Leadership Power and Influence

Chapter 12
The leadership experience
Richard l. daft
Transactional leader
• ….“transaction or exchange process between leaders and followers”

• Followers receive rewards for job performance

• Leaders benefit from completion of tasks

• Effective in traditional management

• Efficient
• Good with stability “status quo”
• Not good with change
Transformational leader
• Non traditional
• More focused on
• Building relationships
• Shared values
• Giving larger meaning to separate activities

ne d
• Based on
e a r
• Values, beliefs and qualities of leader

Be L
• Positive impact on
• Follower development
C a n
• Performance
• Organizational profitability
Transactional Vs Transformational
1. Transformational leader develops followers into leaders
2. Transformational leader elevates the concern of followers from
lower level physical needs to higher level psychological needs
3. Transformational leader inspires followers to go beyond their self
interests for the good of the group
4. Transformational leader points a vision of a desired future state and
communicates it in a way that makes the pain of change worth the
effort
Charismatic Leadership
• ….“a fire that ignites the followers”

• Emotional impact
• Do more than normal
• Often emerge in troubled times

• Inspiring personalities can help reduce stress and anxiety among

followers
Charismatic VS Transformational
• Charismatic leader instills awe • Transformational leader seeks to
and submission in followers increase follower engagement
and empowerment

• Followers follow out of

admiration for leader • Followers do not just follow
leader but also believe in the
need for change and sacrifice for
the sake of vision
How to be Charismatic?
• Believe in your cause
• Enthusiasm attracts followers
• Have passion
• Passion for vision inspires people to follow the leader and galvanize people to
action
Coalitional leadership
• Change occurs due to coalition of people rather than efforts of only
leader
• Characteristics of Coalitional Leadership
• ..observe and understand patterns of interaction and influence in organization
• ..skilled at developing relationships with a broad network of people and can
adapt their behavior and approach to diverse people and situations
• ..develop positive relationships both within and outside the organization
• ..spend time learning others views and building mutually beneficial alliances
Coalitional leadership (contd..)

• 4 steps for effective CL behavior

1. Coalitional Leaders do lots of interviews
2. Coalitional Leaders visit customers and other stakeholders
3. Coalitional Leaders develop a map of stakeholder buy in
4. Coalitional Leaders break down barriers and promote cross-silo cooperation
Power, Influence and Leadership
• Power “…potential ability of one person to influence others to carry
out orders or to do something they otherwise would not have done”
• Influence “…effects a person’s action have on the attitudes, values,
beliefs or action of others”

• Power- capacity to cause a change

• Influence- degree of actual change
Hard VS Soft Power
• Hard Power
• Reward and punishment
• Legitimate, reward and coercive
• Defined by organizational policies and procedures
• Position power
• Soft Power
• Not formal power
• Personal characteristics and interpersonal relationships
• Don’t use brute force and raw power
Types of Power
1. Legitimate Power
• Formal position power
• Formal right to give orders and be obeyed
• Supervisor, manager
2. Reward Power
• Authority to bestow rewards
• Access to formal rewards
• Access to resources and distribution
• Use reward to influence subordinate behavior
Types of Power (contd…)
3. Coercive Power
• Opposite of reward power
• Punish or recommend punishment
• Right to fine, demote, criticize, withdraw pay increase
4. Expert Power
• Special knowledge or skill of leader
• Follower follow because of superior knowledge
Types of Power (contd…)
5. Referent Power
• From personality characteristics
• Command followers by identification, respect and admiration
• Especially visible in charismatic leaders
Follower’s response to the use of power
1. Compliance
• People follow the direction of the person with power, whether or not they
agree with those directions
2. Resistance
• Employees will deliberately try to avoid carrying out instructions or they will
attempt to disobey orders
3. Commitment
• Follower adopt the leader’s viewpoint and enthusiastically carry out
instructions
Sources of Leader Power
1. Dependency
• Control over something that others want
2. Control over resources
a. Importance
b. Scarcity
c. Non-substitutability
3. Control over information
• Withhold/divulge information to achieve desired outcomes
Increasing power through political activity
• Politics: activities to acquire, develop and use power and other
resources to obtain desired future outcomes when there is
uncertainty or disagreement about choices

• Politics essential within organizations

• Not necessarily bad
• Natural process for resolving differences
Leader frame of reference
• Frame: is a perspective from which a leader views the world, and it
influences how the leader interacts with followers, makes decisions,
and exercises power

• Four frames
1. The structural frame
2. The human resource frame
3. The political frame
4. The symbolic frame
1. The Structural Frame
• View organization as a machine
• Efficiency
• Position power
• Emphasis on clear JD, rules, procedures
• Organization viewed as a rational system
• Strive for clarity of direction and control of results
2. The Human Resource Frame
• People viewed as valuable resource
• Problems and issues defined in interpersonal terms
• Soft power
• Lead through empowerment and engagement
• Organization viewed as a clan, family, with a sense of belonging
3. The Political Frame
• Arena of ongoing conflict/tension over the allocation of scarce
resources
• Networking and building coalitions to influence decision and actions
• Position and personal power (coalitional leader)
• Organization viewed as a jungle
4. The Symbolic Frame
• Perceive organization as a system of shared meaning and values
• Focus on shared vision, culture and values to influence others
• Concerned with spirit and meaning
• Focus on harnessing follower’s dreams and emotions for the benefit
for all
Political tactics for asserting leader influence
• Leader power useless unless applied to influence
• Power doesn’t always influence
• Leaders use combination of influence strategies

• Seven Principles of assessing Leader’s Influence

Principle 1: Use Rational Persuasion
• Most frequently used
• Use data, facts and logical arguments
• People believe hard facts and figures
• Most effective when leader has expert power
• Referent power also used
Principle 2: Make People like you
• Easier to say yes to people you like
• People like a leader who makes them feel good about themselves
• Never underestimate the importance of praise
Principle 3: Rely on rule of reciprocity
• Turn power into influence-Share what you have
• Time, resources, services, emotional support
• People feel obligated to return favors
• “Unwritten law of reciprocity”
Principle 4: Develop allies
• Alliances with people
• Networking with influential people
• Developing ties and mutually beneficial relationship
• Make stronger against resisters
Principle 5: Ask for what you want
• Clear about what you want and clearly ask for it
• Make goals explicit
• Less defined goals create confusion
Principle 6: Remember the principle of
scarcity
• When things are less available-they become more desirable
• People want more of what they cant have
• Selectively releasing information
• Capture their interest
Principle 7: Extend formal authority with
expertise and credibility
• Exert legitimate authority
• Position power
• Leader need to be knowledgeable, credible and trustworthy
• Avoid just ordering around
• Exert power with care…
Ethical consideration in using power and
politics
“..leadership is the ability to get people to do what they don’t want to
and like it” Harry Truman

Power can be abused.

Personalized leader: leaders caring about themselves.

Socialized leader: leaders valuing others.