Leadership and Communications

Running head: POWER AND INFLUENCE 1

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POWER AND INFLUENCE

Power and Influence

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Power and Influence

Leadership

Power and influence drive organizational commitment. A leader leverages to attain and gain follower commitment. Followers react to a leader’s authority in general or in response to particular guidance. Without power, it becomes impossible to influence them when bringing or implementing a change. So, power is the only tool for attaining influence and gaining compliance from followers or other people. An effective organization relies on the capability of respectful leaders and followers who are loyal (Tien and Minh, 2019). Depending on the hierarchy of the military, all Army commandants are also followers. Becoming a good leader requires a person to learn how to be a good follower. For instance, learning loyalty, inferiority, respecting those in a high position, and the appropriate time to lodge open dissent.

Furthermore, the achievement of organizational commitment depends on the type of power that a leader use. For instance, in situations where followers are reluctant to adopt a change or do not show a positive response to a certain influence, a leader can use coercive power or legitimate power to push for the influence by punishing followers who intentionally fail to comply (Klann, 2010). In a combat environment, Soldiers do activities that they are not willing to do. As a result, an Army Commandant needs to use this coercive power or command to gain influence to force military personnel to comply to achieve organization commitment. Based on this circumstance, the level at which a leader influences follower relies on the type or nature of the used power.

Similarly, the type of leader’s influence tactic determines the gaining of influence. Primarily, a leader will apply his or her power via influence. The type of situation determines the nature of a leader’s influence to use to gain organizational commitment. For instance, hard tactics are used along with coercive power to push followers towards compliance. So, any followers’ resistance is met with hard tactics such as pressure and coalition via coercive power (Klann, 2010). When used along with reward power, soft tactics appeal to followers by inspiring and motivating them to change their feelings to gain organizational commitment.

A leader may share his experiences in areas of specialized capacity and areas of less expertise. As a result, a leader can share his experience through position power (referent and expert power) to establish and develop credibility and assume a role model when leading others by using rational tactics (Klann, 2010). Through this tactic, a leader persuades and collaborates with followers to gain from his knowledge, abilities, and talent. For instance, a military veteran can apply his position power using rational tactics to share his experience with active military officers in combat. When gaining organizational commitment, it is crucial to building trust and developmental culture. Followers should be receptive, engaged, and prepared to adopt changes brought by their leaders. However, some leaders take a long time to influence their followers due to the weakened interaction period of building the essential rapport level.

References

Klann, G. (2010). U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. Sergeants Major Course (SMC) L200: Developing Organizations and Leaders Lesson Plan for L201. Organizational Power and Influence. The Application of Power and Influence in Organizational Leadership.

Tien, N. H., & Minh, H. T. T. (2019). Leadership, power and influence in state-owned enterprises in Vietnam. Leadership, 5(5).