Power And Abuse Of Power Essay

Leaders are influential people motivate their followers in the hopes of reaching a specific goal. Today, we have seen first hand how leaders work and can use or abuse their power. This includes tyrants such as Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler, as well admirable figures such as Steve Jobs and Martin Luther King Jr.
To be a leader is the ability to set out a goal, motivate others to achieve that goal, and lead that team to victory (O’Leary 2000, p. 1). In numerous environments and situations having a leader is necessary. According to O’Leary (2000,p. 1) there is no single definition of leadership. The paper states that once someone understands this, they are on their way to becoming an effective leader. Hay & Hodgkinson (2005, p. 145) argues

The definition of power is having the ability to influence others. This can be as a single person, a team, or an organisation. Power in an organisation is derivative of five sources. They are legitimate - the agreement that people in specific roles can request certain behaviours of others, reward – power from being able to control the allocation of rewards valued by others, coercive – the ability to apply punishment, expert – the capacity to sway others by having skills/knowledge that they value, and referent power – the ability to influence others due to the power holder being respected. Out of these five sources, the first three are based on a position or role, whilst the latter two originate from the power holders characteristics. (McShane et al. 2013, p. 319-321) Along with the five sources of power, are the four contingencies. These are factors that can affect the strength of a person’s ability to use power to influence others. These four contingencies are, substitutability, centrality, discretion and visibility. Although people may have power, in order to see behavioural or attitudinal changes in others, they have to influence them. Tactics used to influence others include silent authority – using legitimate power without referring to the power base, assertiveness – applying legitimate or coercive power by applying stress or pressure, information control – manipulating someones access to information in the hopes of changing their

Depending on the context, a leader may adhere to one type of leadership, or combine aspects of different styles; ultimately the decision is up to the leaders discretion. One common organisational perspective of leadership is the contingency perspective, which is the idea that the most appropriate style of leadership depends on the situation. One theory under the contingency perspective is the path-goal theory, which has its roots in the expectancy theory, and states that effective leaders ensure workers who perform their jobs well will receive higher valued rewards than those who don’t. This theory follows the ‘servant leadership’ view, which promotes leaders following servers, rather than the other way around. This perspective also highlights four leadership styles – directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-orientated – that will lead to an effective leader. Martin (2009, p. 637) states that one implication of this theory is that leaders will need to adopt more than one style of leadership, as they need to be able to work around their followers, and the