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THE MEANING OF
POWER
Power is the capacity of a person, team, or
organization to influence others.
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Meaning of Power
• Power is not the act of changing someone’s attitude or behavior; it is the
potential to do so.
• People frequently have power they do not use; they might not even know they
have power.
• Power is based on the target’s perception that the power holder controls, a
valuable resource that can help them achieve goals.
• People might generate power by convincing others they control something of
value, whether or not they actually control that resource.
• Power involves asymmetric dependence of one party to another party.
• Dependence is the key element of power relationships, however, there is an
asymmetrical dependence, the less powerful party still has some degree of power
called countervailing power over the powerholder.
• Power relationships depend on some minimum level of trust.
• Trust indicates a level of expectation that the more powerful party will deliver the
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Sources of Power
• Three sources of power – legitimate, reward, and
coercive – originate mostly from the power holder’s
formal position or informal role.
• In other words, the person is granted these sources of
power formally by the organization or informally by
coworkers.
• Two sources of power – expert and referent – originate
mainly from the power holder’s own characteristics; in
other words, people carry these power bases around
with them.
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Legitimate, Reward, and Coercive Power
• Legitimate Power is the agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request a set of behaviors
from others.
• This perceived right or obligation originates from formal job descriptions as well as informal rules of conduct.
• Legitimate power has restrictions; it only gives the power holder the right to ask for a range of behaviors from others. This range of behavior is
known as zone of indifference – the set of behaviors individuals are willing to engage in at the other person’s request.
• Employees can also have legitimate power over their bosses and coworkers through legal and administrative right as well as informal norms –
norm of reciprocity – a feeling of obligation to help someone who has helped you.
• Reward Power is derived from the person’s ability to control the allocation of rewards other value and to remove negative
sanctions.
• Managers have the formal authority that gives them power over the distribution of organizational rewards such as pay, promotions, time off,
vacation schedules, employees also have reward power over their supervisors thru 360-degree feedback which affects supervisor’s
promotions and other rewards.
• Coercive Power is the ability to apply punishment.
• Employee’s dismissal, and other punishments. Employees also have coercive power, such as being sarcastic towards coworkers or threatening
to ostracize them if they fail to meet team norms.
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Expert, and Referent Power
• Expert Power originates mainly from within the powerholder. It is an individual’s or work unit’s capacity to influence others
by possessing knowledge or skills other value.
• Referent Power is the capacity to influence others on the basis of an identification with and respect for the power holder.
• Also associated with Charisma – a personal characteristic or special “gift” that serves as a form or interpersonal attraction and referent
power over others.
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Contingencies of Power
• Sources of power generate power only under certain conditions.
• Four important contingencies of power are substitutability, centrality, visibility, and discretion.
• Substitutability refers to the availability of alternatives. Power decreases as the number of alternative sources of critical
resource increases.
• Centrality refers to the power holder’s importance based on the degree and nature of interdependence with others. Your
power increases with the number of people dependent on you as well as how quickly and strongly they are affected by that
dependence.
• Visibility
• Power increases with visibility, take jobs that people oriented jobs and jobs that require frequent interaction with senior executives.
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The Power of Social Networks
• “It’s not what you know, but who you know that counts!”
• Social Networks – social structures of individual or social units that are
connected to each other through one or more forms of
interdependence.
• Some networks are held together due to common interests, others
form around common status, expertise, kinship, or physical proximity.
• Social networks exist everywhere because people have a drive to
bond.
• Social networks generate power through social capital – the goodwill
and resulting resources shared among members in a social network.
• Social networks produce trust, support, sympathy, forgiveness, and
similar forms of goodwill among network members.
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Influencing Others
• Influence refers to any behavior that attempts to
alter someone’s attitudes or behavior.
• Influence is power in motion.
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Influence Tactics
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• “Hard” Influence Tactics
• Silent Authority
• Assertiveness
• Information Control
• Coalition Formation
• Upward Appeal
• “Soft” Influence Tactics
• Persuasion
• Ingratiation and Impression
Management
• Exchange
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“Hard” Influence Tactics
• Silent Authority – most common form of influence, the silent application of authority occurs where someone complies with
a request because of the requester’s legitimate power as well as the target person’s role expectations.
• Assertiveness – influencing others through explicit reminders of one’s obligations and sometimes explicit threats of
punishment.
• Information Control – the power holder selectively distributes information and causes others to change their attitudes and
behavior.
• Coalition Formation – when people lack sufficient power alone to influence others in the organization, they might form a
coalition – a group that attempts to influence people outside the group by pooling the resources and power of its members.
• Upward Appeal – involves calling upon higher authority or expertise, or symbolically relying on these sources to support the
influencer’s position.
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“Soft” Influence Tactics
• Persuasion is one of the most effective influence strategies for career success. It is the ability to present facts, logical
arguments, and emotional appeals to change another person’s attitudes and behavior.
• The effectiveness of persuasion as an influence tactic depends on characteristics of the persuader, message content, communication
medium, and the audience being persuaded.
• Inoculation effect – a persuasive communication strategy of warning listeners that other will try to influence them in the future and
that they should be wary about the opponent’s arguments.
• Ingratiation and Impression Management
• Ingratiation – any attempt to increase liking by, or perceived similarity to, some targeted person.
• Impression Management – the practice of actively shaping our public image.
• Exchange activities promise of benefits or resources in exchange for the target person’s compliance with your request.
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WHAT IS
LEADERSHIP?
Leadership is about influencing, motivating, and
enabling others to contribute toward the
effectiveness and success of organization of
which they are members.
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Definition of Leadership
• Leaders motivate others thru persuasion and other influence tactics. They use communication skills, rewards, and other
resources to energize the collective to achieve challenging objectives.
• Leaders are enablers. They arrange the work environment – such as allocating resources and altering communication
patterns – so employees can achieve organizational objectives more easily.
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Shared Leadership
• Shared leadership is in which employees throughout the organization informally
assume leadership responsibilities in various ways and at various times.
• Shared leadership is based on the idea that leadership is plural, not singular. It
doesn’t operate out of one formally assigned position, role, or individual. Instead,
employees lead each other as the occasion arises.
• Employees across all levels of the organization need to seek out opportunities and
solutions to problems rather than rely on formal leaders to serve these roles.
• Shared leadership flourishes in organizations where the formal leaders are willing to
delegate power and encourage employees to take initiative and risks without fear of
failure.
• Shared leadership also calls for a collaborative rather than internally competitive
culture because employees take on shared leadership roles when coworkers
support them for their initiative.
• Shared leadership lacks formal authority, so it operates best when employees learn
to influence others through their enthusiasm, logical analysis, and involvement of
coworkers in their idea or vision.
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Competency Perspective of Leadership
• Leadership experts say that effective leaders possess specific personal characteristics.
• They have identified competencies – knowledge, skills, aptitudes, and other personal characteristics that lead to superior
performance.
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Competencies of Effective Leaders
Leadership Competency Description
Personality High levels of extroversion, and conscientiousness
Self-Concept Self-beliefs and positive self-evaluation about his or her own leadership skills
Drive Inner motivation to achieve goals
Integrity Truthfulness and tendency to translate words into deeds
Leadership Motivation Need for socialized power to accomplish team and organizational goals
Knowledge of the Business Tacit and explicit knowledge about the company’s environment, enabling the
leader to make intuitive decisions
Cognitive and Practical
Intelligence
Above-average cognitive ability to process information and ability to solve real-
world problems
Emotional Intelligence Ability to monitor his or her own emotions and other’s emotions to guide his or
her own actions
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Authentic Leadership
• Authentic leadership refers to how well leaders are aware
of, feel comfortable with, and act consistently with their
self-concept.
• Authenticity is knowing yourself and being yourself.
• Authentic leadership is more than self-awareness; it also
involves behaving in ways that are consistent with that self-
concept rather than pretending to be someone else.
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Behavioral Perspective of Leadership
• Experts investigated on what behaviors make effective leaders.
• These studies distilled two clusters of leadership behaviors – task-oriented leadership and the people-oriented leadership.
• Task-oriented leadership includes behaviors that define and structure roles. Task-oriented leaders assign employees to
specific tasks, set goals and deadlines, clarify work duties and procedures, define work procedures, and plan work activities.
• People-oriented leadership includes listening to employee for their opinions and ideas, creating a pleasant physical work
environment, showing interest in staff, complimenting and recognizing employees for their effort, and showing
consideration of employee needs.
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Task- versus People-Oriented Leadership
• Should leaders be task-oriented or people-oriented?
• Recent evidence suggests that both styles are positively associated with leader effectiveness, but in different ways.
• Increasing people-oriented leadership reduces employee absenteeism, grievances, turnover, and job dissatisfaction.
• Increasing task-oriented leadership results in higher performance.
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Servant Leadership
• Servant leadership is an extension of people-oriented
leadership style because it defines leadership as serving
others toward their need fulfillment and personal
development and growth.
• Servant leaders ask “How can I help you?” rather than
expect employees to serve them.
• They are described as selfless, egalitarian, humble,
nurturing, empathetic, and ethical coaches.
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Contingency Perspective of Leadership
• This perspective of leadership is based on the idea that the most appropriate leadership style depends on the situation.
• Leaders must be both insightful and flexible.
• They must be able to adapt their behaviors and styles to the immediate situation.
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Path-Goal Theory of Leadership
• The Path-Goal Theory of Leadership is a contingency theory of leadership based on the expectancy theory of motivation that
relates several leadership styles to specific employee and situational contingencies.
• It states that effective leaders ensure that good performers receive more valued rewards than poor performers.
• Effective leaders also provide information, support, and other resources necessary to help employees complete their tasks.
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Path-Goal Leadership Styles
• Directive – consists of clarifying behaviors that provide a psychological structure for subordinates. The leader clarifies
performance goals, the means to reach those goals, and the standards against which performance will be judged.
• Supportive – leader’s behavior provides psychological support for subordinates. The leader is friendly and approachable;
makes the work more pleasant; treats employees with equal respect; and shows concern for employees’ status, needs, and
well-being.
• Participative – leadership behaviors encourage and facilitate subordinate involvement in decisions beyond their normal work
activities. The leader consults with employees, ask for their suggestions, and takes these ideas into serious consideration
before making a decision.
• Achievement-oriented – emphasizes behaviors that encourage employees to reach their peak performance. Leader sets
challenging goals, expects employees to perform at their highest level, continuously seeks improvement in employee
performance, and shows a high degree of confidence that employees will assume responsibility and accomplish challenging
goals.
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Situational Leadership Theory
• The Situational Leadership Theory suggests that effective leaders vary their style with the ability and motivation (or
commitment) of followers.
• It has four styles – telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
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Transformational Perspective of Leadership
• The most popular leadership perspective today.
• Transformational Leadership views leaders as changer
agents.
• They create, communicate, and model a shared vision for
the team or organization, and they inspire followers to
strive for that vision.
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Transformational vs. Transactional Leadership
• Transactional leadership is a view that leaders influence mainly
by using rewards and penalties, as well as through negotiations.
• Another leadership style that is closely related to transactional
leadership is Managerial Leadership, which refers to behaviors
that make the current situation more effective. Managers “do
things right” by helping employees become more productive
and satisfied within the existing corporate or work unit’s
objectives.
• In contrast, transformational leadership refers to behaviors that
change the current situation. Transformational leaders “do the
right things” by energizing and directing employees toward a
better vision and set of objectives.
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Transformational vs. Charismatic Leadership
• Many researchers view charismatic leadership either as an
essential ingredient of transformational leadership or as
transformational leadership in its highest form of
excellence.
• But some experts contend that charisma is distinct from
transformational leadership.
• Scholars point out that charisma is a personal trait or
relational quality that provides referent power over
followers, whereas transformational leadership is a set of
behaviors that engage followers toward a better future.
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