The power of the human mind management essay

There is a close connection between leadership and power. People follow leaders because they have power and also leader get the power to lead.

Leadership power:

Power refers to the possession of authority and influence over others. Power is a tool that depends on how it’s used, and can lead to either positive or negative outcomes in an organization. Power means different things to different people. Some things that the power is seen as corrupt, for some the more power they have the more successful they feel and for others power is of no interest at all. An essential part of leadership or management is to influence the people you manage so that they do what you want them to do. The influence of a leader will depend on variety of factors including their personality and of those around them. Leadership can and does happen at any level of an organization. Anyone who can see clearly what needs to be done has the stamina to keep going can muster resources, think innovatively, and most importantly, inspire and engaged other to accompany them, will be consider as a leader. The best leaders throughout history have been those who have forged a new way that has been suitable and strong. There are five bases of power which were identified by John French and Bertram Raven in 1960’s through a study they had conducted on i. e.” Power in leadership roles”. These powers are divided in two categories such as formal power and personal power. Powers such as reward, coercive and legitimate power are categorized in the formal power and the expert and referent power are categorized in personal power. Below are the different (five) types of power a leader may have.

This five power has also been categorized in two parts namely Formal power and personal power.

Formal power

Reward power:

The ability to reward people is also a source of power. This power is used for motivating the team members or the employees to improve their performance. It is conveyed through rewarding individuals for compliance with one’s wishes. This type of influence is created when the leader is able to offer a reward to his followers for completing task/ behaving in a certain manner. This may be done through giving bonuses, pay raises, gift vouchers and promotions, extra time off from work, commission etc. these are the different forms of reward. This reward will only be effective if; The reward appeals to the followers. As we are aware there is no point offering gift vouchers as a reward to somebody that likes holiday packages. This is because they will not be interest in gift vouchers as a reward, so there is no incentive to complete the task. The followers have to believe that the leader will give them the reward promised once the task is completed by them. The reward encourages the follower to complete their task with much enthusiasm and in short period of time. Similarly a follower would feel undervalued, if rewarded with a 5 gift voucher after they spent 6 months doing their managers job without a pay rise. This type of power needs to be used carefully to prevent followers becoming accustomed to rewards and refusing to complete routine tasks without a reward. Generally rewards should not be offered, to follower employees to complete duties which are a normal part of their role. This is because as an employee they are under a contractual obligation tocomplete these tasks and they are already rewarded for this through their salary. Actually this reward power is difficult as because every individual or the people have different need and wants, all employees are not satisfied with one type of reward, as some need money, some gifts and even some just wants to be noticed and so on. So it is very difficult to motivate every employee through reward.

Coercive power:

The ability to influence people with threats and punishments is referred to as coercive power. It is the opposite of reward power. It is conveyed through fear of losing one’s job, as being demoted, receiving a poor performance review, having prime project taken away, etc. This power is gotten through threatening others. A junior staff member may work late to meet a deadline to avoid disciplinary action from his boss. Coercive power is, therefore, a person’s ability to punish, fire or reprimand another employee. Coercive power helps control the behavior of employees by ensuring that they adhere to the organization’s policies and norms. For examples, manager can threaten an employee to fire them from job, charge a penalty or give them a poor performance review to force him into putting more effort in the job. Although this is not a long term solution, at times managers can use this to meet strict deadlines or in times of an emergency. Continual use of this power will only eliminate or transfer team members and cause them to leave the organization. We can also say that this power is based on the leader having control over what happens if followers do not act as required. If followers do not undertake the action required, the leader will impose a penalty. Penalties take a variety of forms including withdrawal of privileges, job losses, verbal abuse, and delayed or loss of promotion. In all cases the leader will need to choose the penalty carefully to prevent breaking the law. Coercive power is which requires followers to believe that the leader has the ability to impose the stated penalty. Penalty has to be something that the followers do not want to have imposed on them. For example a penalty results in coffee being banned is unlikely to influence a tea drinker. Finally, just as the reward in reward power should be proportional to the action taken by the follower, the penalty should be proportionate to the action not completed by the follower. Coercive powers should be used carefully, overuse can lead to unhappy employee followers. Unhappy followers can be negative or unmotivated, they may resign or adopt a ” work to rule” attitude. Work to rule is where employees refuse to undertake any duties or adopt working practices that are not stated in their contract. So, this means Coercive power typically leads to short-term compliance, but in the long-run produces dysfunctional behavior. Coercion reduces employees’ satisfaction with their jobs, leading to lack of commitment and general employee withdrawal. In the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, coercive power has seen a decline in the last 50 years. Several reasons contribute to this, ranging from the legal erosion of employment-at-will and the awareness of employee violence or other forms of retaliatory behavior. Equally important as effect on the receding popularity of coercion as a basis of power has been the influence of quality management theorists, such as Philip Crosby and W. Edwards Deming. They suggested that there is a decline in productivity and creativity when coercive power is employed. The use of coercive power results in an atmosphere of insecurity or fear. In spite of this insight, coercion as a base of power continues to play a role even in those organizations influenced by theories of quality management. In times of economic crisis or threats to the survival of the organization at large, coercion may come to the forefront. Coercive power may also materialize as organizations attempt to streamline their operations for maximum efficiency. If employees must be fired, those who fail to conform to the organizational goals for survival will be the most likely candidates for termination. The threat of termination for failure to comply, in turn, is coercive power.

Legitimate

Legitimate power comes from having a position of power in an organization, such as being the boss or a key member of a leadership team. This power comes when employees in the organization recognize the authority of the individual. Legitimate power rests in the belief among employees that their manager has the right to give orders based on his or her position. ” It is also known as positional power, this kind of power derives from the formal position of a person in an organization. For example, the CEO of the company gets the power to control the company’s resources simply because of his/her position. Managers can use legitimate power in the event of an emergency in order to make the employees function at their optimal. However, too much dependency on legitimate power can be harmful. The effect of legitimate power disappears as soon as the leader loses his formal position. So, instead of depending solely on legitimate power, you should use your natural leadership skills for controlling or leading the way a person behaves or reacts to someone in a position of power can be out of respect or fear, such as the fear of disappointing or being fired. If it is fear then this can only create a certain level of quality output for so long. Legitimate power comes from a position of authority and increases the higher a manager rises within the organizational hierarchy. Once awarded legitimate power, its wielder has influence because he can set and enforce standards and use and distribute organizational resources. Managers can build upon a legitimate power base through other sources of power, which transforms managers into leaders. Leaders inspire behaviors in others without resorting to their legitimate authority alone. Legitimate power sometimes called authority or formal power which is derived from the person’s position in the organization. It exists because organizations find it advantageous to assign certain powers to individuals so that they can do their jobs effectively. All managers have some degree of legitimate power.

Personal Power

Expert

The ability to influence others using your skills, knowledge and expertise on a particular domain is referred to as the expert power. Expert power comes from one’s experiences, skills or knowledge. As we gain experience in particular areas, and become thought leaders in those areas, we begin to gather expert power that can be utilized to get others to help us meet our goals. For example, the Project Manager who is an expert at solving particularly challenging problems to ensure a project stays on track. This kind of power depends more on our personal skills. So, in order to use this power consistently, we should keep on enhancing our skills. One good thing about this type of power is that it is not dependent on our formal position. An important tip about using our expert power is that we have to have confidence in our abilities and knowledge. So, believe in yourself, many of us are in or great at something, but just we don’t believe it. what are we great at?  Remember we can’t know everything, so an expert is not a person that knows everything. Knowledge is power. Expert power is derived from possessing knowledge or expertise in a particular area. Such people are highly valued by organizations for their problem solving skills. People who have expert power perform critical tasks and are therefore deemed indispensable. The opinions, ideas and decisions of people with expert power are held in high regard by other employees and hence greatly influence their actions. Possession of expert power is normally a stepping stone to other sources of power such as legitimate power. For example, a person who holds expert power can be promoted to senior management, thereby giving him legitimate power. Expert power derives from having knowledge that is valued by the organization or individuals with whom the person interacts. Expertise in a particular field or at problem solving or at performing critical tasks is types of expert power. Expert power is personal to the individual who has the expertise, hence it is different from the other three sources of power legitimate, reward and coercive power.

Referent Power

Referent power is derived from the interpersonal relationships that a person cultivates with other people in the organization. People possess reference power when others respect and like them. Referent power arises from charisma, as the charismatic person influences others via the admiration, respect and trust others have for her. Referent power is also derived from personal connections that a person has with key people in the organization’s hierarchy, such as the CEO. It’s the perception of the personal relationships that she has that generates her power over others. Referent power results when the individual engenders admiration, loyalty and emulation to the extent that the person gains the power to influence other. Charismatic leaders have referent power. They have a vision for the organization that they lead, strong convictions about the correctness of the vision, and great confidence in their ability to realize the vision, and are perceived by their followers as agents of change. Referent power comes from being trusted and respected.  We can gain referent power when others trust what we do and respect us for how we handle situations. For example, the Human Resource Associate who is known for ensuring employees is treated fairly and coming to the rescue of those who are not.

CONCLUSION

The power of the human mind is so strong that it makes man possess an ability to mold his or her personality, create their future, build their destiny, and turn into dreams in reality – a power is so real and even greater, better, and more efficient than all other supernatural powers only created by the imagination. The human mind does all these things, or should I say power, because of its unique characteristics and nature. It is comparable to a mirror in the sense that it is open and vast, reflects in full and precise details, unbiased towards any impression, distinguishes clearly, and is a potential for having everything already accomplished. These mind features help man generate two kinds of thoughts: positive and negative. Positive thoughts are healthy, constructive, and good ideas, whileNegative thoughts are the exact opposite – unhealthy, destructive, and bad ideas being produced by the mind. The mind produces all sorts of things that can be classified into either positive or negative thoughts to the point where there exists a clash between them. They fight against each other to win over the individual’s decision to which these thoughts would be taken into an action. Choosing what kinds of thought to be acted upon depends on the individual’s way of thinking. Positive thinking is the manner of looking at the good and bright things in life. Thus, it is optimistic, it can only entertains positive thoughts, making them succeed over the negative ones. On the other hand, negative thinking is the way of viewing life’s worries, doubts, and fears. Thus, it is pessimistic, it ignores positive thoughts and minds only the negative ones which are those that won in the clash. This is also where the power of the mind starts manifesting. Positive thinking creates positive reality in such a way that it holds one’s personality in good shape, makes their future clear, builds their destiny with directions, and turns their sweet dreams into reality. Negative thinking just the same has its power. Only, it creates negative reality – still the exact opposite of positive thinking. It molds one’s personality with defects, makes their future vague, builds their destiny without directions, and turns their nightmares into reality. Thinking positively is only the first half of power mind. The other half is turning the positive thoughts into actions. And this is where will power comes in – the one responsible for making things happen. It’s like the voice inside our system that makes us do things in order for our thoughts to become real. Mind and will power is not at all distinct from one other. When one thinks with the mind, the body immediately does actions willingly to attain whatever it is in the mind. Some common situations that individual finds difficult to face include personality polishing, making many friends, finding true love, reaching goals in life, and eventually, being recognized by the society. In the event that they think they do not perform well in such situations, they conclude, saying ” I can’t” without even trying. Therefore, they really will not. Where, in fact, if they just made the right programming in their mind that they can actually do it, and then they will.

Thank you.