1 Power
Power is the capacity to affect others by providing or withholding valued resources or administering punishments (Anderson & Berdahl 2002; French & Raven 1959; Keltner et al. 2003). Power and leadership are mutually dependent, but they are not identical. Power is different from associated concepts such as dominance, status, leadership, and authority. All of these may play a role to power, but power is basically the control over other people and over what happens to them (Anderson & Berdahl 2002). Power can exist without leadership, but leadership cannot exist without power, and a good leader is the one who uses power wisely and skillfully. There are five sources of power in every leader, namely coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent.
1.1 Expert power
Expert power originates from knowledge, skills, and experience of the person. Expert power is questioned when people requisite the ability of the person. Expert power brings more decision-making opportunities. The scope of this power is limited to the extent of the expertise, though (Rykrsmith, 2010).
Lee Iacocca when became the Head of the Ford Division in 1960, he was almost anonymous in the company, however until that stage he had built expert skills in sales and critical analysis, bringing him the desired result. In 1964, his innovation skills and critical market study brought him against the idea of Ford Mustang. The success story of Ford Mustang was undeniable; with best ever sales record for Ford Company, it brought recognition and fame for Iacocca almost all over United States. Later on, the success of Ford Mercury Cougar attested the accomplishment of Mustang not as an accident but as recognition of Iacicca’s expertise and great vision of future auto...
... middle of paper ...
...ars and was influenced by his mentors. Iacocca at the same time has charisma that attracts media and public interest. He used charismatic approach and negotiation to convince senators to take Chrysler side during loan voting. He used to act in an authoritarian style; however he found the way to share power with followers and leaved the room for their personal development. Iacocca used full range of power in order to force and motivate followers as well as to make critical decision that was necessary to safe company. During the crisis of Chrysler he did all possible to save company, however as authoritarian leader he did not look at the solution in respect of team saving. Some people may argue that he was lucky enough during this time and a lot of factors where on his side, however, his “gut feeling” in respect to future demand and task orientation cannot be denied.
Henry Ford was one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs in creating the automobile assembly line, it was his controversial characteristics and unorthodox approach towards administrating the Ford Motor Company which resulted in the conglomeration of one of the most successful corporations in the world. At the turn of the century everything was booming! The growth of the economy and stock market increased the job opportunities as well as morals. As a result of this industrial revolution, out of the woodwork came a humble yet driven man, Henry Ford. Between the five dollar/day plan, his policies on administrating the company, and his relations with his customers, Ford was often presented as a suspicious character. This controversial behavior epitomized the success of the company, it did not lead to his own downfall as many suspect. The Anti-Semitic accusations, and the belief that Ford was taking advantage of his customers, were by far overshadowed by his brillianc!e and strong hand in running his company.
Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.
Foreign markets were beginning to show promise with the vehicles that were going to put out on the market. The Ford Motor Company began to feel the pressure and felt that it needed to be in the limelight of the competition. Lee Iococca, the CEO of Ford, decided that it was time for a change and thus the Ford Pinto was introduced. However, the Pinto had numerous flaws that cost the Ford Company more than ever anticipated.
Leadership is mobilizing people through the use of five practices, that of modeling the way, inspiring the group vision, challenging the process, enabling others to achieve, and encouraging the emotions of others. Additionally, leadership is based upon credibility which includes the integrity of the leader and the trust of those following. This credibility will be influenced by a leader’s honesty, vision, ability to inspire, and competence or ability to succeed.
Power simply can be defined as control over resources. This control allows for individuals to bring about change. The influence of power typically has a negative impact on individuals. It has even been said that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Typically, as an individual gains power they tend to be less inhibited and act more based on their personal desires disregarding what is ethically right. Oftentimes, individuals lose sight of their morals in attempts to gain more power and exploit other people. Indeed, it is true that “with great power comes great responsibility” and whether an individual lets that responsibility corrupt them is a strong measure of their personal character (Ferguson and Peterson,
started up in 1903. Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. George Baldwin Selden, an inventor, earned himself a patent for the automobile in 1895. This halted production of the Model A almost entirely. Ford eventually gained the support of other carmakers and eventually shut down the Selden Patent. Henry Ford faced many other challenges including greedy employees, failed model t prototypes and many more things. However, Ford also had his Triumphs in some of the things he's most famous for. First, Ford invented the assembly line. Before, one car would be assembled at a time bringing all the parts around to one place. Ford’s assembly line changed this. Now they could make and mass produce several cars at a time. Heres how it works: a bare chassis would roll down a conveyor. Along the way the engine, wheels, body, and a black paint job would be applied. Going along with the assembly line, Ford was also able to make a cheap, easy to fix,
This paper will study the different facets of leadership and power in small group interactions. The variety and number of studies that have focused on leadership and power attest to the importance and ambiguousness that surround any attempts to define their origins or implications. First, the definitions of leadership and power from a social psychological viewpoint will be presented. Then a discussion will follow examining the effect of different variables on the leadership effectiveness and then a look at the convergence of power and leadership and their interrelationship.
Leadership is a process by which an individual influences others to accomplish a mutual objective and most scholars can agree that leadership can be defined as the nature of the influencing process. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and ski...
Power- an ability || physical strength || controlling influence || a person of great influence
Leadership is strength. Though it is strength, what makes a leader? Is a leader someone who is in front of the line in the game ‘follow the leader’? Technically yes because that is their name in the game, but this essay isn’t about a game. It is about reality. Is a leader made up of a variety of skills, talents, morals, and values? Or perhaps a leader is someone who tells people what to do? Or maybe a leader is someone who can make a difference? To an extent, a leader is built up of all of those possibilities. A leader is someone with a variety of skills, talents, morals and values, and someone who knows how to make a difference, and someone who can guide people into doing what needs to happen. Leadership can’t just be broken up
The five sources of power, as identified by French and Raven, are legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power, and referent power. The first three sources of power are positional powers,
Leadership is all about having the right amount of heart and determination to help make a difference in someone’s life. It takes certain qualities to be considered a good leader. A leader should want to help inspire others to make a change and to be the best that they can be. A true leader does not need to feel powerful, instead they empower those around them. Throughout my life I have come across various leaders who have made an impact on my life. It takes a very special person to inspire and touch people’s lives. Leadership is so much deeper than having power and bossing people around.
A leader is described as a person who guides others and has authority and influence over others. They work to influence others into meeting certain goals. There is no right or wrong definition of a leader and there is no recipe that ensures effective leadership. Successful leaders have a good balance of vision, influence, and power. Leaders gain their authority from their ability to influence others to get the work done; because of this, anyone has the potential to be a leader. (Finkelman. 2012, p15)
Like the types of leadership, the choice of which power to use is highly situational. There are six basic types of power:
Many people associate leadership with a specific job title or form of power within an organization. However, through personal experience, I have concluded that leadership can come in many forms and position as well as from multiple sources of roles and job titles both with and without power. Based on the definition of leadership, anyone can be considered a leader as long as they have the ability to influence people to achieve a particular result or goal which benefits the organization or group as a whole. Individuals with a secure sense of self and understanding, acceptance of diversity within an organization tend to be the strongest leaders that not only make others want to follow, but they also encourage other leaders to gravitate to their