Power and Influence
Truly learning what leadership is, how and why it works or does not, and when and under what conditions specific styles are best utilized requires that leadership be broken down to its components and sub components. For me, breaking it down in this way makes leadership seem mechanical and clumsy. We use terms like power, influence, and tactics to describe the principles, tenants, and techniques of leadership. In my opinion some of these terms have less than positive undertones. My view of leadership is not mechanical, clumsy, or negative at all. In fact, I see it just the opposite.Leadership is about relationships, commitment, and cooperation. Leadership is confident yet graceful; it is strong yet flexible. Leadership is learning, teaching, and developing. It is invisible, but present. Leadership is honesty and integrity. Leadership is trust and respect. Leadership is moral, ethical, and legal. Leadership is all of these things and more, but anything less is a deal breaker. Okay, enough of that.
The ability of a leader to influence subordinates, peers, and superiors to accomplish unit tasks and achieve unit goals is how that leader's effectiveness is measured. Power is the absolute capacity of the leader to influence behavior or attitudes of one or more subordinates, peers or superiors (Yukl, 2013). Therefor, power is the vehicle by which the leader applies influence.
There are many types of power and they each fall into one of two categories: position or personal. Position power is generally associated with the leader's position and duties in the organization. Personal power is a great deal more fragile. It is given to the leader by followers as a result of their assessment of the leaders performance. Yukl selected seven types of power as the most useful to include in our textbook. They are legitimate, reward, coercive, information, and ecological under the position category and referent and expert in the personal category.
Power and authority are not the same. Authority is the legal means a manager has to accomplish the duties and obligations of the position. When a leader properly exercises authority over an individual or group, they are usually obligated to comply. Power again is the capacity to influence in a given situation.
Leaders use their influence to get people to do what needs to be done. Leaders with the ability to influence superiors and peers as well as subordinates are likely to be more effective (Yukl, 2013). There are influence processes, tactics, and outcomes. Influence processes involve the individual or group being influenced. The leader matches his influence to those being influenced. The result is either instrumental compliance where compliance is based on getting something in return or internalization where compliance is based on the individuals or groups own beliefs or personal identification where compliance is is based on wanting to please the leader.
The leader can employ different tactics by adjusting behavior based on the desired outcome. Impression management tactics are used to get people to like the leader. Political tactics are meant to influence decisions or gain benefit for a certain group. Negatives have been associated with this tactic to include deception, abuse of power, and ethical issues. Proactive tactics are looking for immediate action. New tasks and procedural changes fall into this category. There are other tactics that fall under the proactive tactic
When a leader has attempted to influence, one of three outcomes is the result. Commitment is what the leader hopes for. Great effort to comply completely is the individual or group desire. With compliance the individual or group complies but could care less. Minimal effort is used to comply. Resistance occurs when individuals and groups do not agree or comply. They may go as far as sabotage to prevent it.
When you put all these parts back together, they are all connected somehow. They are not dependent on each other, but can be affected by each other. Using a mixture of the different types of power can be very effective. Using personal power is generally more effective than just position power. Unfortunately, there is no case by case prescription for success and every situation is different. Time, experience, and most importantly knowing the people help the leader to decide how to approach each opportunity. Doing the right things for the right reason also helps gain the trust and respect of the people. I guess I'm trying to say there is no rule book. Minor mistakes will not usually cost too much status. However, selfish acts, bad judgement, or attempts not in the best interest of the unit or group that results in failure could be very costly.
Power and influence are really just tools the leader uses to accomplish the job. The ability to choose the correct tool for the job, use the tool properly, and ensure the tool is ready and in good condition for the next time it is needed will make the leader more effective. Having special tools (personal power) available also increases effectiveness. On the other hand, selecting the wrong tool or using it improperly can cause damage and often results in hurting yourself. Not only will you not get the job done, you may lose the ability to use the tool again. Looking at the individual pieces is tedious, but is necessary to learning and understanding.
I left the workforce two years ago next month. About a year ago, I decided to move back home to be closer to my siblings. I currently live with my sister and niece. I have been away for about 35 years. So my sister and I had some serious catching up to do. My niece barely knew me at all. It has been an interesting adjustment period to say the least. I would not change a thing. When I moved in, I was a stranger. Other than the smallest amount of referent power possible, I had no power here. I was, however, able to influence a couple of small projects that really needed to be done. The completion of each project without destroying anything else earned me a little expert power. Also, the longer I was here, the more my referent power grew. After a short time I was fully employed, but I was getting things long over due completed.
We had a system of strong storms that damaged the roof on the house. The insurance company totaled it and wrote my sister a check. She was all for hiring a contractor to replace it, but her insurance check was not going to cover it all. So I asked her to let me do it. She was unsure and still wanted to get a roofing company to do it. I summarized all the projects completed to date. I asked her if she was disappointed in any of the projects. She answered no. Have I let you down with anything I worked on? No. She let me do the work.
I am not sure how much came from expert and how much came from referent power. I would like to think that at least some came from expert. The roof went on without incident and there was money left to install guttering. That is really the only time I have actively tried to influence her and, thankfully, it worked out well. Since then, I have built a detached garage on the property, installed a lawn, fixed plumbing issues, corrected air conditioning problems and the list grows. I may have earned idiosyncrasy credit as she has not questioned another project.
I do not see my role here at home as a leader; it is more along the lines of a team mate. We discuss issues and we all provide input, and the decision gets made. It has worked fairly well so far.
Reference:
Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
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