An overview of key relationships between leadership and power, as well as a summary of some important ways in which leaders and non-leaders alike exercise power in all areas of life. Effective leadership today – for many organizations – involves the thoughtful use of power in ways quite different than those we might find 100 or 50 or even 20 years ago. Leaders’ orientations toward power have obvious and significant impacts on corporate culture, productivity and the ability to attract and retain top talent.   Leadership Coaching Tips: Effective Leadership and Power What is the relationship between leadership and power? What kinds of power are most important for leaders and non-leaders alike? And how can we be use these ways of understanding to build more productive and more healthy organizations and relationships? First, it’s clear that leaders have the power – the socially granted authority – to make certain declarations that others do not. In addition to the power to assess subordinates’ performance – and have the assessments truly matter – consider leaders’ statements of organizational purpose, priority, values, goals, and objectives. These declarations are like the rudder of a boat, directly impacting where the organization is going, how it’s going to get there and what it’s going to be like for those on the journey. Once leaders make these declarations, the creative power of language becomes evident. Their words have the power to create a new context – it’s not physical, but it’s real. If leaders fail to act consistently with the newly-declared priorities, goals or values, they will be seen as hypocrites in the eyes of their employees… and this will happen even if they don’t see it or don’t approve of it! In this way of understanding, healthy Leadership = Power plus Care. And Power without Care = Manipulation. To retain the top talent necessary for success today and tomorrow, leaders exercise power and demonstrate care. They care about their commitments, declarations and public identity. They also care about their employees’ well-being, career development and opportunities… and it shows. In organizations as well as personal relationships, quality people will not long tolerate being manipulated. We each have a fairly dependable “authenticity detector” and many of us will not work with or be with people we find to be manipulative or inauthentic. For leaders (and all of us), power is also connected with our ability to: Decline others’ requests of us Complain when others do not keep commitments Come up with our own autonomous assessments (opinions), regardless of the assessments of others Coordinate action with others Make our own declarations of purpose, goals and direction Set our own standards for staying in relationships What are the conversations out of which we do not exercise our power in situations like those above? The invitation is to explore the different types of power most helpful for leadership and organizational success, as well as ways in which all of us may become more powerful, productive and peaceful. Like this Tool Tip? Get Lots More in these eBooks! [wpsc_products category_id='80' ]