Contrasting Leadership and Power
Power refers to the ability to control the behavior of other people. Research shows that there are various sources of power, and it can be legal and sometimes can also be achieved illegally. Leadership refers to the ability to inspire other individuals to act towards the achievement of a common goal. Both power and leadership are interrelated, which leads to a lot of confusion for people who do not clearly understand their meaning. The two work together; for example, for someone to exercise leadership, there must be some form of power. Despite their interrelation, the two terms have some differences.
Leadership focuses on directing influence downwards whereby influence comes from the superior and channeled to the subordinates. The direction of influence of leadership reduces the significance of other directions of influence, such as lateral and upward. On the other hand, power focuses directing influence in all directions. On the issue of goal compatibility, power does not require goal compatibility; it merely needs dependence. On the other hand, leadership needs some goal congruence between the leaders’ goals and the people being inspired.
The research emphasis on power and leadership differs in a significant way whereby leadership puts much emphasis on the style of leadership. The research is meant to look for answers for questions such as; what level of support should leaders give? And what and how much decisions the leaders should share. On the other hand, power emphasizes a broad topic that focuses on the tactics used by individuals and groups for gaining compliance.
Conflict Management
Organizational conflict refers to a state when one member of the organization perceives that another member has negatively affected, or is about to affect, something that the first member cares about. For example, a misunderstanding that results from a disagreement about a member’s beliefs. Organizational conflict is inevitable because members will always interact as they perform their duties. Therefore, managers need to come up with a suitable strategy on how to manage conflicts effectively in their organization.
To begin with, managers should try and identify the source of the conflict. This process can be done by getting information from the members involved in the conflict. From the information given, the manager can understand the conflict from each member’s view. The manager should handle this process diligently to avoid new conflicts from rising. The
should also have the relevant question to ask the members involved.
After getting the information from the members involved, the manager can get to the root of the problem. This process can also be done by trying to have more in-depth conversations with the members involved. This process is a very vital part of the conflict management process.
After identifying the root cause, the manager can now explore solutions to solve the conflict. The manager should engage the people involved in the conflict and hold very diligent meetings whereby he should give them a room to provide suggestions on the solution for the conflict. The manager should focus on identifying the solutions that both parties support. The conflict management process needs to result in a solution that is agreed upon by all parties. The answer should be clear and objective. The solution may not satisfy everyone, but it needs to bring some neutrality of the conflict and help to normalize things at the workplace.
After coming up with a solution, it will be very vital to agree upon further action. The goal is not only to solve that conflict only but to ensure that to bring an understanding of how they are supposed to interact even in the future to avoid conflicts. The manager should also ensure that they do follow-ups with the members involved to ensure that they are doing as they had agreed and that the members are satisfied with the steps taken. If the manner establishes that the process was ineffective, he or she should plan to explore other solutions that can help resolve the conflict.