leaders Acquire the Power Needed for Leadership?

Building personal power by:

Building expertise.

Leader can build expertise by getting advanced training and education,

participation

professional associations, and project involvement.

Learning political know-how.

Leader may learn the ways to negotiate, persuade, and understand goals and means that others

accept.

Enhancing likeability.

Through Pleasant personality characteristics, agreeable behavior patterns, and attractive

personal appearance, he may acquire the power.

Leadership & Team Management MGMT 623

Leaders increase the visibility of their job performance by:

a. Expanding contacts with senior people and making a strong network of strong/professional people

with in and out side the organization.

b. Making oral presentations of written work.

c. Participating in problem-solving task forces and involve in decision making.

d. Sending out notices of accomplishment to the top management.

e. Seeking opportunities to increase name recognition.

Servant Leadership:

Servant leadership is a calling to serve and is an approach to leadership development.It begins with

caring for and wanting to help others. All great leaders are servants first.

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