Source of Power in Leadership

Our ability to effect change is greatly influenced by our recognition of different kinds of power, how we use it and where we get it from. When leading within our authority we often draw a log of our power from our position, our professional training or the expertise and experience we have gained in our career. Moving into a Leadership role where our specialist knowledge and position may not count for the same, we need to understand where our power and influence comes from, and find other sources of authority.

It's not that power is different when you lead within and beyond your authority but, if you are leading beyond your authority, different sources of power work to different degrees.

Some of the sources of power are

1. 
   
   The power of position : This comes with the position you hold, that you were appointed or elected to, or that you have created for yourself. A leader is less likely to be able to call upon their position when Leading change and will have less access to the resources and authority that comes with it.


2. 
   
   The Power of Personality: This comes from your strength of character, your energy you generate around you because of who you are as a person.


3. 
   
   The Power of ideas: This is acquired through the quality of your ideas, your creativity. Leading change requires leaders to deal with greater complexity and uncertainty. In doing so, much of their power will come from the ability to generate new ideas and ability to connect with diverse groups of people.


4. 
   
   The power to communicate: This is your ability to get across an idea or message in a way which resonates with people, both individually and in groups. For example, communication will become increasingly important when people are not obliged to work with or for you. The need to be able to communicate a clear direction, listen to many and varied people and be able to resonate with people will allow a leader to build greater support.


5. 
   
   The power to connect: This is the power you gain if you able to see connections and overlaps and use your networks to bring all the pieces together.


6. 
   
   The power to reward: This comes from your ability to reward people financially or through recognition. Part of this power is also the freedom to remove people from situations where they are not succeeding.

Most people have had to draw on different source of power throughout their life. Some may have in family situations, when on committees, organizing social or charity events or just influencing friends. However recognizing them and using them more consciously can be quite a challenge.

R.Ramakrishnan

22nd Aug 2008