Power refers to a person or group’s potential to influence another person or group to do something that would not otherwise have been done. Noted scholar David McClelland initially expected effective leadership to be grounded in the need to achieve, but he found that the real driver of a leader’s performance was the leader’s need for power, or the desire to control and influence others or to be responsible for others.

He found that an individual’s power need could be directed positively if the leader could postpone immediate gratification and not act impulsively. He later called this the leadership motive pattern: a high need for power (with high impulse control) and a low need for affiliation. The leadership motive pattern is grounded in a need for power, and is generally associated with high managerial performance.

Managers typically have formal authority because of their position, which gives them a legitimate right to ask employees to do things that are part of their job descriptions. Organizational authority gives a manager position power, which is power based on one’s position in the organization.

To best lead, managers need to understand how position power impacts organizational and individual behavior. Personal influence gives a manager personal power, which is based on the characteristics of that individual and stays with the individual regardless of where that person works. It is important to recognize that you have different levels of each type of power, and to understand when each type of power is appropriate to use.

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