Exhibit 12.4 shows the Sources of Leader Power (pg. 346-347).

In this forum, discuss how men and women differ in their leadership styles as it relates to power? Which approach to power do you exemplify and why?

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Strategic leadership involves anticipating and envisioning a viable future for the organi-
zation and working with others to initiate changes that create that future.27 For example,
Indian business leaders prioritize their top responsibilities28 as providing input for busi-
ness strategy (which you studied thoroughly in Part 1 of this book); being keepers of the
organizational culture (introduced in Chapter 2); and guiding, teaching, and serving as role
models for employees (employees being the focus of this part of the book).

Leading and Following
Organizations succeed or fail not only because of how well they are led, but because of how
well followers follow. Just as managers are not necessarily good leaders, people are not always
good followers. One leadership scholar stated, “Executives are given subordinates; they have
to earn followers.”29 But it’s also true that good followers help produce good leadership.

As a manager, you will be asked to play the roles of both leader and follower. As you lead
the people who report to you, you will report to your boss. You will be a member of some
teams and task forces, and you may head others. Although the official leadership roles get
the glamour and therefore are the roles that many people covet, followers must perform
their responsibilities conscientiously and well.

Good followership doesn’t mean merely obeying orders, although some bosses may view
it that way. The most effective followers are capable of independent thinking and at the same
time are actively committed to organizational goals.30 Exhibit 12.3 lists additional behaviors
of effective followers. Robert Townsend, who led a legendary turnaround at Avis, said that
the most important characteristic of a follower may be the willingness to tell the truth.31

The best followers master skills that are useful to their organizations, and they hold per-
formance standards that are higher than required. Effective followers may not get the glory,
but they know their contributions to the organization are valuable. And as they make those
contributions, they study leaders in preparation for their own leadership roles.32

Effective followers also distinguish themselves from ineffective ones by their enthusiasm
and commitment to the organization and to a person or purpose—an idea, a product—other
than themselves or their own interests.

Power and Leadership

1. Volunteering to handle tasks or help accomplish goals.

2. Accepting assignments in a willing manner.

3. Exhibiting loyalty to the group.

4. Voicing differences of opinion, but supporting the group’s decisions.

5. Offering suggestions.

6. Maintaining a positive attitude, even in confusing or trying times.

7. Working effectively as a team member.

EXHIBIT 12.3
Behaviors of Effective
Followers

SOURCE: Adapted from Holden Leadership Center, University of Oregon, http://leadership.uoregon.edu/resources/
exercises_tips/skills/followership.

Central to effective leadership is power—the ability to influence other people.33 In organiza-
tions, this influence often means the ability to get things done or accomplish one’s goals
despite resistance from others.

Sources of Power
One of the earliest and still most useful approaches to understanding power identifies five
important potential sources of power.34 Exhibit 12.4 shows those power sources.

LO 4

power

The ability to influence
others.

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Legitimate Power The leader with legitimate power has the right, or the authority, to
tell others what to do; employees are obligated to comply with legitimate orders. For exam-
ple, a supervisor tells an employee to remove a safety hazard, and the employee removes the
hazard because he has to obey the authority of his boss. In contrast, when a staff person
lacks the authority to give an order to a line manager, the staff person has no legitimate
power over the manager. As you might guess, managers have more legitimate power over
their direct reports than they do over their peers, bosses, and others inside or outside their
organizations.35

Reward Power The leader who has reward power influences others because she con-
trols valued rewards; people comply with the leader’s wishes in order to receive those
rewards. For example, a manager works hard to achieve her performance goals to get a posi-
tive performance review and a big pay raise from her boss. On the other hand, if a company
directive dictates that everyone receive the same salary increase, a leader’s reward power
decreases because he or she is unable to give higher raises.

Coercive Power The leader with coercive power has control over punishments; people
comply to avoid those punishments. For instance, a manager implements an absenteeism
policy that administers disciplinary actions to offending employees. A manager has less
coercive power if, say, a union contract limits her ability to punish. In general, lower-level
managers have less legitimate, coercive, and reward power than do middle and higher-level
managers.36

Referent Power The leader with referent power has personal characteristics that appeal
to others; people comply because of admiration, personal liking, a desire for approval, or
a desire to be like the leader. For example, young, ambitious managers emulate the work
habits and personal style of a successful, charismatic executive. An executive who is incom-
petent, disliked, and less respected has little referent power.

Expert Power The leader who has expert  power has certain expertise or knowledge;
people comply because they believe in, can learn from, or can otherwise gain from that
expertise. For example, a seasoned sales manager gives her salespeople some tips on how

EXHIBIT 12.4
Sources of Leader Power

Authority

Control over
rewards

Control over
punishments

Appealing
personal

characteristics

Leader
Power

Expertise

SOURCE: Adapted from French, J. R. P. and Raven, B., “The Bases of Social Power,” Studies in Social Power, ed.
D. Cartwright. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, 1959.

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to close a deal. The salespeople then alter their sales techniques because they respect the
manager’s expertise. However, this manager may lack expert power in other areas, such as
finance; thus her salespeople may ignore her advice concerning financial matters.

People who are in a position that gives them the right to tell others what to do, who can
reward and punish, who are well liked and admired, and who have expertise on which other
people can draw will be powerful members of the organization.

All of these sources of power are potentially important. Although it is easy to assume
that the most powerful bosses are those who have high legitimate power and control major
rewards and punishments, it is important not to underestimate the more personal sources
such as expert and referent powers. Additional personal sources of power that do not neces-
sarily stem from one’s position or level within an organization include access to information
and the strength of one’s informal network.37

Traditional Approaches to Understanding Leadership

EXHIBIT 12.5
Personal Attributes That
Aid Leader Effectiveness

Drive

Leadership
motivation

Integrity

Self-confidence

Knowledge of
the business

Leader
E�ectiveness

Three traditional approaches to studying leadership are the trait approach, the behavioral
approach, and the situational approach.

Leader Traits
The trait approach is the oldest leadership perspective; it focuses on individual leaders and
attempts to determine the personal characteristics (traits) that great leaders share. What set
Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandela, Julius Caesar, and George Washington apart from the
crowd? The trait approach assumes the existence of a leadership personality and assumes
that leaders are born, not made.

From 1904 to 1948, researchers conducted more than 100 leadership trait studies.38 At
the end of that period, management scholars concluded that no particular set of traits is
necessary for a person to become a successful leader. Enthusiasm for the trait approach
diminished, but some research on traits continued. By the mid-1970s, a more balanced view
emerged: Although no traits ensure leadership success, certain characteristics are poten-
tially useful. The current perspective is that some some personal characteristics—many of
which a person need not be born with but can strive to acquire—contribute to leader effec-
tiveness (see Exhibit 12.5).39

1. Drive. Drive refers to a set of characteristics that reflect a high level of effort. Drive
includes high need for achievement, constant striving for improvement, ambition,

LO 5

trait approach

A leadership perspective
that attempts to determine
the personal characteristics
that great leaders share.

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