Guest post by Travis Anderson
Yukl and Falbe define seven types of leadership power. The authors decided based on research that the dichotomy of positional power and personal power was a two-factor concept of leadership power.
Positional Power
- Legitimate
- Reward
- Coercive
- Information
- Ecological
Personal Power
- Referent
- Expert
The two-factor concept is an important distinction because as an individual is hired into a position, it is presumed that they gain automatic legitimate power. However, personally the individual may not have any subject matter expertise and also must earn the respect of others in order to obtain referent power.
If an individual only relies on just one source of power, namely legitimate, that individual is doomed to fail. Based on the way the authors explain the different types of power and real world experience, effectiveness is obtained by understanding how each of these sources of power work in unison.
Robert Greene in the The 48 Laws of Power explains that people perceive power differently. As we become astute to the power that is all around us at all times, we can monitor power from three different perspectives of which are
- Those that want to obtain power
- Those that want to guard themselves against power
- Those that want to observe power
Most of us are linear thinkers and generally develop our leadership style over time based on personal experience. Our first experience with power and effective leadership is with our parents. As children, we try very hard to walk the line and expand the boundaries of our jurisdiction. As we grow and mature, our different experiences define our leadership style.
How we use the different sources of power in the context of a situation determines our effectiveness.
As a case example, let’s conclude that an individual leader is considerate, transformational, and people centric by definition of style. Her expertise and background is five years software development in the commercial market sector. She is a PMP, MBA, and IPMA-B. Now the context is a $7M high risk Gov’t project, firm fixed price contract, and only one year in duration. Neither her nor her organization has past experience working on Gov’t contracts.
- Can this style of leader be effective?
- What sources of power can this leader draw upon?
- How can this leader be effective?
Leave your comments and add to the situational context if so desired.
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