The position power comes from one’s rank in the top management. A person higher up in the organizational hierarchy has more position power than someone at a lower level in the organizational hierarchy. A person with position power can make others do things even if the others may not want to do it. Even though position power may have negative perceptions, it can also be positive. The position power increases one’s ability to achieve the organizational objectives. The position power can be used to influence people to do things even if they may not be convinced. The personal power is derived from the person’s behavior and/or characteristics. The followers consent to the personal power of the leader, thus, the personal power can be gained or lost (Lussier & Achua, 2013).
It is not hard to understand the differences between the position and the personal power. The position power comes from the official position one holds within the organization and it may go away if the person loses the position. On the other hand, the personal power comes from the person’s characteristics and/or behaviors and may have a longer life than the position power. While it is possible for a person in the top management to have both the positional and the personal power, a person not in the top management may only have personal power (Lussier & Achua, 2013). While the personal power may also be lost or declined, it usually has longer life than the positional power.
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"Position and Personal Power".
As mentioned above, the sources of the positional power are external to the person while the sources of the personal power are internal to the person. President Obama has positional power because he was elected to the Presidency of the U.S. and his positional power will go away soon. But President Obama also has personal power over his followers due to his personal characteristics that will continue to persist even after he has left the White House.
Another difference between the positional and the personal power is that the followers are forced to do things due to positional power that they may not have done otherwise. In other words, they may do things involuntarily. On the other hand, the followers do things due to personal power because they actually want to follow the person with the personal power. In other words, the personal power influences the followers to do things voluntarily.
The leaders who rely on the positional power may not empower their followers in the way the leaders with personal power do. The leaders with personal power empower the followers and are able to secure their commitment in a way those with reliance on the positional power cannot. Thus, while the leaders with the positional power may be able to force the followers to follow the instructions, they may not be able to influence the followers to go beyond their basic responsibilities to ensure the success of the goals.
The positional power has been declining in importance while the personal power has been rising in importance at the same time (Daft & Marcic, 2008). The followers are now less tolerant of authoritarian management because they want to be empowered and given a greater voice in the operations and strategic direction of the business. The importance of the personal power has also been growing because the businesses want to retain their talented workers and enhance their loyalty and commitment to the organization.
The positional power depends upon one’s official position within the organization while the personal power depends upon one’s personal characteristics. The positional power may be used to force followers to follow instructions even if they may not want to while the personal power depends upon convincing the followers that the instructions are worthy of following.
