Leadership and power are two factors that have brought about a lot of interesting debates, and confusion for many years. Many take power as a capacity to lead, but people that have leadership knowledge uses power as a function for leadership. Leaders have the ability to influence their followers depending on the leadership method they adopt (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2000). From the case study, Ho Ching is described as an influential leader since she assisted the Asian based company Temasek, and other Singapore’s leading companies. Ho was a Prime Minister’s wife, but she was naturally a leader and never used the support from her husband to influence her followers and other citizens. This discussion focuses on Ho’s characteristics as an influential leader. Secondly it discusses the tactics that she uses to influence and lead people. Finally, the discussion focuses on the sources of power that Ho used, being the most powerful leader in Asia.
Question one:
We have described power as the capacity to cause change and influence as the degree of actual change in a target’s behaviors. Ho Ching’s powers as a leader has been recognized by many, but would you describe Ho Ching as an influential leader? Why?
Being an influential leader an individual has the capability of change people’s behavior. According to Bennis and Goldsmith (1997), leaders go through a number of challenges before they are capable of influencing people to follow them. On the other hand, for a leader to success in their positions they need to make use of their powers to accomplish their goals while strengthening their positions. From the case, Ho Ching was a powerful leader, and at the same time influenced her followers. Her influential characteristics are signified right from when she was appointed the chief executive of Temasek Company. Ho never depended on her husband, Mr. Lee, to perform her duties, but made her own decisions even though they conflicted with Lee’s decisions. Secondly, Ho influenced the Asian government to open up by allowing Temasek Company to disclose or its annual reports that were only known by the executives.
On the other hand, leaders do not make use of their powers to manipulate people in order to implement a planned change. Leadership involves building a good relationship with the followers, having positive thoughts, treating people with respect, and making use of individual’s experience in developing trust among followers (Lookand see2u, 2008). Ho showed good characteristics of an influential leader in the following ways. First, Ho gave value to different activities at different levels. In so doing she influenced the management at Temasek to expand their operations in India after she developed a good relationship with Indian government officials. Secondly, Ho was successful in her efforts because she assisted other succeed. According to Paul, an influential leader has a good knowledge of heading different situations and fast in adjusting to changing situations (2009). Ho saw an opportunity in India and appealed to the Asian organizations to invest in the country. Lastly, an influential leader has the ability of developing excellent relationships with senior people and nations. Ho Ching brought about change in Temasek Industry when she approached India and established a branch there.
Question two:
Based on the excerpt from Ho Ching’s speech, what types of tactics does she use to influence the behavior of others?
Experienced leaders in an organization always possess perfect personal interaction and develop good social relationship with their followers. They make use of their power to gain interpersonal influence on others (James, John, and James, 1985). Ho believed in doing what is good for the interests of people of Singapore irrespective of her husband’s demands. In her speech, Ho disagreed with the prime minister interests on the issue of hiding the nation’s mistakes. Ho used the bargaining tactic to enable others follow her. As a CEO, she was very aggressive on the Asian government to accept the company to sign an agreement with India. She bargained with the Indian government on the issue of opening an office in their region. In addition, Ho used persuasive arguments based on evidence in influencing people. She used this tactic by presenting facts about the company, and the benefits people would get once they open an office in India.
Ho had a clear understanding of the Asian government since her husband was the prime minister. On the other hand, Asia was in a position of corporate restructuring after the financial crisis in 1997. Ho’s knowledge was beyond thinking of local market, but how to encourage external investors into the country. After Temasek opened offices in India, the Singapore trade grew by more than 50 percent. Effective leaders combine different leadership strategies in an effort to gain people’s trust depending on the situations and conditions. As the overall leader, one should adapt a strategy that best suits the organization challenges in order to achieve positive results (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). Ho used indoctrination aspect of leadership in influencing her followers. She had the necessary skills from her education and experience gained, which enabled her control the social situations in the company.
Question three:
Ho Ching has been named one of the most powerful leaders in Asia. What are her major sources of power?
In leadership power does not come from the position that an individual holds but goes as far as the formal authority given. Ho was a very powerful leader and her powers rooted from different locations. To start with, Ho Ching was the prime minister’s wife therefore; could make use of her husband’s power to implement changes in the organization. This is the power of relationship since through Mr. Lee; Ho was capable of networking with top officials in the government. Secondly, Ho was the CEO at Tamesak Company. This position gave her an opportunity to make decisions towards the better performance of the company. Since she held a big title Ho never wanted any kind of embarrassment, which made her work hard towards renovating the company and the country at large. According to Bal, Campbell, Steed, and Meddings (2008; 6-12), power plays a very significant role in effective leadership. Powerful leaders achieve their leadership goals since they possess the ability to make things work irrespective of barriers either from within or outside the organization. Another Ho’s major source of power was her education. Being an Electrical Engineer and a worker at the Defense Ministry, she had all what it takes to lead. Her education experience gave her enough knowledge on how to deal with people’s psychology and win their hearts.
Conclusion
Leaders who cope with the challenging business environment must possess a lot of qualities. From the discussion, leaders should have the ability to prosper under all the conditions irrespective of the country’s economic status. A successful leader makes proper use of power given, which enables one gain trust from people as Ho Ching did. Misuse of power and abuse of office results into the following: poor leadership, lack of respect from people, and poor productivity. If all leaders could follow Ho Ching’s footsteps, all companies would prosper in all their endeavors.
References
Bar, V., Campbell, M., Steed, J., & Meddings, K. (2008). The Role of Power in Effective
Leadership, Centre for Creative Leadership; pp. 6-12
Bennis, W., & Goldsmith, J. (1997). Learning to lead: A workbook on becoming a leader,
Reading, MA: Perseus Books.
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. H., & Johnson, D. E. (2000). Management of organizational behavior:
Leading human resources (8th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
James L. G., John M. I., and James H., D. (1985). Organizations:
Behavior, Structure,
Processes Plano, Tex.: Business Publications, Inc. p. 333.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge, The Fourth Edition. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Lookandsee2u. (2008). Summarization of behaviors and characteristics of Influential Leaders,
Retrieved from:
youtube.com/watch?v=uLqTH6SCfaA
Paul. (2009). 5 Characteristics of People Who Lead by Influence, Retrieved from:
http://www.reachingtheonlinegeneration.com/2009/03/09/5-characteristics-of-people-who-lead-by-influence/
