| The study of leadership has often incorporated the concept of power, the attempt to exert influence (Hersey, Blanchard, & Johnson, 2001). Benzinger (1982) suggested that in order to advance in a career path, or to exhibit organizational influence significantly, a leader must not only understand power, but must seek it out actively and skillfully. To skillfully seek out power, leaders must recognize their own power bases and how they are being used. This study reviewed the literature concerning theories of power and leadership, and the perception of power by leaders. The purpose of this study was the analysis of data results from profiles taken by participants of the Center for Leadership Studies' seminar to determine if there are any differences between power perception by leaders and the assessment of these leaders' use of power by others, namely their bosses, associates, and followers. The archived data analyzed were the results of the Hersey and Natemeyer (2002) Power Perception Profile-Perception of Self (a self-report) and the Power Perception Profile-Perception of Other (a feedback instrument). Differences in results were found between the self-perception and the feedback comparison assessments in six of seven power bases, thus indicating that leaders' espoused theory (Argyris, 1999) and their theory-in-use differ. Given such a discrepancy, leaders may be in jeopardy of misusing power, or not using their power bases to their full potential. In either case, there is a need for leaders to learn to perceive their power bases better and then to develop their leadership power usage skills for improved performance. This study makes recommendations for further research concerning leadership and power perception. |
