Power and influence are words that people tend to think goes hand-in-hand. However, they are not exactly the same, are they? You may not be able to have one without the other, however, you can have much more of one than the other. Which brings up an interesting question: Which one is more important and works better in the theme of leadership?
The word “power” is almost always used to describe individuals who are strong, rigorous, mighty, and capable. This isn’t necessarily true. Sometimes, leaders are not people we would like to idolize—we can think of several dictators who might be considered powerful, like Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini. These leaders may have appeared strong and mighty on the outside, but when we really look at these individuals, they were filled with weakness and stultification. They used their power and influence for selfish reasons, and the way they garnered power was not long-lasting, ultimately causing their downfall and demise. Our leaders in today’s world can take a note from their downfall, without trying to suggest extremities of course. Putting energy into the right things in important when in leadership, and in this case, one’s influence is more important than one’s power. “The powerful are not necessarily harder working, more intelligent, or more admirable than the rest, but rather the exact opposite is often the case. It is proposed that genuine power and influence reverses the power paradigm, where the leader focuses primarily on the vision ahead more than on self, and partners with and enables others to reach shared goals” (Drew, 2010).
The difference between power and Influence. (2021, July 15). GetSmarter blog. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://www.getsmarter.com/blog/career-advice/difference-power-influence/
Influence can be given and spread ten-fold and it only grows. However, if power is given away, it is then reduced. If you give half of your duties away to someone else, that person then becomes powerful, too, yet you become less so. Influence is different in this way. It is also changing how other’s perceive things, rather than forcing a change upon them. “With power leadership, you can influence how others act, but it won’t necessarily change what people believe and how committed they are” (Sonalsart, 2021). Influence comes out of place of genuine and sincere skills. Perhaps, people admire your experience and expertise in a subject, so they trust your take on anything regarding it. This is something we like to call, “expert power.” Perhaps, people have come to know and understand an individual to be reliable, capable, strong, sturdy, trustworthy—so they come to respect that individual, thus giving them the power to influence them. This is what we call, “referent power,” and it is only given to the leader by the people they’ve sincerely influenced. It has be realized, “…that effective leadership is not founded on coercion, or indeed surveillance, but on the credibility of the leader to engage the willing involvement of others” (Drew, 2010). Influence leaders lead without these negatively connotated words, and are generally more likable due to this. Those who lead in this way seek to understand their followers, and put energy into improving and developing these individuals, reaping the rewards of a strong fellowship after strengthening their team. Those who lead with only power, or those who “control others through the fear of punishment or the loss of valued outcomes” (PSU WC, 2022) have what is called, “coercive power.”
Leadership power: Six Degrees of differentiation. Edward Lowe Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://edwardlowe.org/leadership-power-six-degrees-of-differentiation/
Forcing power upon a followership can instill fear and create a culture that does not strive towards their goals as well they could with encouragement and feedback. This is why power leadership fails many of times. Power leadership does not encourage feedback and problem solving, leading to a lack of motivation and productivity. This type of leadership can also have too much of a focus on the possibility of failure, and punishment for failing as a follower is ever-looming. However, with an influencer, failure is a given—it is how one responds to failure that is important! Punishment is not a given in these environments, but a reworked plan and improved action is. These leaders do not act as privileged rulers, but as someone who their followers can turn to for advice and direction. Power leaders are ones who might simply bark out orders.
Burbank, Carol. (2014, March 30). 4 principles for using your leadership power. Leading with Trust. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://leadingwithtrust.com/2014/03/30/4-principles-for-using-your-leadership-power/
Although this may give the word “power” a negative connotation, it is all about how power is used. “Leaders can use power to benefit others or to constrain them, to serve the organization’s goals or to undermine them” (Granite State College). This is only to say that the way we use our power and influence is most important. It can be used is harmful, selfish ways, but this can only result in eventual failure. Using power and influence to serve rather than to gain will still benefit one greatly. Giving to and supporting others leaves the most positive, successful impact, and creates a culture of motivation, productivity, and ultimate success. Perhaps, being a knowledgeable, kind, and inspirational leader is most important. “This reminds us, at base, that the ability to reflect on one’s actions is a most vital leadership capability” (Drew, 2010).
There are many ways to be powerful in this world. However, it is believed that those who lead with knowledge and full commitment to their followership are the ones who truly have the most power and influence. Their communication, honesty, ability to admit failure and learn from errors, and supportive ways are what brings them success and power. Those who are not willing to communicate openly and learn from failures are those who often fail eventually themselves—even if they held power for some time. We have seen this with many world leaders, corporate CEOs, and even small group leaders. Using influence to lead others gives consistency and fortifies a solid, common goal for the group influenced. This is why using influential power is so effective, and more important than power alone.
References
Drew, G. M. (2010). Enabling or “real” power and influence in leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies (Hoboken, N.J.), 4(1), 47-58. https://doi.org/10.1002/jls.20154
Graduate Studies, G. S. C. (n.d.). Power and influence. Cultivating Your Leadership Capabilities. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://granite.pressbooks.pub/ld820/chapter/4/
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2022). PSYCH 485 Lesson 7: Power and Influence: Introduction to Power and Influence. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2177519/modules/items/33991730
Sonalsart. (2021, November 13). What is the power and influence theory of leadership? sonalsartcom. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://sonalsart.com/what-is-the-power-and-influence-theory-of-leadership/
HI Shaelin, I think your blog post is very insightful and it helps people better understand the concept of power and influence. Knowing the difference between both power and influence is important because power is as you described, makes someone strong, rigorous and capable. When I think of this, I think of someone who is capable of maintaining that influence. Meanwhile an influence may be someone who is desired or interested by the follower so they participate in the actions or behaviors of the influencer. The concepts of power and influence are so important when considering how to be an efficient leader. Leaders should keep a good balance of influence as well as power. An imbalance of either two may lead to followers to stray away or become less faithful to the leader. Your statement in your post, “Forcing power upon a followership can instill fear and create a culture that does not strive towards their goals as well they could with encouragement and feedback.” Fear may be a setback from followers to their leaders if the power is also forced. For example, taking advantage of that power is harmful and instead of spending time finding ways to reach a goal, followers will use that energy to figure out ways to over power that leader.
I really appreciated this topic. I recently was reading about Power as it related to conflict, so I was drawn to your blog post. There is a relational nature of power that is also inherent to how we are studying leadership this semester (process of interaction between leader and follower). Power almost always involved the use of resources and thus effective leadership is knowing skillful and appropriate use of resources also. The effective power move is a play on resources often enough. Influence can also involve resources, but definitely not in the same type of manner as power plays. I would counter your argument that it’s actually more about the skillful nature and appropriate use of resource which gets the job done and not power or influence.
Those can be helpful but really its about the right moves to get the job done… resources can be monetary, hardware, software, people, time, and energy as well. A skillful leader is keen to employ the right resources to get the job done and sometimes that means oscillating between power and influence as needed.
For example, a major change was needed for a team I manage and while I need to make this change, to appropriately track and manage resources, I can’t ensure that everyone will buy in to the change. However, the change is necessary. I was able to exert influence over my colleagues to inspire motivation, but power over the team followers essentially because their buy in is nice to have, but I don’t need it to get the job done. And managing the resources effectively, in a way that creates accountability and equity for the entire enterprise is more important from a RESOURCE perspective. I will use both power and influence to make this change.
THanks for sharing! Loved reading your post and it made me reflect a bit…
ResourcesL Joseph P. Folger, Marshall Scott Poole, and Randall K. Stutman, Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups, and Organizations (Chapter 5, “Power: The Architecture of Conflict,” pp. 143-166).