Types of Power in Leadership
Power is the ability to exercise influence or control over others. Leadership involves authority and it is very important for leaders to understand what type of power they're using. The 5 Types of Power in Leadership are Coercive power, expert power, legitimate power, referent power, and reward power. Authority is the right to command and extract obedience from others. It comes from the organization and it allows the leader to use power.
In the functioning of a leader, the ability to guide the action of others is achieved through his or her authority. Carrying out of these decisions is accomplished because of the power of the leader. You will see the relationship between the authority and power of a leader as we go further to understand various types of power.
1. Legitimate Power:
This power comes to the leader when the organization’s authority is accepted. It comes from the rules of the organization. For e.g. parents, teachers, managers, police, etc. have legitimate power only when their authority is accepted in the positions they hold.
2. Expert Power:
This is the power of knowledge and skill of special kinds that is important in getting the job done. A person’s professional competence or knowledge gives him or her expert power. The credibility increases and he or she can lead other persons to trust the judgments and decisions taken by the leader. A leader may not be an expert in all fields, but one can certainly take the help of experts in particular fields as and when required.
3. Charismatic Power:
This is the power of attraction or devotion, the desire of one person to admire another. A subordinate feels a positive attraction towards a leader by identifying oneself, with the leader, or gets influenced by the leader’s attractive power. This power helps the subordinate to understand and value the leader so much that one understands and acts according to the expectations of the boss or the leader. It helps one to act as one’s own boss, and behave in ways one thinks the boss will want.
4. Reward Power:
This power is the present or potential ability to reward for worthy behavior. The superior or the leader has the power to give tangible rewards such as promotion, office space, time off from work, attractive work assignments, and help to the subordinate. Also, psychological rewards like praise, appreciation, approval, and recognition can be given by the leader or the superior to the subordinate. The subordinate has to believe that the leader has access to higher authorities; therefore, the leader can give rewards. This reward power of the leader can also increase the leader’s charismatic and legitimate power.
5. Coercive Power:
This is the ability to threaten or punish. The leader can give tangible punishment like dismissal, demotion, low rating, less satisfying work assignments, etc. Psychological punishments include criticism, avoidance, disapproval or satirical remarks, etc. on the subordinate. The reward power helps to avoid something undesirable. The self-esteem of the subordinate will increase because of reward power. It also decreases because of punishment or coercive power. Even a subordinate may withdraw or break the rules or become hostile. One may not feel attracted to the charismatic power of the leader and at times may ignore the leader’s legitimate power. Having seen the reasons for differences between the authority and power of the leader, you should know the type of leaders as understood on the basis of their authority and power.
Besides the power aspect one should also account for the following:
Formal Leader:
A formal leader is selected by the organization. For example, a manager is a formal leader by virtue of the authority coming from the organization. He or she influences others to help accomplish the goals of the organization or unit. Such leadership lasts over a long period of time.
Informal Leader:
An informal leader is chosen by the group. Thus, all managers are leaders if their authority is accepted, but not all leaders are managers. Informal leadership is leadership without position and may shift from one person to another. It may last for a brief time. Most people are leaders at one time or the other and they can have an influence on others as defined by the concept of leadership itself.
The ideal leader is the one who can combine formal and informal leadership simultaneously within himself or herself.
Related Links
You May Also Like
-
Theory Z also called the "Japanese Management" style is a leadership theory of human motivation focused on organizational behavior, communication, and development. It assumes that employees want to enter into long term partnerships with their employers and peers. Offering stable jobs with an associated focus on the well-being of employees results in increased employee loyalty to the company.
-
Frederick Winslow Taylor started the “Scientific Management Movement”, and attempted to study the work process scientifically. Scientific management, also called Taylorism, was a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows. It is a system for increasing the efficiency of manpower to its maximum potential and streamlining production to improve efficiency. This article explores this theory in more detail.
-
There are four characteristics of leadership that help us to understand the character of leadership as a concept. 1. Leadership is a process, 2. Leadership involves influence, 3. Leadership always occurs in a group context and 4. Leadership involves goal attainment. These are the four components that make up the character of the 'leadership' term and help us to define the leadership concept. All of these components of leadership have common characteristics.
-
Behavioral Approach to Management
The behavioral management theory had a profound influence on management by focusing on understanding the human dimensions of work. It is also called human relations movement as behavioral theorists focused on managing productivity by understanding factors of worker motivation like their needs and expectations, personality, attitudes, values, group behavior, conflict, and group dynamics. It advocated the use of psychological techniques to motivate employees.
-
Max Weber gave the theory of Bureaucratic Management in 1915. Bureaucracy is a specific form of organization defined by complexity, division of labor, professional management, and hierarchical management control. Weber's theory has two essential elements - organizational hierarchy and rules-based management. Weber made a distinction between authority and power and advocated that authority must be given to the most competent and qualified people.
-
All the teams are dynamic in nature and they take time to come together, they form, develop, and grow in stages, over a period of time. Teams go through five progressive stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. In this article, we want to introduce you to these stages of team development and certain strategies that you can use to help the team grow and develop in each of these stages.
-
Many different types of teams have been identified by social scientists. Managers may encounter the diverse types of challenges while managing different kinds of teams. Challenges associated with Cross-Functional Teams might be different from that of a Geographically Dispersed Team or a Virtual Team. This article explores some common categories and subtypes of teams.
-
Have you ever resonated that there seem to be as many different ways to lead people as there have been great leaders? When we recall the success of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon Bonaparte to Steve Jobs and Jack Welch, we also notice that they all used different approaches that were suitable to their specific situations and circumstances. Over the last century, researchers and psychologists have developed simple ways to describe the “Styles of leadership” and in this section, we will explore these commonly known leadership styles.
-
At different points in your professional career, it is helpful to identify your core values. Values are the qualities considered to be the most important guiding principles that determine the priorities in your life and greatly influence your career choices. Your career brings happiness when it is in agreement with the beliefs you have about what is important and meaningful to you. Awareness of your values will help you develop a clearer sense of what's most important to you in life.
-
The ten most important qualities that define a good leader are self-awareness, interpersonal and communication skills, ethical values, organizational consciousness, self-confidence, adaptability and flexibility, imagination and creativity, focus & result-orientation, continuous self-development and accountability and ownership for his actions. These ten qualities of leadership every good leader should possess to a certain extent and must continually strive to develop them.
