Not everyone who has been promoted to a leading role will accept the dogma outlined above. However, at moments when we feel frustrated by the slowness or difficulty of leadership, we can help ourselves with accelerated actions corresponding to leadership "from above".
Our strength in this case lies in the ability to act. Power means having the necessary authority or decision-making rights to gather together people, information, money, plus other materials, and being able to make decisions about them. In many ways, though, the concept of power is unclear; indeed, it can be confusing, vague and quite complex, often implying various misleading ideas.
According to a general definition, power is neither positive nor negative, neither good nor bad. When power is used ethically and fairly, it can be considered a good thing. Of course, if a leader with the power to do something positive reserves that power for whatever other reason, then a different image of power comes into play, namely the negative one.
There is no doubt leaders in any organisation must understand how power is an important tool in the suite. They must recognise their own strengths and know how to use them effectively and ethically. They need to understand how to increase their positive effects and reduce the negative ones.
Although power is an abstract concept, leaders can make it completely real and tangible in their decisions. The idea of the distribution of power is somewhat more abstract. Power can be divided into different levels, geographical areas, businesses, functions and people. Strength can come from many sources: strength of position, strength of expertise, strength of relationship, strength of information, strength of referent, strength of coercion, and strength of reward.
The leader's threefold dilemma
Power brings a triple dilemma to a leader:
- Do I use my power and authority?
- Or my personal influence?
- Or will I create a vision and involve people?
Although this may seem like a false dilemma, as most leaders will use all available tools, each aspect outlined above presents different challenges, consequences, and potentially different results. These differences stem from how stakeholders respond and deliver feedback to the leader. Interestingly, an examination of the social contract implied in each of these three aspects leads to the following deductions:
- Strength and authority can cause compliance
- Influence can produce cooperation
- Visionary, purposeful leadership can stimulate engagement
Managers must decide how to do things based on the company culture, the individuals involved, and the challenges. Leadership is a mutual relationship. Leaders influence stakeholders; stakeholders are involved and have an impact on the leader. The feedback loop creates positive lead cycles. Purposeful, principled vision-based leadership is strong: it means, in fact, that you are sometimes a leader and sometimes a follower. The power to do things is in a relationship and feedback loop. If you can put together a team of leaders guided by a common vision and set of goals, you will create a force capable of penetrating the future from a different direction.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Define your power in your current position. What decisions can you make without getting permission from your supervisor?
- Looking back on the history of your leadership, what were your most positive “power” practices?
- What have been your most negative experiences with using your power?
It is useful to conduct a similar personal "energy probe" on a regular basis to obtain a better idea of what your strength is and whether the way you use it is in line with your moral compass.
The article is based on the book "Become: The Five Commitments of Purposeful Leadership".
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