Ability to use power in order to influence other people is a key element of leadership. Those individuals, who are called leaders, have to shape the actions and attitudes of others. They even have to make people do certain things. Yet, the question is how this power can be obtained and what its major sources are.
The interview of interview with Ricardo Semler indicates that the power of leaders can and should be derived from the consent of the subordinates, in other words, employees. To a great extent, his approach resembles the theory of social contract which suggests that the authority can be legitimate only if it is based on the voluntary consent of the governed people.
This approach may ensure more effective leadership because the power of a leader will be approved by his or her future subordinates. Hence, there will be less resistance to the authority and decisions of this individual.
In his interview, Ricardo Semler argues that democratic leadership can exist in the modern workplace. To illustrate this idea he refers to the company that he runs. In this organization, those people, who occupy managerial positions, have to be selected the employees (Semler, 2007). Future managers have to take several interviews with the workers prior to being approved.
Their task is to convince that they are able to act good leaders. This example shows that the power of a leader or a person with some authority should legitimized by those people who will work under his or her command (Goethals & Sorenson 2006, p. 130). The approach taken by Ricardo Semler suggests that the leader’s right to power should approved by the consent of the subordinates.
To a great extent, this model of democratic workplace relies on the principles of social contract theory. It postulates that the consent of the governed people is indispensible for the legitimacy of the government (Goethals & Sorenson 2006, p. 130).
Ricardo Semler’s model is premised on the idea that future leaders will be selected by workers on the basis of their skills, expertise, or ability to interact with subordinates. These attributes will be the sources of their future authority.
Certainly, one should not assume that the managers working in Ricardo Semler’s company never use power or even coercion to make people do certain things. Even very skillful leaders may have to use coercion in order to achieve organizational goals. However, in this case, the employees understand that the authority of these managers does not come from top executives; more likely it comes from their agreement.
Therefore, they will not oppose the decisions of these managers. Certainly, even social contract theory has its limitation. The thing is that the general will of workers can be based on false assumptions about a person who wants to be a leader (Cawthon, 2002, p. 68). However, such a risk always exists and it can be even higher when managers are not selected by the employees.
So, this discussion shows that power is an attribute of leadership. However, one must ensure that the power of leaders is not imposed on the employees from outside; it must be approved by those people who will work under the leadership of an individual. The model advocated by Ricardo Semler can make the work of many organizations more effective.
References
Cawthon, D. 2002, Philosophical Foundations of Leadership, Transaction Publishers, London.
Goethals, G & Sorenson, G 2006, The Quest for a General Theory of Leadership, Edward Elgar Publishing, New York.
Semler, R. 2007, A Democratic Workplace. Interviewed by K. O’Brien. Rio de Janeiro : Brazil.