A511.3.3RB – Power and Influence
MSLD 511: Organizational Leadership
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Worldwide: Online Campus
November 1, 2015
Power and Influence
Power and influence are two of the more scary topics
for me personally. I had a strong suspicion, which Yukl (2013) confirmed, “that
too much position power may be as detrimental as too little.” We have seen many
instances throughout history when man has abused power and influence for
personal gain. It obviously is a fine line between finding enough power and
influence to lead and taking advantage of the power and influence one finds themselves
in. Of course just the opposite may be said of great leaders, which have been
abound in history as well. According to Yukl (2013), there are five power
sources.
Expert power is power based upon employees’ perception
that a manager or some other member of an organization has a high level of
knowledge or a specialized set of skills that other employees or members of the
organization do not possess (Grimsley, 2015).”
The nature of expert power is only a source of power “if
others are dependent on the agent for advice. The target person must recognize
this expertise and perceive the leader to be a reliable source of information
and advice. Perceived expertise is more important than real expertise (Yukl,
2013).” It is imperative that organizations seek expert power like in-house
legal counsel, or CPA’s for finances.
Referent power specifically comes from “when others
trust what we do and respect us for how we handle situations (Abudi, 2011).” This
power is “an important source of influence over subordinates, peers, and
superiors, but it has limitations (Yukl, 2013).”
The nature of referent power is “a person willing to
do special favors for a friend, and they are more likely to carry out requests
made by someone they greatly admire. To gain the agent’s approval and
acceptance, the target person is likely to comply with agent requests, imitate
the agent’s behavior and have similar attitudes (Yukl, 2013).” They say that
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, which is obviously written in
regards to a leader influencing and being imitated by follower (s).
Legitimate power “comes from having a position of
power in an organization, such as being the boss or a key member of a
leadership team (Abudi, 2011).” “Members
of an organization usually agree to comply with rules and directions from
leaders in return for the benefits of membership (Yukl, 2013).”
The nature of legitimate power is electing a leader “based
on tradition and the provisions of a legal charter or constitution. Any
deviation from the selection process considered legitimate by members will
weaken a new leader’s authority. People evaluate not only whether a request or
order falls within a leader’s scope of authority, but also whether it is
consistent with the basic values, principles, and traditions of the
organization or social system (Yukl, 2013).”
Reward power “is the perception by the target person
that an agent controls important resources and rewards desired by the target
person. More control over scarce resources is usually authorized for high level
executives than for lower-level managers (Yukl, 2013).”
The nature of reward power is “the target person’s
perception that the agent has the capacity and willingness to follow through on
promises. The target person’s perception of agent reward power is more
important than the agent’s actual control over rewards. Reward power can
influence people even when the agent makes no overt influence attempt. People
cooperate more with an agent who has substantial reward power in the hopes of
getting some rewards in the future (Yukl, 2013).” Reward power seems to be very
popular in the American business culture.
Coercive power is “conveyed through fear of losing one’s
job, being demoted, receiving a poor performance review, having prime projects
taken away, which is typically through threatening others (Abudi, 2015).”
The nature of coercive power is actually “prohibited
in many nations. Managers once had the right to dismiss employees for any
reason they thought was justified. But it may now swing either way, up and down
the corporate structure. Subordinates have the capacity to indirectly influence
the performance evaluation of their boss. Subordinates can damage the
reputation of the boss if they restrict production, sabotage operations,
initiate grievances, hold demonstrations, or make complaints to higher
management. Subordinates can also remove a leader from office (Yukl, 2013).”
There
is a theory that basically “argues that leaders develop differentiated dyadic
relationships with their subordinates, also known as the leader-member
exchange - LMX theory (Othman & Shi,
2010).
“The
recognition that a leader’s behavior can sometime be dysfunctional is in line
with the emerging interest in destructive leadership. These intolerable behaviors
include abusive leader behavior such as bullying. This research by Otthman
& Shi (2010), suggest that one form of destructive behavior exists when
leaders develop high quality leader-member exchange that are dysfunctional.
Such abusive behavior can include indifference, hostile actions and deviant behaviors
towards a work team member. This happens when the high quality leader-member
exchange developed by a leader with the in-group is based on a flawed
assessment of the in-group members’ contribution and performance. As a
consequence, out-group members perceive unfairness and may develop negative
reactions to this situation. LMX theory is distinct from other leadership
theories because of its focus on the dyadic relationship between a leader and
his followers.”
I did experience a work situation with this sort of dynamic a few times. There was a leader in position at a very high level of the organization that thought his staff performed better in an abusive environment. This particular leader perceived that his team would perform better by threatening job security - a lot. The outcome from this behavior was a financial nightmare within only a few months of my employment. It turns out that this leader pushed his team so hard and so fast that the company acquired too many assets in a short amount of time. The team did not take the correct steps to process the due diligence, so the company was short on cash flow and vendors were placing the company on credit hold. The leader had to follow through on his threat of not keeping staff, and let us all go. I think it is in my best interest to find the happy medium between power and influence to lead my teams.
References:
Abudi, Gina (2011). The 5 Types of Power. Intuit. Retrieved
from http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2011/08/26/the-5-types-of-power-in-leadership/
Grimsley, Shawn. (2015). Expert Power in Leadership:
Definition & Examples. Study.com. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/expert-power-in-leadership-definition-examples-quiz.html
Othman, R., Ee, F. F., & Shi, N. L. (2010).
Understanding dysfunctional leader-member exchange: antecedents and outcomes.
Leadership & Organization Development Journal , 31 (4), 337-350.
Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 13: 978-0132771863.
