The first four kinds of power

Coercive Power

“Do it – or else.”

Benefits

Costs

Benefits	Costs
Can be effective for gaining obedience	Drains physical, emotional and spiritual energy from both leader and follower
Appropriate for disciplinary actions	Undermines positive attitude of followers
Achieves quick results	Destroys trust and commitment
	Becomes less effective over time (must be repeated with greater and greater force)
	Obedience obtained by this means is usually only superficial, and often grudging
	This process must be supervised continually
	Followers may respond in kind! Leaders who live by the sword will likely die by the sword
	The use of such power is usually not biblical

“Do it – and you’ll get something.”

Benefits

Costs

Benefits	Costs
Sanctioned in certain cultures, such as the U.S.	followers; motives for service become mixed; creates stumbling blocks
Focuses attention on group priorities – “we pay for what we want”	Does not consistently produce high performance. “I’m only paid to do ‘thus-and-so’ and no more!”
Effective for gaining obedience – temporarily, at least	Undermines commitment if rewards are perceived as insufficient
Boosts short-term performance	Churches, and other nonprofit ministries and groups, have limited tangible rewards to offer
	Many organizations are too complex for clear reward systems
	Temporary – giving a reward may ensure short-term success, but not long-term commitment
	Expensive – one must provide increasingly greater tangible rewards
	Ineffective if rewards are not desirable or attractive
	Destructive if wrong individuals are rewarded
	Destructive if partiality is practiced
	Encourages self-centered individualism
	Ignores the reality that Christians are not primarily driven by material incentives
	Is not biblical in most situations. Jesus requires us to give up our lives in this world

“Follow me – I know what I’m doing.”

Benefits

Costs

Benefits	Costs
High commitment and “want to” in followers	Takes a long time to develop deep credibility
High performance in followers	Must possess the necessary knowledge and skills
Drains little, if any, spiritual and emotional energy from leader	Not as effective in gaining quick compliance as the first three forms of power, particularly in the case of disobedience
	May not be effective if followers do not share the leader’s goals

Please study these tables closely.

What insights do you have? About your own leadership? About the leadership culture of your organisation?

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