Introduction to Leadership in Public Administration

The main reason for this blog is to discuss the different aspects of leadership and how they pertain to the study of public administration.  My many experiences in the military, private sector, and now as a civil servant have given me many experiences with leaders with different backgrounds, personalities, methods, and many other differences.  Some of the leaders I have experienced are remembered in a positive way and others are remembered in a negative way.  Different leadership methods and how power relates to leadership is a subject that has interested me since my time in the military.  This blog will focus on those methods with weekly posts that will discuss different topics and issues in the study of leadership in public administration.  This first post will concentrate on the interface between power and leadership and talk about the different experiences I have had with how leaders have used their power. 

Power and leadership are related because a leader must be able to influence the people they lead and power allows for that influence (Northouse, 2016).  Of course that most of us know leaders have power over the people they lead, but what are the different kinds of power that leaders can use to achieve their goals?  The different bases of power according to French and Raven are referent power, expert power, legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, and information power (1962).  We all have experienced at least some of these types of power being used by our parents, teachers, coaches and bosses at one point or another in our lives.  Below are the definitions of each of the six bases of power.

Table 1.1    Six Bases of Power

SOURCE: Adapted from “The Bases of Social Power,” by J. R. French Jr. and B. Raven, 1962, in D. Cartwright (Ed.), Group Dynamics: Research and Theory (pp. 259–269), New York: Harper & Row; and “Social Influence and Power,” by B. H. Raven, 1965, in I. D. Steiner & M. Fishbein (Eds.), Current Studies in Social Psychology(pp. 371–382), New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston. 

One of my Captains in the Navy is an excellent example of what it means to have referent power.  Of course being the Captain of a submarine in the U.S. Navy means that you have many different kinds of power that could be used to achieve the mission.  The Captain can use all of the other bases of power mentioned above to achieve the mission.  My first Captain would use coercive and legitimate power in order to achieve the mission by handing down harsh punishments to those who disobeyed and for not getting personal with the crew in order to maintain his status.  My last Captain was someone who did not like to punish the crew very harshly, would always try to get the crew home as much as possible, and took a genuine interest in the personal lives of all the sailor onboard.  The Captain took care of the crew and because of that the crew liked him and tried even harder to achieve the mission.  My experiences found that referent power was much more effective than coercive or legitimate power. 

Since I have been out of the military I have come to realize how much more relevant coercive power is in the military than it is in private sector employment or even a civilian working for the government.  In the private sector and public sector leaders are far less likely to threaten with punishment and more likely to use expert, reward, or legitimate power.  In the military the leaders did not have to threaten punishment, but we knew the option was always on the table and more likely to be used than reward power.  We may do things very well numerous times before we would get an award or other recognition, but one mess up would likely result in a fairly harsh punishment.  The private and public sectors have to worry more about retention and employee turnover more than the military does since the members of the military must complete their enlistment contract.  

Another basis of power that I have found to be very effective both in the military and out of the military is expert power.  People will usually always listen to a person that is considered an expert on the topic being discussed.  I served with a guy in the military that was not very well liked personally, did not work that hard, and did not hold any legitimate power, but when he spoke about the system he worked on everyone would stop and listen to him.  His knowledge of the system gave him power and people would follow him due to this.  In my current job there are one or two of my co-workers that also have expert power.  Their knowledge and experience garners the respect of other field economists and even those in management.  People with expert power will likely have some power over those that are their superiors when it comes to topics where they are considered experts.  

As you can see there are many different ways in which power and help a person with leadership.  I look forward to discussing the different types of power and how they relate to leadership in depth along with leadership in general.  The topic of leadership is one that is changing all the time and will continue to change with new technology and a more technologically advanced generation obtaining positions of power.  

Reference:

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand oaks: Sage Publications.