Leaders and managers are not necessarily the same. For businesses, the distinction is important, since those in charge must marshal employees to work toward a common vision of the future. Leaders have followers they can inspire to action. Managers have resources -- including human resources -- that they can allocate. Understanding leadership and the inspiring role that leaders play allows managers to acquire leadership ability. When supervision and leadership overlap, businesses gain dynamism and direction.


Power gives both managers and leaders the ability to influence the actions of others. In 1959, social psychologists Bertram Raven and John French published research findings regarding power, identifying five types: referent, expert, coercive, reward and legitimate. Some power is assigned to roles, such as the power residing in the office of the president. Other power resides in a person whether that person holds a position of authority or not. By layering different kinds of power, managers can become leaders.

A Manager's Influence

By virtue of an authority position, managers hold three of the five power types, using legitimate, reward or coercive power to influence employees. Legitimate power belongs to those given an authority position, while coercive and reward power refer to the ability to punish subordinates or award them recognition, raises, promotions and other rewards that managers control. Subordinates comply with a manager's directives to avoid negative consequences, gain a reward or because they believe in the legitimate authority a manager possesses. Subordinates do not have to cooperate with a manager's authority, though. Leadership ability inspires willing cooperation.

Leadership Power

Referent and expert power can belong to anyone. Those with referent power are liked and respected by others, which gives them the opportunity to persuade people to follow a vision. Others want to associate with and emulate people holding referent power. Because of this, people holding referent power gain followers. Expert power comes from knowing things that others don't. Trusting an expert's judgment, others award experts a leadership role. Managers wanting to increase their own leadership potential should invest in developing referent and expert power within themselves.

Importance of Leadership

In "Management: Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations," the authors define leaders: "Leaders are change agents, sensing the need for change and creating strategies that will help to initiate it." To fulfill that role, the authors say, leaders provide vision, garner support for that vision, then keep others focused on actions to achieve it. In management strategy, a company's vision is a grand goal that, when achieved, fulfills the company's mission -- its reason for being. The relationship between leadership and business strategy makes leadership integral to a company's success and even to its very existence.