The Relationship of Power and Leadership

Management 1115 & Leadership

October 7,2012

In the world we live in today the roles of power and leadership are often confused. Although they have similar meanings, they can be distinctly defined between the latter. The key difference between the two is the term of effect. Power is the exercise of leadership, and leadership is only defined if you have power. Leadership always involves attempts on a leader to affect behavior or a follower in a situation, whereas power is not equivalent with influence on another person’s behavior. Although power and leadership have similar meanings, they are certain differences that can point out what makes
Leadership is a process where an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. There are five different types of leadership styles that are common in most working environments of today. The leadership styles are participatory, facilitative, evocative, provocative, and directive. Participatory leadership styles are used when leaders interact with other peers to see what they can create. This style of leadership is great for short or long term company goals, or even round table discussions. Facilitative style leadership is used when leaders are focused on self -organizing energy into resources or processes. A company meeting where you will have an audience is a great time for leaders to use the facilitative style to give their approach with a different strategy. In addition to the facilitative style is the evocative where leaders propose possible questions about different outcome. This step can bring a great deal of feedback from observers, and different visions for new ideas. Provocative style leadership can be used when a leader wants to push for a specific goal. Most relate to the provocative style leadership as harassment, yet it is a push with self -determined energy. The final style, directive, is the most traditional of them all. Leaders tend to act solely upon structures, activities, and attitudes of the surroundings. They use the power of leadership to make changes for the best interest of the organization. Directive leadership