Focus on the Leader – Power and Influence; Leadership and

Values.
Leadership Traits; Leadership Behaviour; Contingency Theories of
Leadership; Leadership and Change.

Power

Power has been defined as the capacity to produce effects on others. The
term power may be used as the capacity of a person to exert influence over
others. If a person has power, it means he is able to influence the behaviour
of other individuals. Power represents the capacity, ability, etc. to influence
the behaviour of other people.

“Power is the potential ability to influence behaviour, to change the course

of events, to overcome resistance and to get people to do things that they
would not otherwise do.” - N. Pfeffner

Characteristics of Power
The following are the characteristics of power:

i) Dependency: The main feature of power is dependency. The

greater the dependence of one person on you, the greater is the
amount of power you can exert on him.

ii) Reciprocal Relationship: Power relationships in an organization

are reciprocal in nature. Power exists in a relationship between two
or more persons. It is based on two-way concept of influencing
others and being influenced.

iii) Specific: Power is specific in the sense that it may be exercised by

some people in some circumstances. Power may not be exercised
by all people in all circumstances.

iv) Expand or Contract: Power is elastic. People, who are habituated

to exercise power, may try to acquire more power and expand it. In
some organizations, due to change in position of a manager in the
 organization, i.e., shift from and department to the other may cause
contraction in power.

Types of Power

1. Reward Power- This type of influence is created when the leader is able
to offer a reward to his followers for completing tasks/behaving in a certain
manner. It involves the potential to influence other due to one’s control over
desired resources. This can include the power to give bonuses and
promotions; to select people for special assignments or desirable activities;
to distribute desired resources like computers, offices or travel money and so
on.

2. Coercive Power- The opposite of reward power is the coercive power,

i.e., the ability to influence punishment. This power is based on the leader
having control over what happens if followers do not act as required.
Coercive power requires followers to believe that the leader has the ability to
impose the stated penalty. Also the penalty has to be something that the
followers do not want to have imposed on them. For example a penalty
results in coffee being banned is unlikely to influence a tea drinker. Coercive
powers should be used carefully; overuse can lead to unhappy employee
followers. Unhappy followers can be negative or unmotivated, they may
resign or adopt a “work to rule” attitude. Work to rule is where employees
refuse to undertake any duties that are not stated in their contract.

3. Expert Power- As the title suggests a leader has expert power when the
followers believe that the leader has “expert” knowledge or skills that are
relevant to the job or tasks they have to complete. Often an experienced
member of the team or staff in an organization, can have expert power even
though they are not a supervisor or manager. If the subordinates view their
leaders as competent they would follow their leader. For example, we follow
doctor’s advice because of our faith in his knowledge and competence.

4. Legitimate Power- It is the term of authority and commonly held values

allowing one person to have power over another person. It represents the
power a person perceives as a result of his position in the formal hierarchy
of the organization. Legitimate power includes power to give rewards and
impose punishments.

5. Referent Power- This power is known as charismatic power and is based

on the attraction exerted by one individual over another. The followers
identify with their leader and attempt to copy their leader. As referent power
is dependant on how the follower views the personality of their leader, a
leader will not have referent power over every follower they lead. Some
leaders will have referent power over just a few, whilst others such as
Gandhi have lead millions through their personality and charisma.

As can be seen each of the powers is created by the followers belief, if the
follower does not hold the requisite belief than then the leader is not able to
influence them.

• Reward power needs follower to believe leader will reward them.

• Coercive power needs follower to believe leader will punish them.
• Legitimate power needs follower to believe leader has right to instruct
them.
• Referent power need follower to believe leader has desirable qualities.
• Expert power need follower to believe leader is an expert.

Whether the follower’s beliefs are correct is irrelevant, the beliefs alone will
determine the type of power, a leader has over the follower.

Each of the leadership powers can be used by themselves or combined so

that the leader has maximum influence. The leader will therefore need to
think carefully about which power to use.