Question

Choose a real-world example of someone you would describe as a great leader. Examples would include; Steve Jobs, Colin Powell, Mahatma Gandhi, Elon Musk, Margaret Thatcher, etc. Prepare a 500-word essay describing their leadership successes as they relate to the "sources and types of power" discussed in chapter 8. Be sure to address their source of leader power (person vs position), type of leader power, and the overall impact of such power upon their leadership efforts.

-Power of the Position Based on what leaders can offer to others Reward power is the capacity to offer something of value as a means of influencing others: “If you do what I ask, you will be rewarded.” Control over pay, promotions, and parking places are examples of reward power. Coercive power is the capacity to punish as a means of influencing others: “If you don’t do what I ask, you will be punished.” Coercive power is leadership by fear and intimidation. Legitimate power is the capacity to influence others by virtue of formal authority or the rights of office: “Because I am the leader, you should do as I ask.” Examples are the boss who assigns jobs, the coach who decides plays, the captain who gives orders, and the teacher who assigns homework. Information power comes from having access to data and news of importance to others: “I have important information, so you should do as I ask.” Keepers of standards, rules, and regulations have information power.

-Power of the Person Based on how leaders are viewed by others Expert power is the capacity to influence others because of expertise, specialized knowledge, or skill. A mechanic, actor, or lawyer may be influential because she is recognized as the best in her profession. Ability in an art, science, a profession, or a trade are examples of expert power. Referent power is the capacity to influence others because of their desire to identify with the leader. Unselfish motives and virtuous character raise trust and respect. Being admired as a role model brings referent power. Rational power is the capacity to influence others because of well-developed reasoning and problem-solving ability. Intelligence increases rational power. Charisma power is the ability to motivate and inspire others by force of personal traits, including optimism, sense of adventure, and commitment to a cause. Charisma power transforms people to achieve superior performance.

Answer 1

Elon Reeve Musk is an African Born Canadian American Businessman, Investor and Engineer. Elon Musk is a great example of greatest leaders in the world, the achievements and contribution to humanity makes him not only a successful business man but also world renowned leaders in technology, Elon Musk is the founder and CEO of organization like Spacex, Tesla Inc. Neuarlink, and the boring company. Elon musk is the sole contributor behind the South Australia’s giant battery storage project, but his to do list also include colonial setup on Mars, electronic cars and self-drive cars running on the roads and developing the capacity for humans to plug themselves in to the computers.

Nearly five years PayPal become the business success which was sold for more than $300 million and Elon got nearly $22 million in his pocket later it was sold to ecommerce giant EBay for $1.5 billion.

Expert power of Elon makes him unbeatable in the world of leaders, his ability to work in multiple projects and getting employees used to it makes him the ultimate leader, his expertise in Aerospace drove him to found SpaceX. A great leader is the one who influence their team member to work in such a way that they don’t regret coming to office daily, Another quality of a great leader is the one who takes charge and responsibility for the action of the team, Both the qualities made Elon grow im tough times, he managed to bring growth and prosperity in the organizations in the tough times like after 2008 financial crisis.

At the age of 31, Elon’s attention was drawing towards space exploration and founded the company spaceX, which is an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, in 2003 Elon founded Tesla Inc. an electric car solar panel manufacturer and operates it as its CEO, there are numerous number of projects and organizations which being founded by Elon like OpenAI, creation of Solar City and the boring company.

Elon is not there to make money, he is out there to create something which is everlasting, and he is a man on a mission which fundamentally affects the business he runs.

Elon strongly believes in the Democratic leadership, he believes that if you one wants to push oneself, he must push the overall team, he even said in an interview that ‘ if you want to keep your clients happy, keep your employees happy they will take care of your clients.