Reward. Some people are leaders just because they have the ability to do desirable things for us. They receive obeisance simply because they have power over salary, promotions, junkets, hiring, access to the boss. Etc. like the “expert,” people who have reward power often possess more influence than their job or title suggests. They are people who we really need to talk with if we want a favor, regardless of rank in the company hierarchy.
Information. Some people are leaders just because they have knowledge or access to knowledge what we consider important. They are not necessarily an “expert,” but they know where to get the information. Where they fit in the organization’s structure.
Connection. Some universities require business students to take courses in golf or tennis so they can more easily make friends with outsiders who can assist them in achieving more profitable or social advancements. Some of our follow co-worker have the ear of the boss or other powerful insiders. A person with these kinds of connections, outside or inside the organization, stands a good chance of becoming our boss someday, and we know it.
And finally, an eighth power source seems appropriate for the age:
Wealth and/or celebrity. In today’s age when the mass media in general lionize the wealthy and perpetually promote the famous, these attributes constitute the newest source of power. People with wealth hold while celebrities usually have wealth and the additional power of their celebrity, in which they are ”famous for being famous”
The great leaders have a combination of most or all of these sources of power. Most of these sources are based on attributes that a person can decide to acquire or to ignore.
That leads to the perennial question. Are leaders born, or are they made? Or are they, as management expert Peter F. Drucker contends, neither born nor made, but self-made?
His distinction is an interesting one, placing greatest importance on the desire of individuals to become leaders and to mold themselves into the kind of people whom others want to follow.
While it is true that “all men are created equal” in rights and responsibilities, they are not all equal in attitudes and aptitudes. Human determination can be an indomitable force, but nevertheless most leaders still are “born” to leadership-at least to the degree that you generally need better than average ambition, intelligence, confidence and common sense to become a leader respected by others. Attitude is often more important than skills. If determination can be matched with skills, all the better, but often it is a person’s desire to achieve that counts most.