To be the leader who will inspire your team to success, you need to focus more on being influential, rather than holding onto power to accomplish strategic results. Influencing power involves building personal strength. In an African workplace, creating an environment where everyone is confident and relaxed in their abilities and inspiring creative, critical thinking is what influence can achieve instead of using power. However, the relationship between influence and power is vital to any good leader.
Traditionally, power in a workplace was defined as dominance, force, strength, assertiveness, authority, and invincibility. It is no surprise that often it is the most dominant or powerful that make it to the top. The rule of thumb when it comes to rising in leadership position involves behaviors such as strength, aggression, dominance, and force.
Organizations comprised of a variety of humans that have degrees of power confined to them through a title, expertise, interpersonal relationships, personality force, access to resources and specialized knowledge.
Sources of Power
- Legitimate Power: Positional or legitimate power is gotten from organization’s hierarchy. This source of power can only be efficient if the person earned it in the right way like the CEO of a title of a company.
- Expert power: This power is gotten from expertise or knowledge in a given area that is highly valued by a company. Expert power is deemed indispensable because of the problem-solving skills it possesses.
- Referent Power: Referent power arises from an interpersonal relationship. The person is charismatic and can easily influence others.
- Coercive Power: People who have coercive power can command influence through sanctions, punishments, and threats.
- Reward Power: The reward power has a significant influence on us through promotions, positive appraisals, and salary increment.
Women make use of referent and expert power more in organizations rather than the legitimate and reward power to make their raise up the leadership ladder.
However, leadership and power have been redefined over the years. Most of us are no longer comfortable embracing leadership that is centered on dominance and force. The I-centric has moved to We-centric in many corporations. Women can get to the top of a leadership position if they can be aware of how.
Even if you are political, the use of power may not be able to equal politics. It may not be right to transform into a Machiavellian character before you can amass more power than you can imagine into your career.
For people who are political, the use of power may not be able to equal politics. It may not be right to transform into a Machiavellian character before you can amass more power than you can imagine into your career.
When you concentrate your energy on improving your power level, you will realize that you no longer depend entirely on politics to build success and influence in your career. You should be aware that been genuine can help you avoid damaging your relationships with others. You need to be good at balancing power and influence if you must make a head-on in your career.
