Essay On Assigned Leadership

Assigned leader versus emergent leader: where does the real power lie? What power sources exist within an organization? What are the powers an assigned leader holds? How does an emergent leader gain power? What can a new assigned leader do to enhance success? What factors influence the amount of power one can hold?
Power is and always will be a hot topic in any organizational setting. What exactly is power? According to Rea Andre, power is “the ability to mobilize resources to accomplish some end . . . an individual’s capacity to influence decisions” (Robins, DeCenzo, Coulter 2011, 130). I personally prefer to merge the two and define power as someone’s ability to influence employees’ actions and behaviors to accomplish or meet organizational needs. This paper is going to focus on two types of power ­­ personal and position. Referent and expert are types of personal power, while reward, coercive, and legitimate are position powers. These came to be by French and Raven in 1959, and have stood the test of time.
Referent personal power comes to those who are admired by others in the business. They tend to have strong interpersonal or soft skills. Traits that they hold are verbal and nonverbal communication skills, the ability to negotiate, and listening skills. A title is not needed to possess this kind of power. Charisma is another trait associated with

Coercive power can be a harsh tool, and has the ability to create fear through penalization and punishment. It may also be used in the workplace to force change or conformation. Autocratic leaders tend to rely on this type of power heavily. The downside is that employees do not generally learn from this technique, but tend to become dissatisfied, instead. While coercive power does have its place and is sometimes needed, there is a big difference between being “stern” and