Leadership / Management

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As a leader in today’s complex world, you must be many things to many people.  You have a responsibility to a superior.  Your job is to produce whatever is necessary so that the goals of your organization can be met.   You are being paid by the organization to perform a function.  That function involves leading and supervising the people who work for you to see that they work together and achieve the goals of the organization.  You also have a responsibility to your reports.  They must clearly understand what is expected of them.  You must provide your reports with the tools and information they need to achieve their goals so that you can achieve yours, so that your superior’s goals can be achieved, and by doing so, the company can achieve the overall organizational goals. 

In order to perform these functions, you must be able to understand a situation and lead in response to it.  You must be aware of your own needs, those of your reports and your superiors, and the importance of satisfying those needs while attaining the organization’s goals.  Your ability to satisfy those needs will depend on your ability to diagnose situations which occur daily and respond immediately and effectively.  What is needed now is an understanding of how the use of power and authority correspond to your understanding of how to respond to a situation.  Proper use of these “tools” will increase your ability to lead others toward reaching organizational goals.

Authority and Power 

Have you ever observed two leaders of equal position, rank, and authority within an organization?  One seems to accomplish most things successfully and with ease.  The other seems to always be under the gun, having a crisis or problem, or throwing around his or her authority.  It is quite evident that persons of equal position do not necessarily possess the same degree of power. 

The effective leader is one who makes a difficult task look easy, and simply has to ask people for help or cooperation.  The effective leader has no need to make a simple task look difficult, or to “pull rank” and rely on authority to get the job done.  What makes the difference?  What is the difference between authority and power?

The terms authority and power have been used interchangeably over the years.  However, they are different — very different.  A clear distinction between the two will provide insights that will help you become a more effective leader. 

Power may be defined as “the ability, capability, or capacity to act in ways which influence the behavior of others in directions which you desire.”  It is a personal attribute and, like all other personal attributes, it can be developed.  It is part of the potential you possess.  Power is a measure of your personal effectiveness.  It is a skill that you develop in your everyday relationships with your reports, peers, superiors, and friends.  Power is granted to you by those over whom you have influence.  You earn your power.  Power places few limits on your available lines of action and allows a flexibility of behavior suitable to a variety of situations.  It is a form of individual freedom to be creative, innovative, and responsive to the needs of others who will assist you in reaching your goals.

You develop power by earning the respect and trust of your reports, peers, and superiors.  You demonstrate your ability to be both leader and follower when the situation requires it, by subjecting yourself to authority and by being authoritative.  Your self-esteem is not diminished by using authority when appropriate nor do you attempt to diminish the self-esteem of others by using it unnecessarily.  You set an example, and thus acquire power rather than lose it. 

Authority may be defined as “a contractual right granted to you by your company in keeping with your position.”  It is a right, granted to you by your company to: settle disputes, control operations, make and implement decisions, administer and manage. 

A leader who abuses authority diminishes his or her personal power, and ultimately, the ability to influence and lead others.  When people are subjected to constant use or abuse of authority, they develop subtle and effective ways of subverting it in order to protect themselves.  Excessive use of authority often produces behavior in others which resembles the reaction of a child responding to stringent parental restrictions.  It diminishes rather than enhances an adult-to-adult relationship in a work situation. 

Authority does fill a very necessary and important function in the operation of any organization, and can be an efficient tool of management when used judiciously.  You should not shun its use when the situation demands it but you should avoid creating situations in which authority is your only recourse. 

Power is something you earn (from those over whom you have influence) by creating a climate of trust.  By permitting and helping others maintain their dignity, their pride, and their autonomy while helping you and the company achieve the departmental and organizational goals, you earn their respect and trust, and power.  If you possess power, you need only to use authority as a last resort to accomplish something.  You are aware of the reciprocal nature of the reporting-line relationship and recognize that you need the cooperation of your reports, not their contempt.  Your effectiveness as a leader can be equated to the amount of personal power you have acquired, and the personal power you acquire in the future. 

Types of Leaders 

What kind of leader are you?  How much personal power have you developed?  Do you make a difficult task look easy?  Or do you have a need to make an easy task look difficult?  What kind of leader do you want to become?  What skills do you want to develop?  As you begin to think about those questions and your answers, let us look at several types of leaders. 

There are three basic types of leaders which can be categorized for analytical purposes.  Before describing these categories and to give some historic perspective to the analysis, it is interesting to note the wisdom of Will Rogers who long ago stated, “It’s not how much you pay a man but what he costs you that counts!” 

The three types of leaders are: Type One:  The Enhancer, Type Two: The Neutralizer, Type Three: The Diminisher. 

Type One: The Enhancer, is a leader who is self-confident, respected, responsible, accountable, possesses personal power, and can get others to work efficiently toward organizational goals.  The Enhancer can laugh, cry, get angry, and show warmth, all at the appropriate times, and in a natural fashion.  It is a pleasure to work under, beside, or above an Enhancer.  Enhancers enhance. 

Those who work under Enhancers produce because of them, not in spite of them.  Those who work beside them produce not in competition but in mutual admiration.  Those who work above them are rewarded for having such a good person on the team.  Enhancers develop a climate in which all can receive satisfaction from their work.   They bring more to the organization than they are paid for and receive in return personal satisfaction of their needs. 

The performance of Enhancers can usually be measured by the exceptional production of those under them and also by the lack of absenteeism and job turnover.  This extra increment of   “self” which they bring to the job contributes to the organization’s profits.   

Type Two: The Neutralizer is a leader who is able, by some means or other, to get the work done.  A Neutralizer has the respect of some and the contempt of others.  Neutralizers have limited self-confidence and usually only in areas of a technical nature.  They are accountable for everything the organization requires of them, but not fully responsible as the term “responsibility” has been used.  Those who work under a Neutralizer typically produce at minimal or average levels.  The Neutralizer hides lack of personal power behind authority, which is used frequently.  The Neutralizer can laugh, cry, get angry, and show warmth, but never bothers to.  A Neutralizer is impersonal to work under, neutral but necessary to work beside, and a total bore to have as a report.  You can anticipate everything the Neutralizer is going to say and you wish you didn’t have to listen to it again.  Those who work under the Neutralizer toe the line.  Those who work with the Neutralizer avoid all contact other than that which is necessary.  The working climate is neutral, neither negative nor positive. 

Neutralizers bring to the organization exactly what they are paid for, no more and no less.  The performance of their reports is usually what you would expect–the usual mediocrity, the usual absenteeism, the usual turnover.  The Neutralizer is accountable to the organization for their actions and will generate the minimum to get by. 

Type Three: The Diminisher is the leader who lacks self-confidence, lacks respect, takes credit instead of giving credit, and uses blame instead of accountability.  The Diminisher is powerless and relies totally upon authority and threat, rather than power and persuasion.  This leader manages and motivates by intimidation and coercion.  Reports work in an atmosphere of defensiveness and fear and produce only what’s necessary to get by.  The Diminisher finds it difficult to show honest human emotions and when he or she does slip and exhibits any of these, the timing is usually poor and inappropriate.  The Diminisher is threatening to work with as his or her gains are made by using others, and their excessive competitiveness creates distrust.  They are fearful to work under, and a blamer and accuser of peers.  However, their behavior with superiors is usually appeasing and apologetic.  They are a problem to have as a report, superior, or peer.  Those who work under a Diminisher produce as little as they can get away with.  Those who work with a Diminisher are always on guard and collect with others of similar rank to compare notes and protect themselves.  Those who work above them are never confident of the Diminisher’s work or their word. 

Diminishers create a climate in which very few can have their needs satisfied.  They take more from the organization than they are paid for, in terms of satisfaction of their needs at the expense of others.  Their performance can be measured by the production of those under them and also by the excess of absenteeism, lateness and job turnover, both under and around them, and even above them.  The Diminisher is never fully accountable and thus diminishes the organization and reduces its profit. 

These categories are, of course, stereotypes, and it is unlikely that any one person would fit exactly within any one of them.  However, they should be helpful to you in identifying particular types of behavior and their relationship to effective leadership. 

The effective leader can be easily recognized as an enhancer.  You can develop the qualities of an Enhancer.  You have a responsibility to promote conditions conducive to growth and development throughout your department; enhance everyone and everything around you.  You are a leader in the truest sense of the word. 

Leader and Follower 

As a leader you are both manager and managed, leader and follower.  Your primary responsibility as a leader is to make sure your team achieves its goal.  Your obligation is both to your reports and to your superiors.  How can you satisfy both?  What is your obligation to the company?  It may help to view your obligation to other organizations that you belong to such as community groups, fraternal lodges, or volunteer groups.  In most of these cases, you are committed to the organizational goals, while many times not having a leadership role.  You give of your time, effort, and even money because you’re committed to helping achieve the organizations’ goals.  In return, you receive a feeling of satisfaction.  These organizations need you to continue their existence and you need them for gratification of your needs. 

You should view your company in a similar fashion, as an organization whose goals you are committed to achieving.  It needs your commitment and support and, in return, it provides a source to fulfill your needs.  This is a mature outlook which takes into account the reciprocal nature of most relationships. 

The achievement of organizational goals and personal goals simultaneously can become a reality. 

The Future 

While leadership carries with it an air of wisdom, the leader who is secure realizes that it isn’t necessary to have all the answers.  Life carries with it a certain amount of uncertainty.  By being a goal setter and leader, you can reduce some of the uncertainty but never totally eliminate it.  As new and relevant facts become known to you, you will re-evaluate, re-adjust, and grow to meet the challenge of the situation.  As you continually discover what is important to you and “who” you really are, your increased confidence and sense of individual worth will enable you to overcome everyday fears and move confidently toward your goals.    Robert Louis Stevenson said, “To be what we are and to become what we are capable of becoming is the only end in life.”  This means that for you, each day marks a new beginning–another opportunity to become more effective. 

Continue to work at enhancing your organization.  As  you do, you will understand the truth of these words by former President Theodore Roosevelt: “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

For more information about Ken Chapman and Associates’ Leadership Development Programs, contact Ken Chapman at 205.366.0265 or email Ken at kchapman@leaderscode.com.

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