Understanding and Applying Positional and Personal Power in Leadership

Introduction

Power is a central part of leadership, organizational life, and social change. Whether people recognize it or not, power shapes who gets heard, who makes decisions, whose knowledge is valued, and how resources are distributed. In professional settings, power is often discussed negatively, as if it only involves control, domination, or authority over others. However, power can also be used constructively to build trust, share resources, reduce harm, promote equity, and create more sustainable outcomes.

Effective leadership requires more than simply holding a title or having formal authority. Leaders must understand the different sources of power available to them and learn how to use those sources intentionally. Two especially important categories are positional power and personal power. Positional power comes from one’s formal role, title, authority, or control over resources. Personal power comes from credibility, expertise, relationships, character, and the trust others place in a person.

This article explores the meaning of positional and personal power, how these sources of influence operate in organizations, and how leaders can use them strategically and ethically. It also discusses the importance of reflecting on one’s own power, sharing power with others, and building alliances to advance collective goals.

Defining Power in Leadership

Power can be broadly understood as the ability to influence outcomes, shape decisions, and affect the behavior or choices of others. French and Raven’s classic framework identifies several bases of power, including legitimate, reward, coercive, expert, and referent power (French & Raven, 1959). Their work remains influential because it shows that power does not come from only one source. A person may have power because of their official position, but they may also have power because others respect their expertise, trust their judgment, or admire their character.

In leadership studies, power is often connected to influence. Northouse (2021) explains that leadership involves a process whereby an individual influences a group of people to achieve a common goal. This means leadership is not limited to managers or people with formal authority. Anyone who can influence others toward shared action may exercise leadership.

However, power is not neutral. It can be used to include or exclude, empower or silence, protect or harm. For this reason, responsible leadership requires self-awareness. Leaders must ask not only, “What power do I have?” but also, “How am I using this power, and who is affected by it?”

Positional Power

Meaning of Positional Power

Positional power refers to influence that comes from a person’s formal role within an organization or system. It is tied to job titles, decision-making authority, control of resources, and access to institutional processes. For example, supervisors, managers, directors, project leads, and committee chairs often hold positional power because their roles give them authority to assign tasks, approve decisions, allocate budgets, evaluate performance, or set strategic priorities.

French and Raven’s concept of legitimate power closely relates to positional power. Legitimate power exists when people accept that a person has the right to make decisions because of their role or position (French & Raven, 1959). For example, employees may follow a manager’s instructions because the organization formally recognizes the manager’s authority.

Sources of Positional Power

Positional power may come from several sources:

1. Role or Title

A person’s job title may grant formal responsibilities and authority. For example, a department head may have the authority to approve schedules, lead meetings, evaluate staff, or make budget recommendations.

2. Access to Information

Some individuals have access to confidential reports, strategic plans, senior leaders, or organizational data. This access can increase their influence because they know information others may not have.

3. Control Over Resources

People who manage budgets, staff assignments, equipment, or project timelines often hold significant positional power. Resource control affects what work gets prioritized and who receives support.

4. Decision-Making Authority

Formal authority to approve, reject, or revise decisions gives individuals power over outcomes. This may include hiring decisions, policy changes, funding allocations, or project direction.

5. Accountability for Outcomes

Leaders who are officially responsible for team or organizational outcomes often have power because they are expected to guide performance and ensure results.

Strengths of Positional Power

Positional power can be useful and necessary. Organizations often need clear decision-making structures to function effectively. Formal authority can help leaders:

• Set direction and clarify priorities.
• Coordinate complex tasks.
• Resolve conflicts when consensus is difficult.
• Allocate resources efficiently.
• Ensure accountability and compliance.
• Protect team members from confusion or competing demands.

For example, a project manager may use positional power to set deadlines, assign responsibilities, and ensure that the team meets its goals. Without some degree of formal authority, projects can become disorganized or stalled.

Risks of Positional Power

Although positional power can be helpful, it can also be misused. Leaders who rely too heavily on formal authority may create fear, silence disagreement, or discourage creativity. Excessive dependence on hierarchy can damage trust and reduce psychological safety.

According to Edmondson (2019), psychological safety allows people to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes, and offer ideas without fear of punishment or humiliation. When positional power is used harshly or defensively, people may avoid sharing concerns, even when those concerns are important for preventing harm or improving outcomes.

Another risk is that positional power may create distance between leaders and team members. People in formal authority may assume they understand the full situation, while those with less authority may feel their experiences are ignored. This can lead to inequitable decision-making, especially when power differences intersect with race, gender, class, age, disability, or other social identities.

Personal Power

Meaning of Personal Power

Personal power refers to influence that comes from who a person is rather than the formal position they hold. It is based on expertise, credibility, relationships, values, communication style, lived experience, and trust. Personal power often develops over time as others observe a person’s reliability, competence, integrity, and care.

French and Raven’s concepts of expert power and referent power are closely connected to personal power. Expert power comes from knowledge or skill that others value. Referent power comes from admiration, respect, or identification with a person (French & Raven, 1959).

Sources of Personal Power

Personal power can come from several areas:

1. Expertise

A person may have specialized knowledge, technical skills, professional experience, or lived experience that others rely on. Expertise gives influence because people seek guidance from those who understand the issue deeply.

2. Relationships

Strong relationships create informal influence. When people trust someone, they are more likely to listen, collaborate, and support shared goals.

3. Credibility

Credibility develops when a person consistently follows through, communicates honestly, and demonstrates competence. Kouzes and Posner (2017) argue that credibility is foundational to leadership because people must believe in the leader before they willingly follow.

4. Character and Values

Personal integrity, fairness, humility, and reliability shape how others respond to a leader. People are more likely to be influenced by someone whose actions align with their stated values.

5. Communication Style

The ability to listen, ask thoughtful questions, explain ideas clearly, and show empathy can increase influence. Communication is not only about speaking persuasively but also about creating space for others.

6. Lived Experience and Identity

Individuals may hold personal power because of their lived experience within a community, workplace, or social context. This type of knowledge is often essential for equitable and responsive decision-making.

Strengths of Personal Power

Personal power can be especially effective because it does not depend on formal authority. A person with strong personal power may influence peers, senior leaders, or community members even without a high-ranking title.

Personal power helps leaders:

• Build trust and commitment.
• Encourage collaboration.
• Influence across departments or teams.
• Support change without relying on commands.
• Create inclusive environments.
• Strengthen morale and belonging.

For example, an experienced staff member may not have a managerial title but may still be the person others turn to for advice. Their influence comes from expertise, trust, and relationships rather than formal authority.

Risks of Personal Power

Personal power also has limitations. Because it is often informal, it may not come with official recognition, compensation, or decision-making authority. People with strong personal power may be expected to carry emotional labor, mediate conflicts, mentor others, or solve problems without formal support.

Additionally, personal power can be unevenly recognized. Research on organizations and social identity shows that credibility is not always granted equally. Bias may affect whose expertise is valued and whose voice is ignored (Ely & Thomas, 2001). For example, women, people of color, younger employees, disabled workers, or people from marginalized communities may have deep expertise but still struggle to have their contributions recognized.

Therefore, leaders must not only build personal power but also examine whose personal power is being overlooked.

Integrating Positional and Personal Power

The most effective leaders understand how to combine positional and personal power. Positional power can provide structure and authority, while personal power builds trust and commitment. When used together, these forms of power can help leaders move projects forward in ways that are both effective and ethical.

For example, a team leader may use positional power to set a meeting agenda but use personal power to invite honest feedback, listen carefully, and build consensus. Similarly, a manager may have the authority to assign roles, but they may rely on relationships and knowledge of team members’ strengths to assign work fairly and effectively.

Balancing Authority and Trust

An important leadership question is: When should I use formal authority, and when should I rely on relationship-based influence?

There are situations where positional power is necessary. For example, a leader may need to make a quick decision during a crisis, enforce safety standards, or address harmful behavior. In these cases, avoiding authority may create confusion or allow harm to continue.

However, there are also situations where relying too much on authority can be counterproductive. If a leader wants creativity, commitment, or honest feedback, they may need to use personal power by building trust, listening, and involving others in decision-making.

Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky (2009) distinguish between technical problems and adaptive challenges. Technical problems can often be solved through existing expertise or authority. Adaptive challenges require learning, collaboration, and changes in values, beliefs, or behavior. In adaptive situations, positional power alone is rarely enough. Leaders must engage people, build shared understanding, and create conditions for collective problem-solving.

Reflecting on One’s Own Power

Self-reflection is essential for ethical leadership. Leaders should regularly examine the sources of power they hold and how they use them. This reflection can include four major areas: positional power, personal power, current application, and opportunities for intentional growth.

1. Sources of Positional Power

Leaders can begin by asking:

• What formal responsibilities are attached to my role?
• What decisions am I authorized to make?
• What resources, budgets, or processes do I control?
• What information or stakeholders do I have access to?
• Who is affected by the decisions I make?

These questions help identify the formal authority a person holds. Even people who do not consider themselves powerful may discover that they have influence through access, responsibilities, or institutional knowledge.

2. Sources of Personal Power

Leaders should also reflect on their informal influence:

• What expertise do others rely on me for?
• What lived experiences shape my perspective?
• With whom have I built trust?
• How do others experience my communication style?
• What values do I demonstrate through my actions?
• Where do I have credibility, and why?

This reflection helps leaders understand that influence often comes from relationships and reputation as much as from title.

3. Current Application of Power

Once leaders identify their sources of power, they can examine how they are currently using them:

• Do I rely more on my title or on persuasion and trust?
• Do I invite participation from people with less formal authority?
• Do I use my access to information to include others or to maintain control?
• Do I create space for disagreement?
• Do my actions reduce harm or reinforce inequity?

These questions encourage leaders to think about the real effects of their behavior.

4. Opportunities for Intentional Growth

Finally, leaders can identify areas for growth:

• Where do I have influence that I am not using?
• Where do I need to build alliances?
• Whose voices are missing from decision-making?
• How can I share power with colleagues?
• When should I step back and allow someone else to lead?
• Where might I be overusing positional authority?
• Where might I need to use my formal authority more clearly to protect people or advance equity?

Intentional growth means recognizing that power is not only something one possesses. It is something one practices.

Sharing and Ceding Power

Ethical leadership involves not only using power but also sharing it. Sharing power means creating opportunities for others to participate, lead, and influence outcomes. Ceding power means intentionally stepping back so that another person or group can take ownership.

This can include:

• Inviting team members to co-create agendas.
• Rotating facilitation roles in meetings.
• Giving credit publicly for others’ ideas.
• Sharing important information rather than controlling it.
• Supporting emerging leaders.
• Allocating resources to those closest to the issue.
• Asking affected communities what they need before making decisions.
• Allowing people with relevant lived experience to guide solutions.

Power sharing is especially important for equity. Traditional organizational structures often concentrate authority among a small group of people. This can reproduce patterns of exclusion. By sharing power, leaders can challenge these patterns and build more inclusive systems.

However, sharing power must be meaningful. It is not enough to ask for input if decisions have already been made. Genuine power sharing requires transparency about what is open to influence, who has final authority, and how feedback will be used.

Power Mapping and Alliance Building

Another useful leadership practice is power mapping. Power mapping involves identifying who has influence over a project, decision, or system. This includes people with formal authority as well as those with informal influence.

A power map might include:

• Decision-makers.
• Gatekeepers.
• Funders.
• Subject-matter experts.
• Community members.
• Frontline workers.
• People affected by the decision.
• Potential allies.
• Potential opponents.
• People who are neutral but could be engaged.

Power mapping helps leaders understand where support is needed and where resistance may occur. It also helps identify whose voices are missing. For example, if a project affects frontline staff but only senior managers are included in planning, the power map reveals a gap.

Alliance building is closely related. Leaders often need partnerships to achieve change, especially when they do not hold enough positional power alone. Building alliances requires trust, reciprocity, shared purpose, and clear communication.

Using Power to Reduce Harm and Promote Equity

Power becomes most meaningful when connected to purpose. Leaders should ask whether their use of power reduces harm, builds sustainability, and promotes equity.

Reducing Harm

Using power to reduce harm may involve:

• Addressing unsafe behavior.
• Interrupting bias or exclusion.
• Creating transparent processes.
• Protecting people from retaliation.
• Making decisions based on evidence and community needs.
• Listening to those most affected by harm.

Sometimes reducing harm requires leaders to use positional power clearly. For example, if a team member is being mistreated, a leader should not rely only on informal conversation. Formal authority may be necessary to intervene and ensure accountability.

Building Sustainability

Sustainable leadership avoids concentrating knowledge and responsibility in one person. Leaders can build sustainability by:

• Documenting processes.
• Developing others’ skills.
• Distributing leadership responsibilities.
• Creating succession plans.
• Avoiding burnout.
• Building systems rather than depending on individual heroics.

Sustainability requires sharing power so that work can continue even when one person steps away.

Promoting Equity

Equity requires attention to how power is distributed and experienced. Leaders can promote equity by:

• Examining who has access to decision-making.
• Recognizing expertise from lived experience.
• Challenging biased assumptions about credibility.
• Compensating people fairly for their contributions.
• Making processes transparent.
• Designing policies with affected communities, not just for them.

Equitable leadership is not simply about being kind or inclusive in language. It requires changing structures and practices that determine who has influence.

Practical Example

Consider a project leader responsible for improving a workplace process. The leader has positional power because they can schedule meetings, assign tasks, and recommend changes to senior management. They also have personal power because they are trusted by colleagues and have technical expertise.

If the leader relies only on positional power, they might design a new process quickly and instruct everyone to follow it. This may be efficient, but it could miss important frontline knowledge and create resistance.

If the leader relies only on personal power, they might spend a long time gathering input and building consensus but struggle to make final decisions or secure resources.

A more strategic approach would combine both forms of power. The leader could use positional power to create a clear project structure, secure time for participation, and communicate deadlines. At the same time, they could use personal power to build trust, invite honest feedback, and ensure that people affected by the process help design the solution.

This balanced approach is more likely to produce a process that is effective, accepted, and sustainable.

Conclusion

Power is an unavoidable part of leadership. The question is not whether leaders have power, but how they understand and use it. Positional power provides formal authority, access, and control over resources. Personal power provides influence through expertise, trust, relationships, credibility, and character. Both forms of power are important, and both can be used well or poorly.

Effective leaders learn to move between positional and personal power depending on the situation. They use authority when clarity, accountability, or protection is needed. They use personal influence when trust, collaboration, and shared commitment are required. Most importantly, ethical leaders reflect on their power, share it with others, and use it to reduce harm, build sustainability, and promote equity.

By becoming more intentional about power, leaders can create healthier organizations and more just outcomes. Leadership is not simply about holding power over others; at its best, it is about using power with others to achieve meaningful and collective change.

References

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