Legitimate Power in Leadership

Legitimate power in leadership is one of the several types of power that come to a person when he assumes the role of a leader. This article is a thorough analysis of this important concept of legitimate power in leadership.

Definition of Legitimate Power
Before I define legitimate power in leadership, I must explain the concepts of what I mean by legitimate and what exactly is power. Then we can understand what is meant by legitimate power. It is good practice in any exposition to be clear about the basic premises on which we base our arguments, as then, there is no room for confusion. Let us define, what we mean by power and legitimate in the idea of 'Legitimate Power in Leadership'

What is Power?
Having power is the ability to influence outcomes and achieve goals, outside your realm of direct control, not necessarily through your own efforts. In simple words, to have power is to have whatever it takes to get things done. The nature of power is such that it gravitates to one who wants and is willing to do what it takes to get it. Power can be usurped, won over or given.

What is Legitimacy?
Having legitimacy or being legitimate is doing something according to law. The law being a code of conduct accepted and decided by unanimous majority or authority. Legitimacy is a tricky concept and when it comes to having legitimate power, it becomes even more dicey as we shall see in the example of legitimate power below.

What is Legitimate Power in Leadership?
Legitimate power in leadership is the power that a leader gets by default, due to his position in an organization. A leader essentially is distinguished from a follower due to the greater rights and responsibility he has than others. That is, additional rights that legitimate power bestows on him, distinguishes him from followers.

Of course, in a large organization, there is a power structure and every leader has some higher authority to answer to, unless he lies at the very apex of the power pyramid. Legitimate power in leadership can be a relative concept due to the very nature of power which I talked about earlier. It flows towards the one who readily takes it. In the sense that a leader may exercise more power than the limits of legitimate power by accepting additional responsibility from his seniors. Also a leader may exercise power, lesser than the limits of legitimate boundaries by deputizing his jobs to people who come under him, in the power structure. Be it business leadership, educational leadership, corporate leadership or any organizational leadership, its always good to have a clear idea of what is the extent of legitimate power that can be exercised at every level of the hierarchy. That way, the organization runs smoothly and there is lesser friction, than when people forget what their legitimate powers are and they abuse power.

Example of Legitimate Power Exercised
Let us consider the case of armed forces of a country. In no other organization is the chain of command and power structure so well defined and strictly implemented. So this organization is an excellent example of legitimate power in leadership, exercised. In the army, unlike any other organization, a soldier of senior rank, who is a commanding officer, literally has absolute control over the soldiers under his command. This is a consequence of legitimate power that he possesses due to his rank in the chain of command. The granting of legitimate powers at every level in the chain of command is important if the army has to clinically achieve its goal and orders are carried out to the word. If legitimate power in leadership of armed forces is not exercised properly, the chain of command will be in disarray! That way, compared to the army, what is called 'civilian life' is much more comfortable and the limits of legitimate power are not that well defined or exercised.

The army is a good example of legitimate power in leadership and also illegitimate power in leadership too! When a military general pulls off a coup and takes over a government, its illegitimate power being exercised in all it glory! This 'army coup' phenomenon has been repeated countless times in history. The modus operandi of the dictatorial regime that emerges after a coup is to conveniently alter the constitution of that country to justify their action and concentrate absolute power in the hands of the coup leader! This is also an example of illegitimate power exercised and then legitimized! The nature of power is such that there are only a few, who fail to get seduced by it. Absolute power, always corrupts absolutely. A quote by Abraham Lincoln puts the nature of power in perspective:

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Being a leader, is tough and you have to walk the thin line, which separates legitimate power in leadership and illegitimate power beyond. Doing that requires loads of restraint, self control and a clear idea of what is fair and what is not fair. Hope this article has given you a crystal clear idea of what legitimate power in leadership is.