Leadership: Bases of Power Essay

Who would want to encounter for a weak theater director? Managers need occasion to do their jobs, beca go for their jobs use up them to deflect others. Consequently, carriages who feel provideless to sour others experience a abominable amount of frustration and stress. Their staff genus Phalluss tend to feel frustrated all overly. top executive means many different things to different bulk. For some, power is seen as corrupt. For others, the to a greater extent(prenominal) power they rescue, the more successful they feel. For even others, power is of no concern at all.Positions of allowance confer power to the throng who hold managerial im someoneates. However, managers who rely solely on their stiff consent to model others go taboo find that it doesnt inspire their staff, and brush off even demoralize them. Hence, it avails to excessively derive power from other sources. Charisma and having own(prenominal) appeal be sources of power too. major power ro tter also be developed by becoming and quick or by performing critical component for the firm. Bases of Social PowerBases of power refer to the methods that managers and leaders utilize to influence their employees. When examining root words of power, the concept of liberty must also be considered. These two argon interconnected attributes tied to the behavior of superiors over subordinates. In their article, Are thither No Limits To Authority?, David Knights and Darren McCabe explain that power should be understood to be a condition of social relations. Thus, it is erroneous to ask who has power. Instead, it is necessary to look how power is exercised.In turn, the nature of how power is exercised is a landable rendering for authority. In short, authority and power ar intertwined, with power being the dandy power to do things or deport others do what one has ordered sequence authority is the foundation on which that power is built. The bases of social power be very dive rse, and no constitute is ever complete. Nonetheless, the comm scarce identified bases of power fit pretty well into two categories position-related factors and personal factors.Position-related factors. Position power comes from the legitimacy inherent in many positions, the efficacy to provide supports, the power to coerce, access to rich information and performing a critical function. These position-related factors are legalize power allows leaders to motivate others plain because they hold the leading position. Some judgment of convictions we comply with the wishes of a leader however because of the societal expectations for us to do so. For instance, if Colin Powell shows up at your clubs luncheon and wants to regularize a few words, you let him. Why do you give him that perk? Stupid question.Hes the Secretary of State You just do that sort of thing for someone in his position. Thats legitimate power. That winning of legitimacy isnt al substances very strong for man agers who are promoted to a position in which they must supervise their former peers. If the former peers have any difficulty adjusting to their managers new positions, legitimacy result be conformation of weak. Legitimate power comes from having a position of power in an organization, much(prenominal) as being the boss or a key member of a leadership team. This power comes when employees in the organization recognize the authority of the individual. For example, the CEO who determines the overall direction of the company and the resource needs of the company.Legitimate power rests in the belief among employees that their manager has the right to give orders base on his or her position. For example, at the scene of a crime, great deal normally comply with the orders of a uniformed police officer ground simply on their shared belief that he or she has the predetermined authority to give such orders. In a corporate setting, employees comply with the orders of a manager who relie s on legitimate power based on the position in the organizational hierarchy that the manager holds. Yet, although employees whitethorn comply based on legitimate power, they whitethorn non feel a hotshot of commitment or cooperation. recognise power is the great power to provide incentives to others if they will cooperate with you. Managers who can affect their direct reports income, perks, job assignments, etc. are able to offer rewards in exchange for compliance. Having a high period of reward power really helps a manager influence others. Reward power is conveyed through with(predicate) rewarding individuals for compliance with ones wishes. This may be usurpe through given motivatores, raises, a promotion, extra time off from work, etc. For example, the supervisor who provides employees comp time when they meet an objective she sets for a project. Reward power, as the name implies, rests on the ability of a manager to give some sort of reward to employees. These rewards can range from monetary compensation to im conjure upd work schedules.Reward power often does not need monetary or other tangible compensation to work when managers can convey various intangible benefits as rewards. Huey describes Sam Walton, discover of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., as an active user of reward power. Walton relies heavily on these intangible awards, indicating that nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, grave words of praise. They are absolutely free-and worth a fortune. When reward power is used in a flexible manner, it can prove to be a strong motivator, as Crosby, Deming, and others have shown. Still, when organizations rely too rigidly on rewards, the system can backfire. Employees may be tempted to unethically or even illegally meet the quotas to which overly rigid reward systems may be tied. Another problem associated with rewards as a base for power is the possibility that the rewards will divert employees economic aid from their j obs and focus their attention instead on the rewards dangled before them. commanding power is the ability to visit or intimidate. Its often said that unions eliminate oversights ability to sanction uncooperative employees. That may be a issue of an exaggeration, but when collective bar mastering agreements state that management can totally terminate employees with cause, management does have restricted ability to coerce cooperation. Managers should use coercion with great care anyway. Coercion only motivates minimal cooperation and breeds resentment. Coercive power is conveyed through fear of losing ones job, being demoted, receiving a poor performance review, having prime projects taken away, etc. This power is gotten through threatening others. For example, the VP of Sales who threatens sales folks to meet their goals or shoot for replaced. Coercive power rests in the ability of a manager to depict an employee to comply with an order through the threat of punishment.Coercive power typically leads to short-term compliance, but in the long-run produces dysfunctional behavior. Coercion reduces employees gaiety with their jobs, leading to lack of commitment and general employee withdrawal. In the United States, Canada, and western sandwich Europe, autocratic power has seen a exacerbate in the last 50 years. Several reasons contribute to this, ranging from the legal erosion of employment-at-will and the awareness of employee violence or other forms of retaliatory behavior. Equally important as an effect on the receding popularity of coercion as a basis of power has been the influence of quality management theorists, such as Philip Crosby and W. Edwards Deming.They suggested that there is a decline in productivity and creativity when coercive power is employed. The use of coercive power results in an atmosphere of insecurity or fear. In spitefulness of this insight, coercion as a base of power continues to manoeuvre a role even in those organizations inf luenced by theories of quality management. In time of economic crisis or threats to the survival of the organization at large, coercion may come to the forefront. Coercive power may also materialize as organizations attempt to streamline their operations for maximum efficiency. If employees must be fired, those who cheat on to conform to the organizational goals for survival will be the most possible candidates for termination.The threat of termination for failure to comply, in turn, is coercive power. Access to valuable information produces power because valuable information is a resource that can be transfer. Back in the days when managers had secretaries do all their typewrite and schedule their meetings, some secretaries had access to a lot of important information. Consequently, pot who were nice to secretaries were able to get information and access to key personnel that jerks couldnt get. Even without having formal authority, the secretaries did have power, and shrewd business people treated secretaries with respect. Performing a critical function confers power, but only to the extent that the individual or group performing the function is irreplaceable. wiz of my favorite examples of criticality and irreplaceability as they pertain to power comes from NBCs television set show, westmost Wing. At the end of the first season, the producers were expecting to have to renegotiate a lot of the actors contracts. The producers wanted to bring the whole cast back because audiences dont react well to new actors playing established roles or to roles that are clumsily dropped from the story. Thus, each actor was critical and irreplaceable. Of course, producers dont have to replace an actor whose consultation died. So, the writers arranged to have the West Wing season finale end with a gunshot that could have killed any of the critical actors.It wasnt until the second season that we found out who got hit. By making the actors less critical, the producers re duced the actors negotiating power. Personal factors. A publication of personal qualities can also contribute to a persons power in an organization. Some of these are Expertise that can be used in exchange for favors is a form of power. For instance, if youre an expert with PowerPoint you can help colleagues put together their presentations, and you can get favors from them in return. Expert power comes from ones experiences, achievements or knowledge. As we gain experience in particular sectors, and become thought leaders in those areas, we begin to piece expert power that can be utilized to get others to help us meet our goals.For example, the Project Manager who is an expert at solve curiously challenging problems to ensure a project stays on track. Expert power rests on the belief of employees that an individual has a particularly high level of knowledge or highly specialized skill set. Managers may be accorded authority based on the perception of their great knowledge of the tasks at hand than their employees. Interestingly, in expert power, the superior may not rank higher than the other persons in a formal sense. Thus, when an equipment repair person comes to the CEOs office to fix a malfunctioning piece of machinery, no question exists that the CEO outranks the repair person yet regarding the specific task of getting the machine operational, the CEO is potential to follow the orders of the repair person.Expert power has within it a integral point of weakness as a point of power, expertness diminishes as knowledge is shared. If a manager shares knowledge or skill financial statement with his or her employees, in time they will acquire a a equivalent knowledge base or skill set. As the employees grow to equalise the managers knowledge or skills, their respect for the superiority of his expertise diminishes. The result is either that the managers authority diminishes or that the manager intentionally chooses not to share his or her knowledge ba se or skill set with the employees.The former choice weakens the managers authority over time, while the latter weakens the organizations effectiveness over time. Likeability, or any figure of personal attractiveness, also gives you power. If people like to be around you because youre witty, friendly, famous or good looking, youre also likely to be pretty persuasive. We all want to do favors for people we like, up to a limit anyway.Charisma has multiple meanings. A person with charisma has a special interpersonal appeal. Charisma can be viewed as a particularly strong form of likeability or attractiveness. Thats the kind of charisma that Princess Diana had. Charismatic leaders, on the other hand, notify a vision thats very appealing and they energize others to act on it with them. If you want to be a charismatic leader, (a) you have to have an manque vision for the group youre leading, (b) you have to be excited almost it, (c) you have to be confident in the groups ability to a chieve that vision, and (d) you have to be able to communicate your vision, excitement, and confidence.Thats the kind of charisma that Winston Churchill had. Persuasive ability, which is clearly associated with the ability to influence others, is another personal source of power. Intellectual problem firmness abilities (e.g., rational problem solving ability, creative problem solving ability, inductive reasoning ability) help people influence others. So do interpersonal persuasion skills. On the list of influence tactics, reason is generally considered the best way to influence others. Its ranked above reciprocity, which draws on reward power (e.g., a bonus in exchange for exceptional performance), and retribution which uses threats and intimidation. To the extent that reason is a great way to influence others, possessing the ability to reason with others is a great power base.Credibility is an important personal base of power. We are more likely to be persuaded by and follow someo ne with high credibility than we are someone with low or no credibility. Credibility comes from integrity, character, competence, and the ability to lead. Integrity means being open and sharing information that people need and have a right to know. Hidden agendas undermine integrity. So does the unwillingness to provide truthful, well-intentioned, constructive criticism. Honesty also has to be indurate with discretion. Managers need to show discretion and not say ban things close people as gossip or with the intent to hurt, even if those negative things are true.Remember the lesson from the movie, Jerry Maguire, brutal truth can be a bad thing. Character is the strength to do what needs to be through with(p) in difficult times. A basketball team has character if it tends to play well at the end of close games. A businessperson demonstrates character by acting in a moral and ethical way despite pressures or self-interests that push them to do otherwise. Competence is ones knowle dge and skills that pertain to a given situation. When someone tries to reason with you and gain your support for a certain course of action, their competence in that area affects their persuasiveness. If they dont know what theyre talking active, youre not going to be influenced.Competence contributes to credibility, and credibility allows one person to influence another. Finally, the ability to lead contributes to managers credibility. Would you enthusiastically follow a leader who is unavailing to inspire others, manage conflict, delegate tasks or coordinate activities? No affaire how much you respect a leader for her task-related knowledge, integrity and character, youll have reservations about working hard for her if she doesnt demonstrate the ability to lead.In succinct Managers must have power, and they would do well to develop more than just the ability to reward and punish others. Having resources and information that can be exchanged for cooperation is also helpful. Ha ving personal qualities that inspire confidence and a willingness to follow might be even more useful. Nevertheless, all are sources of power.ReferencesVictor, D. (n.d.). Leadership Styles and Bases of Power. Retrieved February 25,2013, from http//www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Int-Loc/Leadership-Styles-and-Bases-of-Power.htmlixzz2Lt2Q7QbI Abudi, G. (2011). The 5 Types of Power in Leadership. Retrieved February,from http//quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2011/08/26/the-5-types-of-power-in-leadership/Wiliams, S. (2004). Building Your Power Bases. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from http//www.wright.edu/scott.williams/LeaderLetter/power.htm