Unit 4: Leveraging Power

4a. Assess the impact of various leadership approaches and how they compare to managerial styles

  • Why is it important to understand leadership styles?
  • Why should you understand your leadership style?
  • What makes someone a leader?
  • How are leaders and managers different?

Consider the importance and influence of leadership in an organization. Different leadership styles and attributes can produce very different results.

Being a leader can help you in your career and your personal life. If you aspire to become a leader, consider the value of identifying people with the attributes you admire and trying to learn from them. In business, it is useful to identify an executive who exhibits these leadership traits and see if he/she will agree to be a mentor.

In any organization, there will be leaders and managers. These roles are not necessarily the same, and given certain circumstances, there may be a need for one or the other, and sometimes both. Think about what you want a leader in your department to accomplish. How do you define leadership success?

As a manager, perhaps it is time to fill a vacancy in your company. What skills would you look for in that specific job? What will this manager need to accomplish? What team will they manage, and what does that team need the most in a manager? How is a leader different from a manager?

There are four types of leaders: directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented. Directive leaders provide specific directions to their employees. Supportive leaders offer emotional support to employees. Participative leaders ensure that employees are involved in making important decisions. Achievement-oriented leaders set goals for employees and encourage them to reach their goals.

When we think of leaders, we consider individuals who can create a vision, motivate others to support the vision, encourage employees to excel at what they do, and are the founders of the company culture. Managers take on the responsibility for creating the plans necessary to achieve the vision and provide the day-to-day direction necessary for the business to operate efficiently.

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4b. Explain modern theories of leadership and how these relate to influencing workers

  • What are the various types of leaders?
  • Can you describe the different leadership styles?

Much can be learned from studying the different leadership styles, especially for those who aspire to lead. These leadership styles are the most popular in management today:

  • Charismatic leaders seem to have a magnetic personality, draw people in, and become easy for employees to follow.
  • Transformational leaders encourage and inspire employees to develop themselves and often give people responsibility to see what they can accomplish.
  • Servant leaders serve the people who work for them and do what they can to remove obstacles from their path so work can easily be accomplished.
  • Authentic leaders are transparent with information and very self-aware of how they impact others.
  • Laissez-faire leaders have a hands-off management approach and allow employees the freedom to complete their work with little interference.

Good leaders are required by any organization, public or private, to achieve all their goals and objectives, create a culture of respect, and develop a team of motivated people who truly want the organization to succeed. Many organizations today look for a specific leadership style in new hires to manage departments that need that kind of leader. For example, a transformational leader may be matched with a department that requires drastic changes. Or a department with mostly employees who have worked for decades for the organization might be matched with a servant leader who can assist with removing obstacles and stay out of employees' way as they complete their work.

Remember, leaders can be made. By identifying the skills and attributes of leadership, you may be able to determine where there is a skills gap or which manager is right for specific departments. You can also assist in determining how the company will move forward productively.

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4c. Differentiate the areas of power in leadership

  • How do scarce organizational resources and competing interests between departments influence how leaders exercise different types of power?
  • What role does emotional intelligence play in a leader's ability to choose and apply appropriate forms of power?

At some time in your life, you have had someone exercise power over you, from parents and family, teachers and professors, and supervisors at work. You may have also experienced when you had the power in some supervisory or management role. Power means influencing others to achieve goals.

While someone may have power, they may never use it or use it too often. Some managers may never have been trained to be managers or could have been placed in their roles because they were good employees. Good leaders understand the power of influence – the ability to affect others' behavior through persuasion rather than authority – and use it to gain employee support or consensus.

One type of power may be more appropriate than another in a certain circumstance. One attribute of leadership is the ability to apply the kind of power most likely to achieve the desired outcome. This is one of the attributes of emotional intelligence (EI).

In an organization, politics is the process of influencing others and their actions to accomplish something useful to the individual or the individual's team or department. Think about what you have read about organizational politics in this unit and how you might observe it in business. 

Organizations are coalitions of individuals and interest groups that form because the members need each other's support. There are enduring differences among individuals and groups in values, preferences, beliefs, information, and perception of reality. Most important decisions in organizations involve allocating scarce resources: decisions about who gets what. Because of scarce resources and enduring differences, conflict is central to organizational dynamics, and power is the most important resource. Organizational goals and decisions emerge from bargaining, negotiating, and jockeying for positions among members of different coalitions.

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Unit 4 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • achievement-oriented leader
  • authentic leader
  • charismatic leader
  • directive leader
  • influence
  • laissez-faire leader
  • participative leader
  • power
  • servant leader
  • supportive leader
  • transformational leader
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