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Questions for discussion
1. What type of power is most appropriate to your organizational and

business needs?
Reward power: The ability of an executive to reward desired
behaviour or results.
Sanction power: The use or threat of punishments to control
behaviour.
Referent power: Leaders acting as role models for desired behaviours
leading to looked-for results. Leaders who are imitated because they
are admired. The ultimate charismatic leader.
Status power: The formal and informal emphasis on age, role,
experience and expertise in decision-making.
Expert power: The exercise of power that comes from being “he or
she that knows how”.
Legitimate power: The development of rules, norms, policies and
procedures aimed at ensuring that all fully understand that power is a
function of organizational position and responsibility.
2. Do any informal or formal rules or traditions exist in your company
that get in the way of achieving goals?
3. Where do such “rules” come from?
4. How will you sweep them aside so publicly that everybody realizes
that the way the game is played has really changed? As an example
you might like to consider Bob Townsend’s suggestion that the
quickest way to demonstrate that things are going to be “different
around here” is to publicly fire some apparently fireproof barrier to
progress. (Hopefully something a little less dramatic will suffice in
your case after all, Bob Townsend also suggested that personnel
managers should be “taken out and shot”.)
5. Consider “referent power” again if you would please. Are you aware of
any cases where a greatly admired leader has become a role model for
all future generations to the degree that pale facsimiles of the original
are now practising a leadership style that is out of tune with the
present business needs?

Situation two

You have developed your team to the point where you are able to push deci-
sion-making down to the lowest organizational level capable of making an
informed choice. You have communicated your vision, values and objec-
tives to all so that you can be sure of each individual’s absolute commit-
ment to shared goals. You have passed a major decision to your people
acting as a team. For organizational reasons you have taken their decision
to your CEO for her to “sign off” on it. To your surprise the CEO appears
to be at best lukewarm. “I think you ought to look at this again. It is your
decision and I will back you if you choose to stick with it, but if you are
wrong, and I think that you are, your neck will definitely be on the block.”
You are convinced that the decision is right.

98 Key management questions