An organization is a communal collection which follows and tries to achieve collective targets. Power in an organization is the capability to do or act; potential of doing or achieving something. Whereas influence is the capacity of persons or things to be a convincing force on. Both power and influence play a pivotal role in the leadership process of an organization. Understanding, recognizing and managing it can be very fruitful for organizations and personnel working in the organization. However, the idea of power and influence usually brings to mind negative connotation.
For example, referring to the use of power can be assumed as the fact that people are being dominated, influenced or pressurized, which is not always true. The positive usage of influence of and power in an organization can be seen in the concept of “Expert Power” (Lauby,S March 4, 2010, 7 Types of Power in the Workplace, hrbartender. com) Expert power comes from a person’s level of expertise in a particular skill or a commendable achievement. Steve Jobss’ level of expertise and commitment has helped Apple to become the giant of a corporation that it is at the moment.
Moreover, if you have influence over people outside the organization then it can help the organization because the person who possesses this influence knows, and has the ear of, other powerful people within the community which can help the organization in a number of different ways. Nevertheless, influence and power in an organization can have negative repercussion as well. People with influence on the top hierarchy in an organization can have adverse ramification for an organization, as it could lead to nepotism within the organization.
Working for an international courier service once I experienced this, where less competent people were hired over people with more level of skill and expertise . Similarly a person having legitimate power, which comes from the position that person hold within an organization can be exploited for personal gains rather than the expansion of the organization as a whole. References: (Lauby,S March 4, 2010, 7 Types of Power in the Workplace, hrbartender. com)