Leadership Power Is Dangerous

Every day, we use different types of power to get things done. For example, if you have children, you probably use a combination of coercive power and reward power without giving it a second thought.

“Marty, if you don’t clean your room, there’ll be no devices for the rest of the day”.

OR,

“Marty, if you clean your room this morning, I’ll take you to the movies later”.

As leaders, we’re prone to playing the legitimate power card… when people disagree with us, we use the weight of our authority to say, “Just do it”.

When we dip down into our people’s work because we’re not happy with the quality, we use our expert power… the fact that we know more about the technical details than the individual we’re leading.

The holy grail of leadership is referent power. That’s when we become expert at building trust, setting high standards, and engaging people in the pursuit of a worthwhile goal.

When we use referent power, people gravitate towards us because of who we are and what we represent, not because we can wield a more basic form of power to force them to do something they don’t necessarily want to.

The way I’ve described the different types of power, it may seem as though some are inherently more desirable than others… and that’s probably true.

But, ultimately, all types of power are necessary from time to time… and each one of them can be appropriate and effective, if you use them thoughtfully.

For example, if you have an employee who chooses to not respond to your attempts to lift his performance, sometimes the only thing that gets his attention is a formal written warning.

The catastrophic outcome that awaits him if he doesn’t lift his game may be the only way to get his attention, and for him to realize you’re actually serious.

So, is it OK to wield coercive power in that situation? Well, what are your options?

If you’ve exhausted every option, the only remaining course of action would be to give up on him, and quietly find a way to terminate his employment.

So wouldn’t you want to do everything you possibly could to help him to be successful in his role? It might not be ideal, but sometimes coercive power can be used for good.

The same can be said of expert power. When someone brings you an investment proposal for your approval, it can be incredibly valuable to use your technical expertise to ask the right questions and pressure test the proposal.

You wouldn’t lean on your expert power all the time, but if you relied upon it in that situation, it would reduce the likelihood of making a bad decision or giving the green light to an unprofitable investment. That would be an effective use of expert power.

The most important thing is, when you’re deploying different forms of leadership power,  that you know what you’re doing.

You need to be conscious of the type of power you’re choosing, and the upside and downside that each type brings.

Many incompetent leaders only know how to use their legitimate power… they leverage the power of their position to compel people.

Many more only use reward power, and they aren’t even strong enough to link the rewards to real outcomes. They just shower their people with praise and perks to try to keep them happy.

Leadership power can be dangerous, if you use it thoughtlessly. But if you take time to understand it, and start to use your power deliberately, rather than unconsciously, you’ll see a world of difference.

And your people will be WAY better off as a result!