Leadership is a bit like the adage, “if a tree falls in the woods and no one can hear it, does it make a sound?” My question is, “without followers, does a leader lead?” My first artifact, LEAD 510 Leadership and Managers Essay, illustrates my knowledge in understanding there are distinct characteristics of an effective leader. The source of power for a leader lies in the relationships that a leader has with their followers and the ability to get them to do something. Sometimes these things can be negative or positive, towards a company goal, or self-promotional that the leader is encouraging followers towards in their behavior. Leaders influence others differently based on the type of leadership theory that is being studied. Nielsen & Munir (2009) focus on transformational leaders and that they influence followers through creating buy-in into a visionary system. This particular system creates influence by encouraging employees to make independent decisions (Nielsen & Munir, 2009). Leaders may also influence based off of different types of power that maybe legitimate, coercive, rewarding, and expert (Raven, 2008).
Raven and French (1958) discuss that legitimate power is the power that is based on the perception by a follower that the leader has the legitimate right to prescribe behavior for the follower. Furthermore, legitimate power has a value or a standard that is accepted by the follower that allows for the leader to assert power (Raven and French, 1958). Legitimate power can come from a number of sources such as the age of an individual, current job position, or even the role of the leader within the social structure (Raven and French, 1958). It is important to be concerned about the different forms of powe...
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Nielsen, K., & Munir, F. (2009). How do transformational leaders influence followers' affective well-being? Exploring the mediating role of self-efficacy. Work & Stress, 23(4), 313-329.
Raven, B. H. (2008). The Bases of Power and the Power/Interaction Model of Interpersonal Influence.Analyses Of Social Issues & Public
Policy, 8(1), 1-22.
Raven, B. H., & French, J. P. (1958). Legitimate Power, Coercive Power, and Observability in Social Influence.
Sociometry, 21(2), 83-97.
Steers, R. M., Sanchez-Runde, C. J., & Nardon, L. L. (2012). Culture, cognition, and managerial leadership.
Slavet, G. (2006). The power of peer role modeling. The American Music Teacher, 56(3), 60-61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/217485996?accountid=35812 Asia Pacific Business Review, 18(3), 425-439. doi:10.1080/13602381.2011.640537
To hold authority is to possess power, and when one has power over a person or people he or she is generally feared. In t...
I will argue that the revised notion of power as a positive influence that is produced in communicative space, runs c...
The classic definition of power is the sum total of one capabilities (Pevehouse and Goldstein, 2016, 2.2), but what influence does that “one” legitimately hold over any other “one” and/or groups of other “ones”.
Leaders will act as role models to inspire their followers. Besides, the leader will challenge the followers to take a greater ownership of their work. Transformational leaders normally understand follower’s strength and weakness so that the leader will not affect their performance when allocating task for them. Nevertheless, transformational leadership can inspire or motivate followers to achieve a better result compared to originally planned (Mihhailova, 2014).
In society, it can be agreed that there are two main types of power, proximal relations of power and distal relations of power. Proximal relations of power deals within the personal relationships in society, whereas distal relations of power are related to society in a more abstract way that affects it as a
There are many theories pertaining to the nature of power in society. In modern society, it is important to identify where and when power is exercised, who benefits and who suffers from it being exerted upon them. In this tradition, it is useful to examine the managerialist perspective.
“A manager manages using authority-or the right to get others to do things by virtue of their positional power. While a leader leads through the ability to influence other people to do things using a certain degree of personal power or charisma” (McLean, 2005, p. 16). By definition, leadership is about influence. Therefore, it is impossible to discuss the theme of leadership without including followers or to try to explain the idea of team building without explaining the influence of a leader. While each concept is unique, both have a direct affect on the other. A leader is not a leader without someone following him or her and a team will always develop a leader whether indirectly or directly appointed. However, leadership and team building are much like the preverbal chicken and egg; and many theories have developed over several years trying to explain the influence on each other and the successful development of teams and leaders.
Raven, Bertram, and John French. Jr. "Legitimate Power, Coercive Power, and Observability in Social Influence ." Sociometry Vol. 21.No. 2 (1958): 83. Web. 2 Aug 2010. .
Derek Sivers gave a brief TED talk entitled “How to start a movement” that is a great example of how important followers are and how they make or break a leader. In his presentation, he discusses the importance of the first follower in launching a movement. The premise is that while a leader may have the courage to stand alone it is the first follower that attracts others to join the organization and stand behind a leader. Followers typically have less authority and influence than their boss does. Followership, however, relates to the role those followers have in supporting the boss and the organization. Interestingly, while not everyone is a leader, every leader is a follower and answerable to someone whether that is a superior officer, a board of directors, or in the case of the United States President, the American people. The best leaders are also truly adept followers.
C. Wright Mills in his article “ The Structure of Power in American Society” writes that when considering the types of power that exist in modern society there are three main types which are authority, manipulation and coercion. Coercion can be seen as the “last resort” of enforcing power. On the other hand, authority is power that is derived from voluntary action and manipulation is power that is derived unbeknownst to the people who are under that power.
45 – Power, Influence, and Influence Tactics – Richard L. Hughes, Robert C. Ginnett, and Gordon Curphy
According to Max Weber, there are three types of authority: traditional, legal-rational, and charismatic. Traditional authority is based on traditions and customs; for example, parents are a type of traditional authority since individuals are taught to respect and listen to their parents from a young age (Weber, 12). Legal-rational authority is based on relation to laws, rules, and the government; an example of a legal-rational authority would be the police due to its association with the government and its task of enforcing the law (Weber, 13). Unlike these two types of authority, charismatic authority is solely based on the personality of the leader such as the degree of charisma the leader has and how well his interpersonal skills are (Weber, 12). Charismatic authority may seem very simplistic as it is just based on personality, yet it is this very aspect that allows for the emergence of polar-opposite charismatic leaders. Furthermore, the simple basis allows for the leaders to guide the group towards any direction they desire, and this makes the distinction between certain charismatic leaders prominent. The contrast
Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic structural analyses and agency-centred traditions. According to this, people are free to act, but they must also use and replicate fundamental structures of power by and through their own actions. Power is wielded and maintained by how one ‘makes a difference’ and based on their decisions and actions, if one fails to exercise power, that is to ‘make a difference’ then power is lost. (Giddens: 1984: 14) However, more recent theorists have revisited older conceptions including the power one has over another and within the decision-making processes, and power, as the ability to set specific, wanted agendas. To put it simply, power is the ability to get others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. In the political arena, therefore, power is the ability to make or influence decisions that other people are bound by.
Max Weber developed a concept of power explaining 3 sources of it. Relatively to sources he distinguished charismatic, traditional and legal types of authority. Richard Emerson continued to work on the concept of power. He studies power-dependence relation and looks deeper on its nature. Emerson explains that dependency of one subject - B (person or group) from the other subject A (person or group) develops, when there is a desirable goal or need and limitation on its availability and when subject A can facilitate in reaching of this goal. At the same moment subject A develop a power upon subject B. The definition of power suggested in the article is an ability to overcome resistance. Thus subject A can force subject B to overcome resistance to something that he does not want to do in exchange of a desirable goal or reward. The goal in this context could be love or friendship or any other thing that can be a valuable yet unavailable for one and
Legitimate Power – This is power that comes from holding a position within an organization