Perception of managers’ influence depending on status, power, and company performance

This research examines others’perception of the influence of managers working in successful or unsuccessful companies who possess or lack status (to berespected by others) and power (control of valued resources). Study 1 shows that high-status managers were judged as more influential in thefirm thantheir low-status peers, regardless of the company’s situation. Study 2finds that in a context of economic uncertainty, a manager with high status and poweris perceived to be more capable of affecting thefirm. The effect of power seems to be secondary since when a manager has low status, having high powerdoes not significantly benefit the influence attributed to him or her. Furthermore, dominance (assertive behavior), not warmth, mediated the relationshipbetween status and the attributed influence. Overall, thesefindings confirm that status is a very potent source of social influence, status and power aredistinct constructs with different effects, and dominance rather than warmth is a key personal dimension linked to successful leadership

Leadership, task and relationship: Orpheus, Prometheus and Janus

The idea that the major division in leadership or management styles is a preference for either task or relationship orientation has long prevailed in the literature. This article proposes an alternative orientation for leaders; that, while in pursuit of achieving the task, the leader is focused either on the needs of superordinates or subordinates, or both. A large-scale evaluation of leadership in the Royal Air Force from the perspective of followers suggests that although there is some surface support for the task/relationship dichotomy, the more important division is threefold: between people who only look upwards to satisfy the demands of their superordinates (Orpheans), those that tend to focus downwards at the demands of their subordinates (Prometheans) and those that try to look both ways (Janusians). The latter appear to have the greatest chance of sustained success at the more senior levels of the organisation