How to select a true leader?

Abstract

Organizations mark the life of every individual, and the success and well-being of an individual largely depends on the success of organizations they belong to. The success of an organization is significantly influenced by those who are in charge of it, leaders or managers, so it is important for organizations to choose those who will do this job well. There is a large number of studies with the subject of successful leadership, and the dominant ones are those in which the traits of a successful leader are investigated. One of the traits identified as an important element of a leader’s success is the power motive. It consists of implicit and explicit dimensions, and the implicit dimension has been shown to be an important, and yet mostly overlooked, determinant of leadership performance. Measurement of the implicit dimension requires specially crafted instruments, including the “classic” Thematic Apperception Test, as well as recently introduced instruments such as the Implicit Association Test and the Conditional Reasoning Test for Power Motive. In this paper, we argue that introduction of the tests that assess implicit power motive to human resource management practice of business organizations might significantly improve selection procedures for leadership positions.

The benefits of prosocial power motivation in leadership: Action orientation fosters a win-win

“…However, the desire to impact others is commonly rather discredited as it has been mostly connected to selfish and toxic behavior, and the benevolent manifestation of n Power is often overlooked. Concurring with other scholars [e.g., 26 , 30 ], the present research points out the value of considering implicit power motivation in leadership, as its prosocial enactment leads to a variety of beneficial outcomes, including, as our results show, for leaders themselves. Moreover, our research goes beyond bringing forward the mere importance of prosocial power motivation in leadership, but also indicates that the benevolent enactment of n Power is not only a question of choice but also of ability.…”

“…“One cannot be a leader without having power” [ 25 , p.1], as leaders need power to influence, direct, and motivate followers to contribute their efforts towards achieving organizational aspirations [ 28 ]. With power at the center of leadership, scholars identified the motivation to obtain power—defined as a strong inner desire to impact others ( n Power) [ 29 ]—as a crucial leader disposition [ 6 , 26 , 30 , 31 ]. Individuals high in n Power recognize that they contribute to organizational success more effectively by influencing others instead of trying to stand out through their own achievements.…”

“…As power motivation lies at the center of leadership [ 26 , 30 ]), we examined action orientation as an antecedent of prosocial power motivation in a large leadership sample and expected to replicate the findings of Baumann and colleagues [ 21 ]. Our conceptual model is illustrated in Fig 1 .…”