Leadership Influence: Goal Interdependence and Power

Abstract

Goal interdependence and power may affect the kinds of attempts to influence that leaders make, and it may also affect the success of these influence attempts. One hundred forty-three Canadian employees indicated the extent to which they valued the resources of their manager and their use of directive and collaborative influence attempts. The results suggest that managers with cooperative goals and power relied on collaborative influence, influenced effectively, and contributed to employee work and commitment. These results support recent theories that successful managers empower their employees; also, the results are consistent with the contingency perspective in that the success of leader-influence strategies depends on the relationship between manager and employee.