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As leaders we have potential to exercise control over our followers. We’re able to exercise this control because our followers perceive us to in some way have “power”.
There are two main sources of the power that we have, though having “one ring to rule them all” is not one of those sources. The power that we have comes from both the position that we hold in an organization (Position Power) and the person that we are (Personal Power).
Position Power
Position power is something that is given to us by virtue of the standing we have in a given organization. This type of power is only of use to us in the domain where the power has been granted to us.
As a simple example, if my daughter is out with a group of friends I have the ‘power’ as her father to tell her to come home, but I’m not able to use that same power to tell her friends to go home (of course, unless they’re at my house). Likewise, we may have power over our direct reports but have little or no power to exercise control of someone in another department.
We have three different types of power that come from our position: legitimate power, coercive power and reward power.
The legitimate power we have is really tied to the authority of our position. In this case, followers do what we ask just because we’re the boss and they respect our position of authority.
Coercive power can take legitimate power to the extreme by using the authority of our position to punish or use the threat of punishment to get something done. Many times this doesn’t even need to be an explicit threat. One of the greatest motivators that leaders have, especially in today’s economic climate, is follower fear from the perception that if they don’t perform they will be fired.
Reward power is the flip side of the coercive power coin. Reward power allows us to use the authority of our position to reward followers for their performance. This is the positive use of position power compared with the negative that is coercive power.
Personal Power
Where position power is vested in our organizational structure, personal power is given to us by our followers themselves because of the person that we are. We gain this power two different ways, either as an expert or because of our interpersonal qualities.
Expert power comes from the specialized skills and knowledge that we have. For instance, in strategy planning sessions, if I’m the lone representative from the finance department I have power based on my knowledge of the organization’s financial details.
This type of power is usually limited to the specific area where we hold the expertise. If there are others around us with just as much or more expertise in an area, the amount of our power is diminished.
Referent power is bestowed upon us by our followers because they feel an interpersonal connection with us. Referent power comes from how followers feel about the leader. Most times it’s based on personal qualities and tends to be the type of power that generates the greatest level of loyalty from followers. This truly is power that comes from who we are as an individual.
Responses to Our Use of Power
In a previous article I looked at the different responses that followers have to power; resistance, compliance and commitment. The type of power that we use at any given time with followers will play a big part in the response we’ll get. When we use power that comes from our position we generally get responses that fall between resistance and compliance. When we use power that comes from who we are we generally get responses that fall between compliance and commitment.
It’s not hard to see how using our position to threaten or cajole through rewards (or as any parent would say “bribery”) won’t result in having committed followers. Using this type of power tends to apply fear or at best play on extrinsic motivators. Even if we get what we want from our followers, it will only be short lived. Take away or lessen the reward and the performance will go away.
Our greatest ability to create followers who are committed is to cultivate and use our referent power. To me this is at the heart of leadership and leadership development. Think about it, this is what most of the leadership literature is talking about: how to develop, cultivate and use our referent power. In the end, that’s really what we want as leaders is to have followers who WANT to follow US because of who we are.
Leader’s Reflection: As leaders we have power to exercise control over followers that comes from both the position we hold in the organization and the person that we are. When we rely on our position power we get something between resistance and compliance. However, when we rely on our personal power, particularly the referent power that we have, we have the opportunity to have followers who are committed.
Great overview of power and its importance in being understood and positively leveraged by leaders. I remember years ago when I returned from six weeks of leadership management training where we were taught about these and I observed the various power structures. I was just put in charge of a new group of two teams, and noticed one of the leaders had expert power and the other social or referent power. By encompassing them in the planning and decision making process, this power was inherently leveraged through their stake in the process. Great post!
Dale, thanks for sharing your great example. I think it shows that when we pay attention to how we are using our power and which types of power we’re using we are able to make good things happen.
Isn’t personal power a “one ring to rule them all.” Just kidding. It’s certainly preferred but LMX suggests it may not be possible with all followers.
You know David, kidding aside, the more I think about it you may just be right. Personal power just may be “one ring to rule to the all”. After all this is where we focus so much of our energy in leadership development. Maybe when we have personal power it is the one thing that is more “powerful” than anything else.
I’m actually glad you mentioned LMX. I’ve got an article about LMX rolling around in my head that should end up getting posted in the next week or two. You’ll have to let me know what you think about it.
Tom, your post is especially timely for me as I was just teaching about the subjects of personal vs positional power this week. So many think, “if only I had the title or power to…, then I could…” when in fact, those with positional power are severely limited without personal power. Leaders that focus on personal power(likability, emotional intelligence and positive emotion that create influence)generate loyalty and tap discretionary effort above and beyond what title and job descriptions mandate. We know this intuitively but there are also sound data to reinforce the business case behind building and using the “soft” skills that create personal power. Thanks for raising this important issue.
I think you are absolutely right Jeanne. I think this is why I’ve always been so adamant in my belief that not only does leadership happen at all levels in an organization, but we actually need leadership to happen at all levels of an organization. Certainly this kind of leadership doesn’t happen because of position power, so we need to rely on personal power for it to happen.
The best thing about this is, as you say, it generates loyalty and discretionary effort and as leaders grow within an organization this loyalty and effort that they have generated continues to grow as they begin to acquire position power. The danger of course is that these growing leaders need to continue to rely on the personal power that has worked for them and not be seduced by the additional power of their position to the point of abusing this new found power.
Loved your post here! Well put and really to the point of power. The problem with Position Power is the illusion it creates on all fronts. Because the person possessing the power believes she can control the people in her line of command, she many times does not work on building personal power. Many bosses are then surprised that they do not get any commitment! Some authors distinguish between POWER (that can influence people) and AUTHORITY (that can have an effect on them but not truly sway them). The latter is pure position power. As for Personal Power being “the one ring to rule them all”, it is definitely the one that can make others CHOOSE to comply, commit, follow. And it is ALWAYS their choice to do so, even when they are under the illusion that it is not). Now, when power (Personal Power) and authority (Position Power) reside in the same person, the possibilities are endless! Thanks for your reflections here and always, Tom!