is exercised for the benefit of the business project as a whole and not just as a means of serving individual interests. Tools for wielding authority This brings us on to the concept of authority, which differs slightly from power. While power relates to a person’s ability to influence others, authority concerns itself with a person’s right to make decisions by dint of their position. “Authority is a foundational function of organisations that grants legitimacy and rights to those who exercise it and allows the organisation to maintain its stability and continuity over time while adapting,” according to an article published in Información Tecnológica and led by Jaime Riquelme-Castañeda. By facilitating an organisation’s resilience and continuity over time, authority becomes fundamental to the common good of its people and those related to them. It is therefore a vital function for organisations and leaders must know the tools for its implementation. One crucial tool is internal and external communication because, as we have seen, constructive dialogue offers a path towards creating a common narrative that encompasses a company’s vision, objectives, values, ethical principles, mission and strategies. This again underlines the benefits of developing
are moved, or rather, influenced is critical. To create team cohesion around shared goals, there must be constructive dialogue between leaders and followers, interweaving the organisational project with consideration for each person’s values, dreams, goals, abilities, knowledge, skills and motives. The supportive and collaborative environment that this approach generates nurtures personal development and enables organisations to transition from having a group of exemplary individuals to a high-performance team that is characterised by efficiency and effectiveness in results. In the words of Julio García del Junco and José Manuel Brás Dos Santos García, writing in Leadership Skills , “groups become teams when they develop a sense of shared commitment and strive to synergise among members.” At its core, therefore, leadership revolves around a person’s ability to influence others and power is the capacity one has to influence them. The origin of this power is not the leader, but rather those who follow the leader. They bestow power on the leader when they are influenced and their will can only be moved if they themselves allow it. This is except for the extent to which a leader makes use of some of the power traits described earlier, such as knowledge, hierarchy, charisma, experience and authority. The pros and cons of power If the source of power lies largely with followers, leaders must seek to facilitate the success and happiness of the people within their organisations and explore styles of management that best suit the situations or challenges at hand. In other words, they must employ a situational leadership approach that allows them to take a genuine interest in discovering better ways of working with their teams and collaborators. In this sense, one of the key benefits of power is the way in which followers can empower leaders to impact an organisation positively through the influence they are granted. This can enable leaders to build a clear and shared vision for an organisation, develop an understanding of the training requirements of its people and foster collaboration towards meeting the needs and expectations of its stakeholders. However, when power is entrusted in leaders out of fear or deception, the outcomes are not so positive and, indeed, imply a misuse of such power. When coercive power is exercised and people feel forced to do things, for example, they are not choosing to share the goals and philosophy of the organisation freely. This undermines elements of workplace culture that facilitate innovation, such as team cohesion, intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships and the creation of psychologically safe spaces. Lastly, it is important to consider the challenge of achieving organisational goals within a framework where people are responsible for their actions. Here, there is an expectation that those who are conferred with power will facilitate the development of responsible leadership and ensure that authority
32 | Ambition | JULY/AUGUST 2024
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