power Which bases lie within the individual? Which are derived from the organization? How are power and politics related? Personal powers such as expert power, rational persuasion, reference power, and coalition power are the powers that are the bases of the individual. Organizational powers include reward, power, process power, information power, representative power, and coercive power. Power and politics are related through people. Organizations want leaders, people who have skills and the ability to influence others. These same people make up our government, leaders who have the influence to persuade the masses. (Schermerhorn)
It has long been a dictum of management theory that leaders must adapt their behavior to fit the specifics of a situation. Evaluate whether transformational leadership is appropriate for all occasions. In which situations might it not be effective and which theories might be effective instead? Transformational leadership is not appropriate for all situations. Though it is a very effective type of leadership, in situations where transformational leadership is based on charisma, inspiration, and intellectual stimulation other types of leadership would be better options. All leadership styles are applicable to all situations but it is the level in which they are appropriate and effective that a manager has to determine so that they know which type to use. The effectiveness is the key to achieving the goals of the manager thus knowing which type to use in each situation is a key to successful leadership.
How do emerging leadership theories support innovation and entrepreneurial spirit within organizations?
Emerging leadership theories define leadership as it grows and develop and aids in teaching managers how to lead effectively. The emerging leadership is a collection of strong points in historical leadership strengths and combines these ideas with current management ideas. This combination of old strengths and new ideas allows freedom and encourages free thinking and creativity in management. The emerging leadership style also encourages input so that ideas from people with different backgrounds which gives diverse viewpoints of different situations. In my work experience our upper managers allow middle managers flexibility to and out given opportunities to practice their skills and abilities so that youth in a management sense is fostered. This will allow our company to continue to grow and expand in ideas and in business success.
Emerging Leadership Theories
Emerging leadership theories include leadermember exchange theory, where the leader has in and out groups; full-range leadership theory, which is a combination of the transactional and transformational approaches; as well as the Level-5 leadersomeone who integrates components of trait and full-range theory. One of the most significant emerging approaches has been servant leadership. Servant leadership is a philosophy of leadership that is gaining support as a style. The foundation for servant leadership has developed based on a worldview including religion, philosophy, and research. As a model, the focus is on leaders, their followers, and their stakeholders. This model is based on valuing all stakeholders, while acknowledging the characteristics of an effective servant leader. Philosophically, servant leadership has a strong foundation based on the concept of virtue. According to Patterson (2003), there has been a resurgence in the study of virtue and leadership with a focus on the rights of other people, or stakeholders, and the common good rather than just financial profits. Servant leadership includes seven dimensions related to virtue: "(a) love, (b) humility, (c) altruism, (d) vision, (e) trust, (f) empowerment, and (g) service. These constructs are virtues and become illuminated within a servant leadership context" (Patterson, 2003, p. 2). From a religious perspective, servant leadership is associated with Christian teachings. Greenleaf, while working as an executive at AT&T, created and introduced the concept of servant leadership as a leadership model as a practice in 1977. Although he applied the principle of servant leadership to organizations, he created this theoretical model after reading a story by Hesse about a spiritual pilgrimage (Sendjaya & Sarros, 2002). From a research perspective, although the theory has been known since 1977, it has gained momentum recently. This new momentum can be attributed in part to the challenges facing corporate leadership today, and to the fact that this model has survived the test of time. Over time, various definitions of servant leadership have been created. A current definition proposed by Greenleaf (2002), the creator of this theory of leadership, is as follows: The servant leader is servant first. Becoming a servant-leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of
the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions. For such people, it will be a later choice to serveafter leadership is established. The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them are the shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature. (pp. 24-25) Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurs are advised to evaluate the business environment and analyze the potential for changing business conditions (Kaplan, 2003). Effective entrepreneurs typically maintain a catalog of ideas, looking for the right opportunity. Success is found in the marriage of the right idea to the right set of environmental characteristics. Those characteristics include an understanding of the limited time horizon for opportunities. Most ideas have a window of opportunity where the market is ready to embrace a new product or service, there are fewer barriers to entry, and there is little to no direct competition. Other environmental characteristics include access to capital, legislative and legal considerations, manpower, infrastructure, available resources, security and secrecy, and the ability to drive market perception and product/service positioning. Sometimes government regulations create an entirely new market. Concerns over groundwater contamination by gas stations led to a number of start-up companies developing technologies for on-site testing to meet federal environmental regulations. The decommissioning and scrapping of older submarines led to one company reusing various stainless steel components for architectural features, such as floor gratings for beach front homes. The dot-com boom in the late 90s led to a huge amount of venture capital for projects that might otherwise not get off the ground. That same boom also led to improvements in infrastructure that allowed improved for high-speed data transmission. Additionally, some local governments provide incentives in terms of lower tax burdens, improvements in infrastructure, and investment matching to ensure that local citizens can find employment. All of these factors drive the decisions made by managers, especially in terms of strategy. Weaknesses and threats must be minimized, while strengths and opportunities exploited. Poor business infrastructure drives focus towards both finding alternatives and influencing decision makers. An effective infrastructure will allow companies to focus energies in other directions. A naturally secretive environment, such as a remote location, allows for greater freedom of movement away from the eyes of competitors. Environmental factors not only contribute to the success of an entrepreneurial organization, but they can determine its face and culture as well. Concept of Power Power is a tool that leaders must use wisely to influence their subordinates. The traditional sources of power depend on the organizational structure, culture, and the example of top executives. The elements of power for teams and team leaders are based on relationships. The concept of empowerment is a relatively new to the discussion of power, yet it is essential for
successful leadership of 21st-century organizations, especially those with a boundaryless structure. To determine effectiveness within an organization, it helps to have power. A manager or leader who wants to maximize power needs to increase follower or subordinate dependence in some form. Power and Its Consequences
Power is the ability of one person to influence another. The concept of authority is power vested in a position. Followers generally respond to power and authority by way of commitment, compliance, or resistance. The concentration and distribution of power within organizations can be understood as a means to determine organizational and leadership effectiveness. The effect of power in any organization is dependent on diversity and cultural uniqueness. Ethnic groups and cultures respond differently to the influence of power structures within organizations. Some of the traditional sources of power include:
Legitimate power Based on position and its authority Reward power Based on an exchange system relationship Coercive power Based on behavior that is forced Expert power Based on knowledge Referent power Based on power that is represented by another individual
While legitimate, reward, and coercive power depend on the organization and are more likely to lead to either compliance or resistance, whereas expert and referent power depend on the individual and are more likely to lead to follower commitment. In early leadership stages, leaders develop a base of power by building broad networks and establishing credibility through their expertise and demonstration of competence. In middle career stages, the challenge is to use power wisely and ethically, whereas, in later stages, the issue becomes empowering others that have been mentored to take over the leadership responsibilities. The focus for leadership development is to enhance personal power based on competence and relationship building that needs to occur between leaders and followers. The sources of power stemming from organizational structures are suggested to be the key to teams and a team leader's ability to effectively lead. These include:
1. The team's ability to help others cope with uncertainty by obtaining information that it
needs, preventing uncertainty by predicting and forecasting events, and absorbing uncertainty by preventing change from affecting other parts of the organization
2. The degree to which the team's activities are key and central to the overall mission and
goals of the organization
3. The extent to which the team's expertise is needed by others
The sources of power that are unique to executives include distribution of rewards and resources, control of decision criteria, and centrality in the information flow. Corruption of Power
The increased distance that can occur between leaders and followers which results from high power differential situations is probably the central cause of power corruption. Other causes include compliance of followers, flattery and compliments, and excessive access to resources, which all cause the leader to have an inflated view of him or herself. The following are some causes of power corruption:
The development of a separate morality by the leader can lead to unethical actions. The devaluation of subordinates can create a self-fulfilling prophecy that prevents delegation and empowerment and leads to further isolation and poor decision making.
Corruption of power usually causes poor decision making due to poor information acquisition. Poor decision making is one of the major consequences of excessive power. Some potential solutions to dealing with power corruption may include:
Reducing barriers that separate leaders and followers Use of objective measures of performance can reduce the followers' dependency on the leader's goodwill Prevention of corruption is fundamentally dependent on a change in organizational culture, structure, and most importantly, leadership.
Empowerment Empowerment is defined as the giving away and sharing of power with those who need it to perform their job. In spite of the difficulty in changing the culture of an organization to support empowerment efforts, when implemented well, empowerment has had many positive results.
CONCLUSION: People respond differently to the various power bases. Leadership utilizes various forms to accomplish it goals. Expert and referent power are derived from an individual's personal qualities. In contrast, coercion, reward, and legitimate power are essentially organizationally derived. Because people are more likely to enthusiastically accept and commit to an individual whom they admire or whose knowledge they respect, the effective use of expert and referent power should lead to higher employee performance, commitment, and satisfaction. Effective leaders or managers accept the political nature of the organizations in which they work. By assessing behavior in a political framework, leaders can better predict the actions of others and use this information to formulate political strategies that will gain advantages to enhancing organizational performance. Leadership is about relationships. It serves the members of the organization by assuming stewardship of both the health and welfare of an organization and its members. The transformational leader, like the entrepreneur, seeks to satisfy higher needs of the individual employee; displays enthusiasm and optimism; exhibits charisma; involves employees in the decision making process; is a mentor, teacher and an evangelist for change; and is prepared to handle a variety of challenges.