Unit-7

Leadership,
Power & Politics
 What is Leadership?
• Leadership is the energetic process of getting
people fully and willingly committed to a new and
sustainable course of action, to meet commonly
agreed objectives while having commonly held
values.
• A Leader is who reflects the key attributes of
leadership such as ideas, vision, values,
influencing and inspiring others with the ability to
take tough decisions.
 Leadership
• Koontz & Donell- “ Leadership is defined as the
ability to exert interpersonal influence by means
of communication towards achievement of goals.”
• “Leadership is the process of influencing and
supporting others to work enthusiastically
toward achieving objectives.”
• Leaders must possess equal parts of Vision,
Empowerment and Team Leadership.
 Leadership
• According to Dr. George Odiorne employees are
classified into 4 categories-
• Dead woods-Low Potential & Low Performance
• Work Horses-Low Potential & High Performance
• Problem Children-High Potential & Low Performance
• Stars-High Potential & High Performance
 Comparison Between A Manager and A Leader
A Manager A Leader
• Thinking Process
Takes initiative • Is originative
Is more focused on things • Is more focused on people
Prefers looking inward • Looks outward
Easily accepts reality • Believes in investigating reality
• Direction of Operation
Makes plans operational • Has a vision for the future
Tries to improve upon the existing setting • Tries to create a 'new' future
Focuses on immediate financials • Looks out for new markets
• Relationship with Employees
Tries to gain control
• Prefers to empower people Treats employees as associates
Considers employees as subordinates
• Helps employees to learn through trust and development
Instructs, directs and co-ordinates the efforts of the employees
• Mode of Operation
Believes in efficiency • Believes in effectiveness
Can deal with complexity by asking the 'how' and 'when' • Embraces complexity by asking 'what' and 'why'
Can manage change • Creates change
• Decision Making/Taking
Decision method involves policy, rules and procedures
• Decision method involves values and principles
Relies more on process and system
• Relies more on 'ideas' and people
Strives to achieve what's expected
• Strives to excel
 Leadership Theory
Trait Theory: Some personality traits may lead people
naturally into leadership roles.
Great Events Theory: A crisis or important event may
cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out
extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person.
Transformational Leadership Theory: People those
who have unique leadership skills.
 The Four Framework Approach to
Leadership (Bolman and Deal)
• Structural Framework – The leader is a social architect
whose leadership style is analysis and design.
• Human Resource Framework – The leader is a catalyst
and servant whose leadership style is support, advocacy,
and empowerment.
• Political Framework – The leader is an advocate whose
leadership is coalition (alliance) and building.
• Symbolic Framework – The leader is a prophet, whose
leadership style is inspiration.
Leadership Styles
 Coercive Style
Coaching Style

Democratic Style
Authoritarian
Style Leadership Styles

Affiliative Style
Pace Setting Style
Leadership Styles , their Impact on Employees

Authoritarian Style
• The full authority lies with the leader. The leader takes
the decision, communicates the same to the subordinates
along with the instructions on how the decisions are to be
carried out and the subordinates are expected to do what is
told to them by the leader. This type of leadership is
visible in the Defense forces.
• The biggest advantage of this style is -Tasks can be
accomplished efficiently and quickly, without wasting
time in a two way communication process.
• The drawback of this style is- That employees are aware
of what to do but not why they are required to do so.
This leads to low employee morale, losing initiative and
avoiding shouldering of responsibility.
 The Coercive Style
• This style is similar to the authoritative style. Here
the leader adopts an extreme top-down decision
making style, thereby killing all new ideas on the
other side. The subordinates feel very disrespected
even to think and come up with ideas since ultimately
they will all be ignored and their ideas shot down.
This is because the leader does not believe or
encourage a two way communication flow. He/she
will take all the decisions which have to be abided
without raising any doubts or questions.
Coercive Style
• Advantages
It is effective in case of emergency like fire or instances when it
is absolutely imperative, say in case of a hostile takeover of the
company is looming. In such instances, the coercive leadership
style can help to break failed business habits and shock people
into new ways of working.
• Drawbacks
This leadership style is not effective in the long run as it is
insensitive to the morale and feelings of the followers which can
be ruinous in the long run.
Coercive leadership has a damaging effect on the reward system,
leaving high performance workers de-moralized, de-motivated
measured in terms of diminished clarity and commitment and
alienated from their own job
 Democratic Style
The leader confers final authority on the group. The
entire group functions as collectors of opinion and
together take a consensus decision. As per this style,
the leader delegates full authority to his/her
followers.
• Advantages
This style is effective for a high performing group
members who get highly motivated when they are
allowed to make decisions and experience feelings
of increasing self-worth and satisfaction due to this.
• When decision is arrived at through discussions and
employees participation, it not only gains more
acceptance but also paves the way for better quality
solutions to problems.
 Democratic Style
Drawbacks
• The democratic style does not work always
especially when the leader is unwilling to delegate
authority completely to the subordinates. At times
when the subordinates are not mentally and
physically willing to shoulder the entire
responsibility of decision making this style does
not work.
 Pace Setting Style
The pace setting style is admirable, Under this style, the leader sets
extremely high performance standards and exemplifies them
himself. The guidelines for working may be clear in the leader's head
but he may not state them clearly. The leader is usually obsessive
about doing things better and faster and expects the same from the
subordinates. The leader is quick in pointing out poor performers and
demands more from them. If the subordinates are not able to rise to the
occasion, the leader replaces them with people who can. Such an
approach is adopted by the leader so as to obtain quick results but this
does not usually happen.
• Advantages
This style works well when all employees are self motivated, highly
competent and need little direction or co-ordination. For instance, this
style is suitable when the work involves highly talented, skilled and
self motivated professionals like good R & D groups ,legal teams,
those who work for the project that it is completed on time or even
before the scheduled time
 Pace Setting Style
Drawbacks
• This style can destroy the organizational climate especially when the
employees are overwhelmed by the pace setter leader's demands for
excellence and this results in a drop in their morale.
• The employees feel that work is not something which one is required
to give his/ her best performance but is more of second guessing (or
mind reading) of what the leader wants.
• Without being given a chance to take initiative, the subordinates may
feel that the work is so task focused, and boring without any flexibility
and responsibility involved.
• The employees are not given any feedback on their work performance
and the leader merely will forcefully take over when he feels work is
lagging. Further, if such leader leave, the employees will feel
directionless as they are so used to the "expert" setting the rules.
 Affiliative Style
This approach involves the leader
listening to the subordinates, trying to
seek an understanding of each key
employee as a person, exploring their
lives, dreams and aspirations.
 Affiliative Style
• Advantages
An Affiliative leader is able to build rapport with the employees because he
can sense how the employees are feeling and respond in a way congruent to
that person's emotions.
• An Affiliative leader displays a natural ease in forming new relationships by
getting to know the employee as a person, cultivating a bond with them and
thus willingly extract the desired work performance.
• Affiliative leader displays high emotional intelligence, empathy in building
relationships and good communication which will work well in all types of
work environment and work groups.

• Drawbacks
Though the Affiliative style is good for the organization in the long run, in
case of emergencies or quick decisions to be taken and implemented, the
leader may have to combine this style with probably another style (like
authoritative style) to get a fast responses.
 Coaching Style
• Coaching leaders help employees to identify their
unique strengths and weaknesses and tie these up to
their personal and career aspirations. Such leaders
encourage and counsel employees about their role and
responsibilities in enacting development plans (or
goals), provide plentiful instructions and feedback so
as to attain their goals. Coaching leaders are ready to
delegate, provide challenging assignments to
subordinates and willing to put up with short term
failure if this could result in long term learning.
 Coaching Style
Advantages
• Coaching style primarily focuses on personal
development.
• Coaching style enables the employee to be aware
of what is expected of him and of how his job
will fill into the larger vision or strategy,
thereby ensuring clarity of work.
• Coaching style facilitates the employee
commitment to the job.
 Coaching Style
Drawbacks
• Research has indicated that the coaching style is used
least often especially because the leaders do not have
the time in the existing high pressure economy to go
slow and adopt the tedious work of teaching people and
helping them grow.
• The coaching style makes little sense when the
employees for whatever reason are resistant to learn or
change their ways.
• This style may be unsuitable or ineffective if the leader
is unfamiliar or lacks the expertise to coach and give
constructive feedback to his subordinates.
 Current Issues in Leadership
• Emotional Intelligence and Leadership
• A good leader needs to possess the basic
intelligence and skills to manage people,
understand their feelings….
• EQ Component- Self Awareness, Self
Management, Self Motivation, Empathy ,
Social Skills.
 Current Issues in Leadership
Woman Leaders
• Kiran Mazumdar (CMD, Biocon India)
• Sulajja Firidia Motwani ( Kinetic
Engineering )
• Ekta Kapoor ( Creative Director, Balaji
Telefilms)
 Managerial Grid

9,9 Team
1,9 Country Club

Concern 5,5 Middle

for People Road

1,1 Impoverished 9,1 Task

Low High

Concern for Production

Power & Politics
 Power
• Power can be defined as the potential capacity to
influence the behavior of others.
• Interpersonal (or Intergroup) relationship in which
one individual (or group) can cause another
individual (or group) to take an action that it would
not otherwise take.
• Involves changing the behavior of another.
• Person A has power over person B if B believes A
can force B to comply.
 Power
• According to John B. Miner — "Power is
the ability to induce a person to do
something he or she would not otherwise
have done."
• John Miner further adds "Influence is a
broader concept referring to anything a
person does to alter the behavior, attitudes,
values, feelings and such of another person,
... Power is thus one form of influence."
 Power/Leadership/
Authority
Power is closely related to Leadership and
Authority

Leadership

Authority Power
 Authority
• Against to power Authority is referred to as
power legitimated by a formal organization
structure and also accepted by the
employees as being right .
 Difference b/w Leadership &
Power
• Leadership is an • Power is the resource
attempt to influence which enables a leader
other individuals. to influence.
• Leadership is more • Power is broader and
focused on the includes both
individual and his individuals & groups
style. with more focus on
tactics to gain
compliance.
 Sources of Power
According to French and Raven there are
5 Interpersonal sources of power-
• Coercive Power
• Reward Power
• Legitimate Power
• Expert Power and
• Referent Power
 Coercive Power
• Coercive power is an individual's ability to influence
others' behaviors by punishing their undesirable
behaviors.
• This is the power to give or withhold punishment,
such as suspension, termination, or even the
withholding of praise and goodwill.
• The employee (say subordinate) may comply because
of his fear in expectation of the punishment for
failure to respond favorably to the managerial
directives.
 Reward Power
• It refers to the person's ability to influence others'
behaviors by rewarding their desirable behaviors.
Employees (or individuals) comply with the
wishes or directives of their superiors, because by
doing so they may get positive benefits and
rewards for their compliance.
• The power to give pay raises, promotion, praise,
interesting projects, and other rewards to
subordinates.
 Legitimate Power
• The power to control and use organizational
resources to accomplish organizational goals.
• The legitimate power is based on the structural
position in an organization, which can result in the
manager's ability to influence the behaviors of the
subordinates. Further, subordinates may also
respond to such influence because they
acknowledge the manager's legitimate right to
prescribe certain expected formal behaviors.
 Expert Power
• Expert power is the individual's ability to influence other's
behavior on the basis of recognized competencies, talents,
or specialized knowledge.
• It is an Informal power that stems from superior ability or
expertise. Eg.-

• C.K. Prahlad (Core Competency)

• Bill Gates (Vision of the role IT in this millennium )
• Piyush Pandey (Impact of Advertising)
 Referent Power
• Referent power refers to an individual's ability to
influence other's behaviors because of being
respected, admired or liked.
• It is also an Informal power that stems from being
liked, admired, and respected. eg.-
• Amitabh Bachchan is advertising 'Parker Pens', or
Sachin Tendulkar is advertising 'Boost.'
2

Power and Politics

• Power: The ability of one
person or group to cause
another person or group to do
something that they otherwise
might not have done.
• Organizational Politics:
Activities in which managers
engage to increase their
power and to pursue goals
that favor their individual and
group interests.
3

The Dark Side of Power and Politics

Power and politics often
have negative connotations
because people associate
them with attempts to use
organizational resources for
personal advantage and to
achieve personal goals at
the expense of other goals.
4

The Bright Side

• Managers can use power to
control people and other
resources so that they
cooperate and help to achieve
an organization’s current goals.
• Managers can use power to
engage in politics and
influence the decision-making
process to help promote new,
more appropriate
organizational goals.
6

Sources of Individual Power

Formal individual power
is the power that stems
from a person’s position
in an organization’s
hierarchy.
Informal individual
power is the power that
stems from personal
characteristics.
 Power Tactics
Power tactics are ways in which individuals
translate power bases into specific actions.
Strategies to Exercise Power-
Reasons- Facts & Data
Friendship-Creation of goodwill
Coalition-Support System
Bargaining-Negotiation
Assertiveness-Direct & Forceful approach
 Influence Strategies
• Influence strategies are used by individuals or groups so as to
exert power or influence other people's behaviors.
• Managers must effectively use the power to influence the behavior
of others ; to motivate employees to work efficiently and earn more
and also to experience job satisfaction and less work stress.
• Rational persuasion, inspirational appeal, consultation ,
personal appeal, pressure are the various strategies used at the
work place. Research suggests that from the various strategies
rational persuasion, inspirational appeal and consultation strategies
are more effective in a variety of circumstances while the least
effective strategies are pressure, coalition and legitimating. But for
all practical purposes it is difficult to draw a line stating which
strategies will work and which will be less effective. This is because
at times these strategies may be worked out independently while at
other times they may be used in combination depending upon the
availability of power sources, the direction of influence being
attempted (up, down or lateral) and the goals being sought.
 Influence Strategies
The effective use of power to influence the behaviors of others is
indeed a challenging job and depend upon the following:
• Both managers and employees have to understand both the
interpersonal and the structural sources of power and to
effectively use them to influence people.
• The managers and employees, need to have a clear
understanding of the nature of the exchange process underlying
successful attempts so as to influence them.
• Both should be aware of the proper legitimate behavior to be
used.
• How both seek and perform jobs that allow the development
and use of power with full maturity and self control.
Politics
 Organizational Politics
• When people come together, try to influence each other and
exercise power over others for individual gains, it is called
politics.
• Political behavior is defined as those activities that are not
needed as a part of one's formal role in the organization but can
exert influence on the behavior of other individuals and the
course of events in the organization so as to protect their self
interests and advance their own goals in the organization.
• Organizational politics refers to actions by individuals,
teams, or departments to acquire, develop and use power
and other resources in order to obtain preferred outcomes
when uncertainty or disagreement about choices exist.
 Factor Causing Political Behavior
• Individual Factors- Need for Power and
High Expectations, Machiavellianism , Locus
of control etc.
• Organizational Factors- Reallocation of
sources, chances of advancements, low trust
within the organization, Role Ambiguity etc.
The End