By: Christopher Boyne
When one is in a leadership position, they are often thought of as having power and influence over their followers. A ruler or a king can be associated with the characterization of power by authoritatively ruling over their followers. “Power is the capacity to produce effects on others” (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 3), and power does not always have to be authoritative, but can involve the leader, the followers, and the situation. Influence is often described as being interchangeable with power, but there is a distinct difference. Influence is the change in one’s “…attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors as a result of influence tactics” (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 3). There are man different types of influence tactics that are used, and they measure the degree of actual change, while power measures the capacity to cause change (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 3). Different types of power can be used to describe the leadership situation at a hotel, where a leader’s management tactics can be studied using this approach.
John is a front desk manager at a hotel, and has ten employees working for him. His duties involve supervising these employees and ensuring that guests get checked into their desired room properly. He also has customer service duties, which include making sure each guest enjoys their hotel stay and gets all the appropriate accommodations. In different leadership scenarios, John can use many different types of power.
John uses expert power or the power of knowledge when there is a guest complaint or an employee issue (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 5). He is highly trained in the field of hospitality with 15 years of guest services experience, and a bachelor’s degree in hospitality. In overall knowledge of the hospitality field, John has the most experience and knowledge of all the front desk staff at the hotel. Expert power is not always only a function of the leader though. John has only worked at this particular hotel for six months, and has not fully mastered the computer software used at the front desk. One of his employees, Jennifer, has worked with the particular software for a number of years, and is highly efficient with using it. In this case, Jennifer has expert power over John.
Referent power is both a function of the leader and the follower, and is “…the potential influence one has due to the strength of the relationship between the leader and followers” (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 5). John is liked by his employees, and has a good relationship with all of them. One employee though, has received many guest complaints recently because he is slow at checking people in and checking people out of the hotel. Due to John’s referent power, he has a good relationship with his employee, but this type of power has its downsides. Since John desires to keep his referent power with his employees, he is having a difficult time in disciplining or terminating the slow worker, which is ultimately having a negative affect on the organization because they are receiving poor reviews.
John also exhibits legitimate power because he ultimately has formal authority over his employees (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 5). He is an assigned leader, and not an emergent leader. He was assigned the position of manager to lead and supervise his employees. Though leadership and management are not synonymous (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 5), John has strong leadership qualities, and was hired in part because of that. This type of power is only a function of the leader.
Unlike legitimate power, reward power in certain situations is a function of the leader, the followers, and the situation. Reward power “…involves the potential to influence others due to one’s control over desired resources” (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 5). In this scenario, only John has reward power to give employees raises, promotions, and can choose the employee of the month. This type of power can prove to be problematic in that employees can show compliance and willingness to get the rewards, but not show commitment to the company. For instance, John recently developed an incentive program when an employee was able to upgrade a guest; they received a twenty-dollar Target gift card. This shows compliance to get the reward, but this does not mean the employee is anymore committed to the company (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 5).
John exhibits strong referent power, and reward power, and does not display coercive power. This is the opposite of reward power, and instead of rewarding employees for good work; this type of power “…controls employees through the fear of punishment” (PSU WC Lesson 7, 2014, p. 5). John has a good relationship with all of his employees, and does not show this type of power.
Contrary to the idea that power involves ultimate authority, a leader can exhibit multiple types of power in certain situations. Power can involve the leader, the followers, and the situation, contributing to the design that power is dynamic and can include multiple factors. Though there is no one perfect leadership power approach, using multiple types of power depending the circumstance can lead to a successful leader. In this example, John displays many types of power to be an effective leader.
References
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2014). PSYCH 485 lesson 7: Power and influence. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp14/psych485/001/content/07_lesson/01_page.html
sak992 says
Based on your description of John, it sounds like he has high supportive behavior and low directive. According to Northhouse, this would classify John as Supporting Leader; “with this approach, the leader does not focus exclusively on the goals but uses supportive behaviors that bring out the employees skills around the task to be accomplished” (Northouse 2013). With this style, John listens, asks for input and gives feedback to his employees.
As you called out, John is reluctant to be too truthful with his team leading to the poor reviews the organization is receiving. Continuing this behavior will eventually result in poor reviews for John. One of the first leaders I worked with used to say all the time, “Respect your employees enough to tell them the truth about their performance. Any thing short of honesty will harm them, you and the company”. John should embrace that idea and he will find his leadership will be strengthened.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications