Leadership and Power

Power and leadership are often discussed separately, but they are closely linked. Vision without power is a dream. A leader without power can describe where she wants the school to go, but she cannot move it there. Understanding what power is, where it comes from, and how to use it well is central to effective school leadership.

Why power matters in leadership

The handout states the connection directly:

The concepts of power and leadership are closely linked. Getting things done requires power. Leaders use power as a means of attaining group goals.

A common misconception treats power as something a leader either has or does not have based on her position. The reality is more nuanced. Power is the ability to influence others. It comes from many sources and can be developed, lost, and shared.

A school principal who has the title but lacks influence has the position without the power. A senior teacher with no formal authority but deep influence over the staffroom has power without the position. Both situations are common.

The working definition

Power is the ability to influence someone else.

The definition is broad on purpose. Power is not just authority. It is not just coercion. It is the broader capacity to affect another’s behaviour, choices, or beliefs.

A teacher who can change her students’ attitude towards learning has power, even though she has no positional authority over them in any formal sense. A parent who can sway other parents has power. A senior teacher whose advice the principal listens to has power.

Why power is a natural process

The handout cites research:

Power is a natural process in organisational life (Haugaard & Clegg, 2012; McClelland & Burnham, 2003).

Power is not optional. In any organisation where humans interact, power dynamics exist. The question is not whether power is at work, but who has it, how it is used, and whether it serves the organisation’s goals or undermines them.

A school head who pretends power dynamics do not exist in her school is operating blindly. The dynamics continue regardless of whether she acknowledges them. A school head who reads the dynamics accurately can work with them.

Power without leadership

The handout cites Pfeffer:

Getting things done requires power (Pfeffer, 1993).

Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Stanford management scholar, has spent decades arguing that managers under-invest in power. They assume that good ideas and clear arguments will win on their own. They will not, often. A good idea without political support, allies, and the capacity to influence does not become policy.

For a school head, this is uncomfortable but useful. A principal who has the right ideas about her school but lacks the power to implement them will not implement them. Power is not a corruption of leadership; it is part of what makes leadership effective.

Vision and power together

The handout makes the link explicit through examples.

All great leaders have a vision to achieve large-scale ideas. They all also have the personal power to enact it (Gibson et al., 2012). For example, Steve Jobs (Apple Computer), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com). They all had strong visions of the future. They were able to transform their visions into reality, because they had acquired and used the necessary power to do so.

The pattern is clear in the business examples and in school leadership too. The principals who have actually transformed their schools have done two things: held a vision, and acquired the power to make the vision real.

A vision without power is a frustrated leader. Power without vision is a manipulative one. The combination is what produces real change.

Pfeffer’s broader point

Great leaders make things happen by utilising personal power (Pfeffer, 2011).

The phrase “personal power” is important. Power has both positional sources (authority that comes with the role) and personal sources (influence that comes from the person).

Pfeffer’s research finds that the most effective leaders rely more on personal power than positional power. They use the authority that comes with their role, but they also build up expert power and referent power that come from who they are and what they do.

A new school principal has positional power from day one. She has the title, the office, the formal authority. She does not yet have personal power. That has to be built through expertise, integrity, and relationships over time.

Three implications for a school head

1. Recognise power as legitimate. Power is not something to be ashamed of. Used well, it is how leaders serve their organisations.
2. Build personal power, not just positional power. Position is given; personal power is earned.
3. Read the power dynamics in your school. Know who has influence, formal and informal. The map of influence is often more useful than the map of positions.

Flashcard

What is power and why is it linked to leadership?

Tap to reveal

Answer

Power is the ability to influence someone else. Leadership requires power to make change happen.

Key points:

1. Power is a natural process. It exists in every organisation; pretending otherwise leads to blind operation.
2. Vision plus power produces change. Vision without power is a dream; power without vision is manipulation. Both together produce great leadership.
3. Personal power matters most. Positional power comes with the role. Personal power (expert and referent) is earned through who you are and what you do. The most effective leaders rely more on personal power.

A school head who understands power can use it deliberately to serve the school’s goals. A school head who pretends power dynamics do not exist operates blindly.