Leader’s Sources of Power

Posted on April 05, 2024 by Martin Hahn, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

Managers typically have formal authority because of their position, which gives them a legitimate right to ask employees to complete tasks that are part of their job descriptions. However, being in a position of authority does not guarantee that employees will fully comply with a manager’s requests. For example, employees of an unpopular supervisor may do the minimum amount possible to meet the requirements of their jobs. A manager’s ability to influence others to give their all depends on the power or capability she or he has to influence other people’s behavior or attitudes. Power refers to someone’s ability to directly or indirectly control the outcomes of another person in a relationship. Because leadership always involves some sort of power, it is important to understand its use and its consequences.

Types of Power

Managers’ power stems from both organizational authority and personal sources. Organizational authority gives a manager position power. For example, the dean of a school has certain authority that comes with this position. However, organizational authority cannot grant a leader all forms of power and some types originate with the person. Personal power is based on the characteristics of that individual and stays with him or her regardless of where that person works. Another type of power is informational power. Below the six types of power will be discussed in more detail next, along with their use and abuse.

Legitimate Power

Legitimate power is based on a person’s holding of the managerial position rather than anything the manager is or does as a person. Legitimate power is the formal authority the firm gives managers to hire new employees, make work assignments, monitor employees’ work, and enforce work and ganizational rules. Subordinates comply because they believe that holding a managerial position gives the manager the right to make certain requests of them. For example, nurses will show up for their shifts as assigned by a supervisor, even if those shifts are not those preferred by the nurses. Because the scheduling manager has the legitimate power to assign shifts, employees accept the final work schedule.

Reward Power

Reward power is power that involves the use of both tangible (e.g., pay raises or preferred work assignments) and intangible (e.g., praise) rewards to influence and motivate followers. Subordinates comply because they want to receive the rewards. Because rewards are such strong motivators, it is important to monitor the positive and negative impacts they have on employee behavior. For example, the manager of a hair salon wanted to motivate his stylists to sell more hair care products. The manager began offering a monthly prize to the stylist who sold the most. Because one stylist’s customers always tended to buy more products than did the other stylists’ customers, the other stylists felt that there was no way they could win the prize. Rather than trying harder to sell products, they stopped trying at all and overall product sales and revenues fell. Clearly, if rewards are improperly used, they can decrease the motivation of employees who do not expect to receive them.

Coercive Power

If a manager has the ability to punish subordinates, she or he can coerce subordinates into complying because people want to avoid punishment. This type of power is coercive power. Punishment could be any undesired or negative consequence, including a reduction in work hours, the assignment of undesirable shifts, or a written or verbal reprimand. Threatening punishment can have negative side effects on employees, including stress, resentment, decreased morale, and retaliation, and can even cost the manager his or her job. Although it can produce behavior change, most managers probably learn early on that it’s best to use coercion only when absolutely necessary: for example, if an employee is behaving dangerously.

Expert Power

Expert power is based on an individual’s expertise in some area. People respond to expert power because of their belief in the person’s knowledge, skills, and/or expertise. For example, some sales managers may have specialized knowledge of certain market segments or customers, giving them expert power among other managers and employees. Because an individual’s knowledge is the foundation of expert power, it can exist at any level in an organization. When Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric (GE), he realized that the Web was going to transform business. He recognized that GE’s younger employees had better Internet skills and e-business knowledge than did GE’s older and higher-ranking executives. He decided to pair an Internet savvy employee with each of GE’s 600 worldwide executives to share his or her expertise about the new technology. In addition to building the e-business capabilities of his managers, this unique mentoring program made managers at all levels more receptive to influence from people at lower levels of the company who have relevant expertise.

Referent Power

Referent power is based on a manager’s charisma and/or attractiveness to others. Subordinates refer to the manager as a role model and comply out of respect, admiration, and liking. They behave as the manager does and wants because they seek his or her approval.
Referent power is not limited to high-visibility leaders. All managers can use referent power effectively by displaying respect for subordinates, modeling behaviors consistent with the organization’s culture, and being effective role models. By consistently walking the walk and talking the talk, managers can use their referent power to promote the attitudes and behaviors they desire in employees. For example, when Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton was worth more than $25 billion, he still drove an old pickup truck to work and shared budget-hotel rooms with colleagues on business trips. His modeling of frugality permeated the company and promoted the practice of frugality that made Wal-Mart consistently profitable.

Informational Power

Control over information is informational power. In addition to experts with specialized knowledge, some people in an organization have or are able to control access to important information. These gatekeepers are able to exert power over others by providing or withholding information that others need. For example, managers with extensive personal networks may have access to information few others have. Once the information is shared, however, the informational power that the information provided is lost. Managers who depend on informational power must therefore continually replenish their supply of hard-to-get information.

When Is Each Type of Power Appropriate?

Managers should adjust their use of power to the situation and person they are trying to influence. Because the effects of referent and expert power rely on the employee’s internal motivation and voluntary compliance, they are always appropriate. However, these types of power are also the weakest and if they do not motivate
employee behavior, then either legitimate or reward organizational power might be appropriate. Legitimate, reward, and coercive power rely on external motivation and obligatory obedience. Managers often rely on legitimate and reward power, but coercive power is rarely appropriate and should be reserved for only the most extreme situations. Effective leaders tend to rely on legitimate, reward, or coercive power.