Role of Power
A CCL Research White Paper
The Role of Power in Effective Leadership
By: Vidula Bal Michael Campbell Judith Steed Kyle Meddings
C E N T E R F O R C R E AT I V E L E A D E R S H I P
The Role of Power in Effective Leadership
CONTENTS Executive Summary Background Power and Leadership Sources of Power The Power of Relationships The Power of Information Understanding the Organization’s Role How Leaders Leverage Power Effectively Reflection Questions Resources References About the Authors 4 5 6 8 12 14 15 17 19 19 19 20
Center for Creative Leadership, CCL®, and its logo are registered trademarks owned by the Center for Creative Leadership. © 2008 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
The Role of Power in Effective Leadership
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Ideas2Action (I2A) project is a Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) initiative aimed at achieving its goal of “ideas into action.” The purpose of the project is to provide our participants and clients with research that is timely and relevant to current challenges. The research questions are also designed to aid in continuously updating CCL program content and providing knowledge that is compelling to our participant groups. The purpose of this research is to understand how leaders use power, to learn about the situations in which power is exerted and to describe how individuals and organizations can improve their leadership through the effective use of power.
The major findings of this research included: 1. Most leaders surveyed (94 percent) rated themselves as being moderately to extremely powerful at work. There is a notable correlation between leaders’ level in the organization and how powerful they believe themselves to be at work. 2. 28 percent of the leaders surveyed agree that power is misused by top leaders in their organization. 3. 59 percent of the leaders surveyed agree that their organization empowers people at all levels. 4. 41 percent of the leaders surveyed indicate that
The Role of Power in Effective Leadership
By: Vidula Bal Michael Campbell Judith Steed Kyle Meddings
C E N T E R F O R C R E AT I V E L E A D E R S H I P
The Role of Power in Effective Leadership
CONTENTS Executive Summary Background Power and Leadership Sources of Power The Power of Relationships The Power of Information Understanding the Organization’s Role How Leaders Leverage Power Effectively Reflection Questions Resources References About the Authors 4 5 6 8 12 14 15 17 19 19 19 20
Center for Creative Leadership, CCL®, and its logo are registered trademarks owned by the Center for Creative Leadership. © 2008 Center for Creative Leadership. All rights reserved.
The Role of Power in Effective Leadership
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Ideas2Action (I2A) project is a Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) initiative aimed at achieving its goal of “ideas into action.” The purpose of the project is to provide our participants and clients with research that is timely and relevant to current challenges. The research questions are also designed to aid in continuously updating CCL program content and providing knowledge that is compelling to our participant groups. The purpose of this research is to understand how leaders use power, to learn about the situations in which power is exerted and to describe how individuals and organizations can improve their leadership through the effective use of power.
The major findings of this research included: 1. Most leaders surveyed (94 percent) rated themselves as being moderately to extremely powerful at work. There is a notable correlation between leaders’ level in the organization and how powerful they believe themselves to be at work. 2. 28 percent of the leaders surveyed agree that power is misused by top leaders in their organization. 3. 59 percent of the leaders surveyed agree that their organization empowers people at all levels. 4. 41 percent of the leaders surveyed indicate that