There are essentially two primary sources of power: positional power and personal power. As the name implies, positional power means that the leader’s power only comes from their title or position in management within an organization. Personal power, on the other hand, is a result of the leader’s individual influence over others. Personal power is basically a form of earned power in that is gained through the leader’s actions or behaviors toward others, as well as their work. However, the biggest difference between these two sources of power is that personal power also is given to a leader directly by their followership, while positional power is only in accordance with the individual’s official position or title.
Aside from having two separate …show more content…
A study by Taucean, Tamasila, & Negru-Strauti (2016), for example, suggests that expert and referent power are still the most prevalent types of power used in modern organizations. Furthermore, this study also determined that only 3.8% of employees report their leaders or managers as having any source of high power or influence within the organization. Nevertheless, there are a number of situations in which each type or source of power may be applicable and/or best suited for the given …show more content…
Therefore, one of the best ways to gain personal power is by building positive relationships with others. For instance, one can gain more personal power by improving either the referent power or connection power. A leader may seek out relationships with managers higher up in an organization or with managers in different organizations in order to gain access to the tools or resources that may help the team reach their organizational objectives or goals, which ultimately helps both the leader and the organization in return. A perfect example of this type of power is the relationship between Banfield Pet Hospital and PetSmart. Although the two companies share a single building, they actually are two completely separate businesses since different corporations own them. However, when I was working as a hospital manager for Banfield, I specifically went out of my way to develop a working relationship with both the managers and the associates of PetSmart because I knew they had an integral part in the success of the
Aside from having two separate …show more content…
A study by Taucean, Tamasila, & Negru-Strauti (2016), for example, suggests that expert and referent power are still the most prevalent types of power used in modern organizations. Furthermore, this study also determined that only 3.8% of employees report their leaders or managers as having any source of high power or influence within the organization. Nevertheless, there are a number of situations in which each type or source of power may be applicable and/or best suited for the given …show more content…
Therefore, one of the best ways to gain personal power is by building positive relationships with others. For instance, one can gain more personal power by improving either the referent power or connection power. A leader may seek out relationships with managers higher up in an organization or with managers in different organizations in order to gain access to the tools or resources that may help the team reach their organizational objectives or goals, which ultimately helps both the leader and the organization in return. A perfect example of this type of power is the relationship between Banfield Pet Hospital and PetSmart. Although the two companies share a single building, they actually are two completely separate businesses since different corporations own them. However, when I was working as a hospital manager for Banfield, I specifically went out of my way to develop a working relationship with both the managers and the associates of PetSmart because I knew they had an integral part in the success of the