Power-Influence Leadership Approach Essay Example

from his employees.

Weaknesses

Everyone defines power differently. At one company, a person can have power over an entire division and make decisions and act on behalf of the company. In another company, the person can have power of the division but does not act on behalf of the company. A person can let the position of power go to his head and alienate everyone around him because of his behavior. For example, a person starts at a company as a recreation assistant, promoted to senior recreation assistant and finally, assistant manager. He becomes a different person who no one wants to be around because he changed and let the power go to his head. When used separately, coercive power is not going to make an employee want to do anything for the leader. It will make the employee do it because he fears he may lose his job or get written up for not doing what he was told.

Organization Example

An example of an organization that uses this type of leadership approach is the Navy. The basis of leadership is the higher in rank a person is, the more power he has over his subordinates. If a senior person tells a junior person to do something, and he or she does not, he has the power to write him up. The only reason he can write that person up is that he automatically has power over a person who is junior to him. Some people have taken this type of power and used it negatively. When this happens, that person is leading using coercive power.

Conclusion

Employees

know that if they do not do what they are asked, they can be written up. However, if the leader is not using only coercive power, but using all seven bases, the employee will correct himself because he does not want to get in trouble and risk the chance of diminishing his leader’s positive perception of him. If an employee respect’s his leader, the employee will do more than his fair share but, if an employee does not respect his leader, he will do the bare minimum to ensure he will keep his job. If a leader wants to succeed, he needs to have employees who respect him and will do what he asks him to because of his respect for him.