“Power “in Leadership and Management

 


Power is closely connected with leadership and management. It is a bit difficult term to define because of its constantly changing ,complex and intangible nature. Power can mean the extend of control and influence .It is used to refer to the system of rewards and penalties of a formal and informal nature that will ensure compliance to an organizations activities and policies.

For instances has someone chosen to follow a course of actions against their better judgement because of the power held over them, that is they were threatened ,or because they understood the advantages of such path? Power is subjective term in the sense that it is not always used but the fear lies in its anticipated use. In other words it can be a threat.

According to Foucault(1979) ,he emphasized the disciplinary notion of power as a process. Other writers have tried to define the sources of power and therefore its nature. Weber (1947)perceived the power of managers as coming from the owner of the business and was exercised by managers on their behalf. Similarly departments or group  can wield power.

Etzioni (1975) and French and Raven (1959)have similar definitions of sources of Power:

Institutional: This rests on external social and economic structure.

Reward: The ability to give rewards

Coercive: The ability to punish

Legitimate: Based on the leaders position, the acknowledged by the recipient of authority

Referent/Charisma-Admiration for the power holder

Expert-This emphasizes the specialist knowledge or skill and is crucial to the organizational survival.


Leadership is a practice, not a position of authority | Ronald Heifetz (source)

References:
Conversational Leadership an online book by David Gurteen- Leadership is a practice, not a position of authority | Ronald Heifetz (source)
Foucault M (1979) Discipline and Punishment , Penguin
Weber M (1947) The Theory of Social and Economics Organization , Free Press




Comments

  1. Amila DevapriyaMay 4, 2023 at 9:34 AM

    I completely agree with your observation that power is closely connected with leadership and management, and is a complex and constantly evolving concept. cuss

    ReplyDelete
  2. joseph kuruvillaJune 2, 2023 at 5:13 AM

    I read this article; it is really informative one. Your way of writing and making things clear is very impressive.
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    ReplyDelete

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