Power Source Implications for Leader/Follower Relationse

National American University

According to Webster’s Dictionary, power can be defined as the ability to act or produce an effect. What does power have to do with leadership? Well the leader is given power of the followers. The effect that the leader is trying to produce will be specific organizational goals. Those goals can be long-term or short-term. When we refer to the power source, we are referring to the method by which the leader will use when achieving these goals. Power sources deal primarily with how the leader attempts to work with the followers. Some leaders may build a relationship that may go beyond the organization in which the leader is able to gain the followers trust while some keep it strictly personal. Relationships between leader and follower must have their limits, which is why many organizations are strict on leaders fraternizing with the followers. Executives of some of the top companies use power sources in order to climb to the top, so it is no secret that these do help organizations achieve goals. Expert Power Expert Power is the source in which the leader is able to gain the trust of the followers due to the leader’s knowledge and expertise in a particular are. When someone knows they can approach their leader with questions and the leader has the answer, that person is more likely to be confident in that information as well as themselves and then leading to accomplished goals. Anytime a leader can display their expertise and share their knowledge, the more influential they can be. A follower would be likely to continue to go to that leader to gain more and more knowledge with the possible hopes to become a leader as well. As a power source, expert power is a very important source to gain as a follower in order to become a leader. Gaining as much knowledge as possible