“ Son, it's great that you have been elected president. But now that you have that position, don't use it to make others do what you want. The best use of power is not having to use it. People follow great leaders because they respect them and not because of the power they hold "(1)
In institutions or companies, executives or workers are needed who have sufficient capacity to know that having power is different than having authority; the power is inherent to the position that the person has in the institution, as definition the Royal Spanish Academy considers Power: "as the faculty and jurisdiction that someone has to command or execute something." While to the Authority: "prestige and credit that a person or institution is recognized for its legitimacy or for its quality and competence in any matter".
James C. Hunter in his book The Paradox mentions the definitions of Max Weber from his book: "On the Theory of Social Sciences"
"Power.- The ability to force or coerce someone, so that he, although he would prefer not to do it, does your will due to your position or your strength."
"Authority.- the art of getting people to voluntarily do what you want due to your personal influence."
As we can see, there is a difference, authority is gained based on knowledge, work, skills and attitudes and they should not pretend to earn it only with beautiful words, attitudes must be made to speak for us, or perhaps better yet, make coherence exist between what is thought, what is said and what is done. What would we think of an executive or official who talks a lot about organizing a high-performance team, but we see him reading the newspaper, watching television or talking on the phone about particular matters or perhaps he leaves the workplace and not precisely for matters related to his functions, while that other workers are extremely busy due to their excessive workload. With that type of attitude, the synergy that must exist in every team is eliminated.Let's not forget that: words convince, but example drags. In theory, it is useless to be great promoters of the formation of high-performance teams, if in practice we do not know how to join someone already trained, making us remember Ralph Waldo Emerson "… the noise of your actions does not let me hear your words…".
Otherwise, it is that of a few pitifully few, officials who, committed to teamwork, forgetting about categories, join the group that needs support; officials who do not think, for example, that going out to serve the public at a window is dishonorable, since this does not take anything away from them, nor does it denigrate them, on the contrary it confirms them as good leaders and / or officials. Leadership of influence, reference or example is the one that occurs when the official, executive or manager is the example to follow; how easy it is for some to demand that workers comply with standards, when they are the first to break them, taking refuge in the position they hold; They are people who have not yet understood that promotions or higher-level positions imply increasing their responsibility, and should be the reference or example for other workers and not as they think, that the position gives them prerogatives to breach the internal regulations of the institution.
Our real motivation to become a boss or leader should not be to acquire power and privileges, as in the case of not complying with the established rules and schedules, these attitudes detract from the real capacity or moral authority to lead a work team. The true and real motivation must be the desire to be the guide and the example for the personnel in charge, an example of contraction to work, punctuality, respect and compliance with the rules that are required in the institution and thus be able to specify achievements that benefit to the entire team and therefore to the institution.
It is worth remembering the definition of leader, example and reference:
Leader: Person that a group follows, recognizing it as a leader or guide.
Example: To stimulate the imitation of others with one's own works.
Reference: Said of the shareholders or members of a company, who have a prominent role in a government or management.
We must remember that:
The one who talks a lot is not necessarily a good leader.
What you are trying to achieve are not personal goals, but common ones.
The end does not justify the means, nor does it validate it. Values, principles and the pillars of the organizational culture must be taken into account.
For this reason, let us aspire and try to be leaders and / or bosses whom other workers have as an example and not as simple bosses who order and want to enforce to others what we do not comply, thereby losing our authority and authority. moral capacity to demand such compliance from others. Let's change that negative attitude. Institutions both to take personnel and to grant promotions must take into account the attitudes and not only the aptitudes of the workers, since the aptitudes are easier to acquire and instead, when the attitudes usually come from home and / or family environment, are very difficult to change.
In the case of promotions, granting them only taking into account the aptitudes in the position held by the worker is a double risk for the institution: because it is possible that we lose an excellent subordinate and end up having a lousy boss.
(1) Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges.
