Essay: Change and lead

Completion of a study of my position as a leader at work

I am going to start this study by looking at the different approaches to power and why power is needed as a leader to influence others.

Power

Having power is the ability to make a person agree and say “yes”. A leader has a need to create power to influence others to get the work done. “true leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders.” (Robert Townsend).

There are many sources of power but I think charismatic or referent power seems to be the most effective and the least affected by change.

“Coercive power relies on the fact that people fear you, and reward power is only effective so long as people value the rewards you have to offer. Legitimate power relies on your rank in the company hierarchy, and recent events such as white-collar downsizing have shown how quickly that can change for any level of management. Expert power lasts as long as no one else knows as much as you do. Referent power is the only source that seems maintainable”. (Argenti, 2002, p.94)

By having a combination of referent power and authority power can create substantial influences on my employees. I think authority can be taken away but having referent power is part of someone’s personality, If you like that person you are more likely to follow them and buy into their ideas. I will go into more detail about this later.

Henderson & Moskos (1985) reported that the Soviet leadership described referent power as being “probably the most powerful form of leader influence” (p. 139).
In a study conducted by Podsakoff and Schreisheim it was reported that only power with referent and expert bases created consistent positive effects on the motivation of subordinates (Chemers, 1997). The results of these studies are powerful examples of how authority combined with referent power can enable me to have a great influence to motivate, influence and improve the productivity of subordinates.

Referent power must be developed, but how?

1. Time and Association. According to Henderson & Moskos (1985) before referent power can be developed there is a basic pair of foundations that must be in place: First, both parties must expect “the relationship to endure for an extended period” (p. 133). And second, there must be “close, frequent, and structured association” (p. 133).
2. Charisma is the key component of referent authority. Charisma is a person’s powerful likable personality; it is a personality that attracts people and gains their admiration. It is a characteristic of a person that captures people’s attention, usually by exemplifying the same vision or values of those who are attracted to the agent. They are positive, inspiring and confident and display characteristics that other people identify with and wish to model.
3. Nurturing. Another component of developing referent leadership is nurturing. According to Thompson (1996) a referent leader takes an interest in the feelings of other people and exhibits concern for them. They know the “aspirations, fears, capabilities, and attitudes” (Henderson & Moskos, 1985, p. 112) of others and they help people feel capable and good about themselves (DuBrin, 1995). These traits help to create friendship and over a longer period of time loyalty.
4. Being a good role model / Being trustworthy. In order to have people drawn to you it is important that they respect you. Being a good role model, being truthful and being trustworthy will reinforce that respect.

Why is referent power so important as a leader at work?
I think using referent power is so important because it makes my colleagues carry out tasks like they would for a friend, they do not think about why they are doing it, they just do it. This is mainly to please me down to my trustworthiness and good character. When referent power is coupled with my expert power my colleagues think ‘He knows best so I will carry out his actions’. People’s feelings at work can sometimes be difficult to read. Sometimes I think “are they annoyed with me, a supplier, another colleague, have problems at home, unwell or generally having a bad day and feeling low”. What can I do to motivate them? This is when the use of power becomes difficult, no matter what you do, the process is slowed down and it takes time and effort to get the work done. When someone is generally feeling low, I think power is then reversed in their favour and I end up doing things for them to help them get through. In time, this will gain respect for me as a leader.

Influence through communication as my role as a leader

From the activities carried out, my communication skills could be improved. I agree how Clemons, 2003 expresses how important it is to have your subordinates informed, so that management can lead effectively. The word ‘Communication’ as explained by Donald Clark (1997), means the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another, and in the context of leadership and communication, I would suggest that communication is one of the essential elements of leadership. Effective communication is when one of my colleagues catches the exact information or idea that I intend to convey. Many a time, misinterpretation of a message is caused amongst my team due to physical and psychological barriers filtering the original message. I think having a charismatic personality encourages the subordinate to listen because they admire you more than if you just had formal authority. The subordinate becomes interested in what you have to say through general respect.

I think a good leader controls the direction of a subordinate, to help map out a positive future for the company. I think this can be done through the theory of rhetoric communication. Aristotle defines rhetoric as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion,” (Aristotle’s Rhetoric Book 1, 1356a). Aristotle explains three ways in which persuasion is accomplished. They are ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos refers to the character of the speaker. Logos refers to the strengths and weaknesses of our arguments. Pathos refers to the emotions of the audience. I think having an equal balance of emotion is productive between a leader and a subordinate. A subordinate should be praised often for good work, but mistakes should be dealt with not so much discipline that it knocks their confidence. I have learnt this normally leads to more mistakes being made and have found a decline in productivity due to subordinates frustration. Subordinates should be all treated with the same emotion to eliminate bullying or favouritism. I think this in return gains greater respect from the subordinate that they are all treated equally.

It’s easy for me to think that the less I say, the less conflict I will have, but we can say a lot without speaking. Our body posture and facial expression will convey a message even if we don’t say anything. The best way for me is to plan what I’m going to say and clear my head of distractions to communicate effectively and positively.

Actions suggested for my continued development as a leader.

From the activities performed in the appendices my continued development will aid the following:

Increase communication
Reduce communication barriers and concentrate on how to put ideas and thoughts effectively into words. Improve posture, eye contact, facial expressions, hand gestures, and ways of using effective body language.

Influence others more
Create a vision, be more positive and have an optimistic attitude on how to achieve wishes for the future.

Inject trust in others
I can’t do everything myself as a leader, I should delegate more to others and have the confidence to leave them to it. This will in return inspire confidence in others

Conclusion

I have learnt having authority, knowledge and money can provide yourself with power but as a leader if you want people to follow without force you need referent power. Referent power has a large impact on the productive influence of others and a positive effect on emotions. A leaders position will be more enjoyable with the respect and admiration of others. Referent power helps to build relationships and breakdown communication barriers. Liking a person goes a long way in business.