Tool: Five Kinds of Power
Five ways leaders motivate their followers.
Malcolm Webber
A leader helps someone move from where he is now to somewhere else. We may define leadership “power” as the leader’s capacity to influence others to move from where they are now to somewhere else.
There are essentially five reasons why people follow someone else, or five kinds of “power”:
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- Coercive Power
- Reward Power
- Positional Power
- Expert Power
- Servant Power
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Coercive Power The leader’s capacity to administer punishment to those who don’t do what he or she says. |
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Benefits |
Costs |
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Can be effective for gaining obedience |
Drains physical, emotional and spiritual energy from both leader and follower |
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Appropriate for disciplinary actions |
Undermines positive attitude of followers |
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Achieves quick results |
Destroys trust and commitment |
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Becomes less effective over time (must be repeated with greater and greater force) |
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Obedience obtained by this means is usually only superficial, and often grudging |
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This process must be supervised continually |
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Followers may respond in kind! Leaders who live by the sword will likely die by the sword |
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The use of such power is usually not biblical |
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Reward Power The leader’s capacity to promise future rewards to his or her followers. |
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Benefits |
Costs |
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Sanctioned in certain cultures, such as the U.S. |
Undermines the real “want to” in followers; motives for service become mixed; creates stumbling blocks |
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Focuses attention on group priorities – “we pay for what we want” |
Does not consistently produce high performance. “I’m only paid to do ‘thus-and-so’ and no more!” |
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Effective for gaining obedience – temporarily, at least |
Undermines commitment if rewards are perceived as insufficient |
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Boosts short-term performance |
Churches, and other nonprofit ministries and groups, have limited tangible rewards to offer |
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Many organizations are too complex for clear reward systems |
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Temporary – giving a reward may ensure short-term success, but not long-term commitment |
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Expensive – one must provide increasingly greater tangible rewards |
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Ineffective if rewards are not desirable or attractive |
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Destructive if wrong individuals are rewarded |
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Destructive if partiality is practiced |
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Encourages self-centered individualism |
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Ignores the reality that Christians are not primarily driven by material incentives |
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Is not biblical in most situations. Jesus requires us to give up our lives in this world |
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Positional Power The leader’s authority resides in the position rather than the person. |
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Benefits |
Costs |
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Sanctioned in certain cultures, such as Mexico and the Philippines |
Lowers performance. People only cooperate when the “boss” is around |
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Puts the weight of the entire organization behind the leader |
Lowers followers’ commitment and “want to” |
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Effective for gaining obedience |
May become less effective over time |
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Becomes very complicated in a multicultural situation |
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Creates distance between the leader and the people. Positional leaders encourage “distance” through their clothing, titles, etc. |
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Weakened by any display of weakness, failure or simple “humanity” in the leader |
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Puts pressure on the leader to be “perfect” and to always have the right answer |
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Can become difficult for the leader to have genuine nurturing friendships with others |
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Mitigates against transparency and accountability of leadership |
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Expert Power The leader’s influence resides in his or her ability to supply needed information or skills. |
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Benefits |
Costs |
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High commitment and “want to” in followers |
Takes a long time to develop deep credibility |
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High performance in followers |
Must possess the necessary knowledge and skills |
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Drains little, if any, spiritual and emotional energy from leader |
Not as effective in gaining quick compliance as the first three forms of power, particularly in the case of disobedience |
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May not be effective if followers do not share the leader’s goals |
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Servant Power The leader does not demand respect, but earns it. People follow because they want to. |
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Benefits |
Costs |
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High commitment and “want to” in followers |
Takes a long time to develop |
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High performance in followers |
Not as effective in gaining quick compliance as the first three forms of power, particularly in the case of disobedience |
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Biblical basis for leadership power |
Requires death to self and personal sacrifice |
