Power Influence Approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Power Influence Approach - Essay Example This view of leadership that talk about power and how it is used to influence people in order to get the job done. Power influence approach sees power as the central element of leadership and is interested in finding how leaders assume and lose power. The influence of power is considered important in this approach because it makes people follow the leader. Power influence approach also explains how a leader can use his or her power to influence not only subordinates but also peers, customers, and suppliers (Yukul, 2010). The French and Raven (1959) model outlines five sources of power namely expert, referent, reward, coercive, and legitimate. These sources can be used to assume power and then can be used to ‘influence’ subordinates. Expert power comes from unique set of knowledge and skill that builds trust of subordinates and in turn subordinates follow the leader. Doctors and high tech engineers can have expert power. Reward power is the power to delegate rewards and this can also make employees follow their leader. Referent power is related to personal approval and acceptance. Celebrities and political figures have this power usually. Coercive power breeds compliance by use of threats and punishment. Legitimate power stems from the position or job title of a leader. All these sources of power can be used to influence employees. This approach is extremely effective because power can be used to get the job done. People are usually influenced by power and therefore the relationship between power and leadership seems strong. Also this approach takes a very natural look at leadership and simply suggests how employees can be made to follow their bosses. Weaknesses of this approach are quite obvious. Power is always not a good thing for building relationships. Managers might use power to influence employees but this might undermine employee satisfaction. Moreover power sometimes underpins creativity as people begin to follow a