5 Bases of Power and Leadership

When we mention the word “Power” most of the people will think that power is evil, corrupt, self-serving, manipulative and hurtful. However, there is a positive face to addressing power acquisition, power-base development, and power use. When power is used in an ethical and purposeful way, there is nothing evil about it. Leadership is “interpersonal influence, exercised in a situation, and directed, through communication process, toward the attainment of a specified goal or goals. (Tannenbaum, Weschler, & Massarik, 1961, p.24). Sales Leadership regularly acquires and uses power to accomplish specific work goals and to strengthen their own positions to empower salesperson rather than dominate them. There are five different powers that affect leadership which include expert power, referent power, legitimate power, reward power and coercive power.

Expert power is define as a major source f personal power is expertise in solving problems and performing important task. (French & Raven, 1959) Expert power is needed for those employees who need task direction. It also builds confidence in the leader's ability to teach and delegate tasks that the team needs to accomplish. The more important problem is to the target person, the greater the power derived by the agent from the possessing the necessary expertise to solve it. With the expert power it helps the leaders to develop and maintain a reputation for technical expertise and strong credibility. Moreover, Charisma leader have the expert power and also have insight into the needs, hopes, and values of followers and are able to motivate commitment to proposals and strategies