Leadership Effectiveness of
Referent
Power
as a Distinction of Personal Power
Joseph C
.
Thomas
Regent University Center for Leadership Studies
LEAD605 Founda
tions of Effective Leadership
18
-
Feb
-
2002
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Leadership Effectiveness of Referent Power as a Distinction of ..., Lecture notes of Project Management
Referent power: ability to influence based upon respect, loyalty, admiration, affection, or a desire to gain approval.
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Leadership Effectiveness of Referent Power
as a Distinction of Personal Power
Joseph C. Thomas
Regent University Center for Leadership Studies LEAD605 Foundations of Effective Leadership
18-Feb-
Introduction
The concept of referent power refers to the ability of a leader to influence a follower because of the follower s loyalty, friendship, or admiration of the leader. This paper: reviews types and sources of leadership power, examines the relationship of personal power in particular, referent power and its leadership effectiveness in the context of changing organizational structures, evaluates the consistency of positional and referent power with biblical values, presents Barnabas as a compelling example of an early church leader s use of referent power, and concludes with a personal and practical application of referent power.
Key Concepts
There are several types of power a leader uses (Yukl, 2002; Kerzner, 1998): Formal authority (legitimate power): ability to influence through the authority to direct based upon position in the hierarchy of the organizational structure or the perception of official empowerment to issue orders. Reward power: ability to influence based upon direct or indirect control over positive consequences a follower desires to gain such as raises in compensation, bonuses, promotions, choice assignments, or other perks. Penalty (coercive) power: ability to influence based upon direct or indirect control over negative consequences one desires to avoid such as the lack of raises in compensation, bonuses, promotions, choice assignments, or other perks.
implemented), and delegation down the chain of command to distribute work to subordinates (Hodgetts, 1975).
The way organizations conduct work is changing from traditional operations (or departmentally-oriented work) often seen in traditional organizational structures.
Over the last several decades, organizations have increasingly recognized the importance of project-oriented work. Projects are temporary organizations that perform work that normal departmental organizational structures are unable to effectively address (What is a Project, 2001). This change is due to many pressing factors such as downsizing (fewer people to do more tasks), larger and more complex products and services, fierce global competition, increasingly easy access to vast amounts of information, increasingly sophisticated customers demanding higher quality, explosive technological growth, and organizations desiring to build global operations (Project Management, 2002).
A more recent development is the self-managed (or self-directed) team. A self-managed team is a group of people having a specific objective and equipped with the necessary resources to do a job themselves without a conventional boss to direct their efforts (Manz & Sims, 1995). Manz & Sims (1995) go on to say: Work can be accomplished just as well, actually much better, if we eliminate the old concept of boss. Society has reached a stage where we no longer need people that own almost all the power of a work system and order everyone else around. We don t need people continuously staring over our shoulders, telling us what to do and chewing us out for what we ve
done wrong. Indeed, the idea of the all-powerful boss is becoming as outdated as the dinosaur. (p. x). Nearly fifty years experience shows that self-managed teams are significantly more productive than any other type of organization (Wheatley, 1997).
In the face of these changes in the way people are organized to do work, the nature of the people that do the work is also changing. Workers today are increasingly less tolerant of bosses. [They have] less desire to lead or manage, less desire to move up the corporate hierarchy, and defer to authority. Additionally, they have a lower respect for authority and greater desire for self-expression, personal growth, and self- fulfillment. (Manz & Sims, 1995, p. 10).
As an organization shifts its structure from a traditional organizational hierarchy to a project or self-managed team orientation, it needs to shift the style of its leadership from positional power to personal power. Referent power, as an aspect of personal power, becomes particularly important as organizational leadership is increasingly about collaboration and influence rather than command and control.
Referent power is gained by a leader who has strong interpersonal relationship skills. Yukl (2002, p. 150) lists ways for a leader to acquire and maintain referent power: Show acceptance and positive regard. Act supportively and helpful. Use sincere forms of ingratiation. Defend and back up people when appropriate. Do unsolicited favors. Make self-sacrifices to show concern. Keep promises.
your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:20-28 (NIV)
In another example of how leaders are to use referent power rather than positional power, Peter admonishes church leaders to be examples rather than telling others how to behave. Be shepherds of God s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:2-3 (NIV)
Paul s instructions to the Colossians are clear directions for effective interpersonal relations, the basis for referent power. Therefore, as God s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)
The essence of relating to others is being able to put yourself in their position. Matthew 7:12 sums up the essence of Jesus teaching about how to treat others in the Sermon on the Mount. So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 (NIV)
Biblical Example
Two incidents in the New Testament illustrate Barnabas use of referent power. There is no evidence that Barnabas held any special office in the early church that would
account for his use of positional power. On the contrary, the name of Barnabas means Son of Encouragement, (Acts 4:36) and indicates that Barnabas was well known for this particular interpersonal skill. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Acts 11:22-24 (NIV)
The first incident is Barnabas vouching for Paul and convincing the apostles that Paul s conversion is genuine and that Paul should be accepted in their midst. When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Acts 9:26-30 (NIV)
When John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas during Paul s First Missionary Journey, Paul was bitter and did not want to take John Mark on his Second Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36-39). Barnabas subsequently chose to give John Mark another chance. Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing. Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. Acts 15:36-40 (NIV)
Pursue the ideas set forth by Kouzes & Posner (1995, p. 292) in Celebrate Accomplishments with a particular emphasis on celebrating behaviors consistent with key values. My multiple point action plan is to work with a peer leadership team to address these items: 1) What are the key values we re promoting within our team? 2) What are the behaviors that exemplify each key value? 3) Who is exemplifying these behaviors? 4) What does the team think are meaningful celebrations? 5) Begin recognition of behaviors exemplifying key values in daily team meetings as well as every two weeks during our iteration launches.
Conclusion
In the face of unrelenting pressure to continually improve quality and productivity in order to compete in a global society, organizations are undergoing significant and innovative changes in organizing groups of people to work effectively. The nature of the people who participate in work groups are also changing with new and upcoming generations. These factors contribute to a corresponding shift in the types of leadership power that are effective: from positional power based upon formal delegation downward through the organization to personal especially referent power based upon the strength of the interpersonal relationship between the leader and the follower.
Referent power is consistent with the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament. There are many examples of Jesus and others exercising referent power. Referent power is fundamentally based upon the second greatest commandment as given by Jesus: Love your neighbor as yourself. This is perhaps the greatest challenge that all leaders face.
References
Buzzel, S. (Ed.). (1998). The Leadership Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. Carnegie, D. (1981). How to Win Friends & Influence People. New York: Pocket Books. Hodgetts, R. (1975). Management Theory Process and Practice. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (1995). The Leadership Challenge. (2nd ed.). San Francisco:Jossey-Bass.
Manz, C. & Sims, H, Jr. (1995). Business without Bosses: How Self-Managing Teams Are Building High-Performing Companies. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Maxwell, J. (1994). Be A People Person. Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor Publishing Project Management: A Proven Process for Success (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2002 from http://www.pmi.org/projectmanagement/ What is a Project? (2001). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) (p. 4). Newtown, PA: Project Management Institute. Wheatley, M. (1997, Summer). Goodbye, Command and Control. Leader to Leader, No. 5 Retrieved February 11, 2002 fromhttp://www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/l2l/summer97/wheatley.html
Yoder, K. (1998). Healthy Leaders. Ephrata, PA: House to House Publications