Leadership by Position vs Leadership by Persuasion

I have seen business leaders and bosses. I have seen bosses who have subordinates who report to them and then I have seen leaders who are idols for their team members. When you have control over people’s salaries along with the unsaid power to fire people, you seem to control their lives. This is the power given to a person because of the position – positional power. You can see positional power in a relationship between an employer & employee, boss & subordinate, banker & loan seeker, investor & startup founders among many other relationships. But, then there are leaders who understand, that the power to grow a good quality team comes with the power of persuasion. This is the difference between having employees and having team members. While positional leadership can come easy & quicker, power with persuasion is more efficient over a long period. Power by persuasion is an efficient way to nurture your team that has faith in their leader; and will stand by you in times of need. A team that is led by persuasion is difficult to break and disintegrate by competition. This is probably also a big contributor to the culture of any organization.