Power,
Power, Everywhere!
By
Do you
know what the following have in common:
Lee Iacocca, Cary Grant, Dr. Albert Starr and a post office clerk? They all have power over other people, but
the type of power varies.
Power is
defined as the ability to influence or to intimidate other people. Often we think of power in negative
terms. Power itself isn't corrupt; it is
the abuse of power that is bad. Both
President Kennedy and Hitler had power, but used it in different ways. The owner or manager of a business has power,
and it should be used effectively to accomplish defined goals.
In his
publications on Secrets of Power Negotiating, Roger Dawson defines power
as:
1.
Legitimate or Positional Power -- Anyone with a title has
Positional power. The title conveys a
sense of the person's importance and the resources available to them. If you have a title, don't hesitate to use it
in trying to influence others.
Be careful not to give your legitimate power away. President Reagan did everything he could to
emphasize power. He took many trips and
always arrived in grand style. Sure he
took some flak for the amount of money it cost, but observers never lost sight of
his position as President. Contrast that
with Jimmy Carter with his misdirected intentions of carrying his own
luggage. He was trying to show everyone
what a great guy he was, but in reality, he simply eroded the power associated
with his title.
2.
Reward Power -- If individuals are perceived as
providing rewards or recognition, they have reward power. Like Pavlov's dogs, people will respond with
appropriate behavior providing the rewards are forthcoming. Unwittingly, company presidents sometimes relinquish
this power. The most common example is
allowing the personnel director to give raises and promotions.
3.
Coercive Power -- This is power that can punish,
intimidate or embarrass you. Think of
your reaction when a policeman stops
you for a routine traffic ticket. Even
though the fine is small, the threat is perceived as great. Think of the obvious power an armed thief has
during a robbery. People respond because
the power of the known "punishment" is avoidable by simply following
the rules.
The publicized sexual harassment cases are a form of
coercive power in the business environment.
Supervisors who publicly rebuke subordinates or threaten them with
termination use fear or embarrassment to control people.
4.
Reverent Power -- This is power that portrays a
consistent set of values, like religious leaders. Gandhi became famous and had world wide
influence because of his devotion to his ideals.
Part of President Reagan's power was his consistent
values. They never changed from the time
he was campaigning for Governor of California.
Carter and, so far, Clinton vacillate on different issue and people
don't know what to expect.
As I wrote in "
5.
Charismatic Power -- This is the hardest one to
analyze or explain. Some movie stars
have it. Some leaders have it, such as
John F. Kennedy. It is generally
characterized as people with a compelling personality. You may not be able to explain why, but you
just feel good when you are with them.
People respond to their wishes simply due to the strength of their
personality.
6.
Expertise Power -- This kind of power is
attributed to people who project that they have more expertise than others in a
particular area. These experts generally
develop a whole new language that only they understand in order to emphasize
the mystique of their specialities.
Doctors, attorneys, and, yes, even consultants, project this kind of
power.
7.
Situation Power -- This is characteristic of
highly structured bureaucratic organizations.
People with situation power generally
have very little latitude in their jobs, e.g., post office, licensing or
building permit clerks, but within their areas, they use their limited power to
the maximum. They do so by working at
their own pace and by how strictly they interpret written regulations.
8.
Information Power -- The sharing of information
forms a bond. The withholding of it
intimidates. Large organizations are
very skillful at this. Sharing
information with all employees doesn't
do any harm, but the use of secrecy provides power over others. Need an example: Imagine asking selected members of a meeting
to temporarily leave, because some topics need to be discussed in
"secret." The result is
information power over the excluded ones.
One of
the most common complaints voiced by my clients is lack of communication. Once we have corrected the problem, employees
are consistently surprised at how meaningless the "secrets"
were. It was the unknown content of the
"secret" that was intimidating.
Productivity consistently improves as activities become more coordinated
and less time is spent passing rumors back and forth.
Whenever
you feel someone is intimidating or trying to control you, take a moment to
identify the type of power used. Once
you have identified it, you may have more control over subsequent events.
If you
are in a leadership position, understanding the elements of power and the effects
on others can have a significant impact on your ability to influence
others. The strongest long-term
leadership power tools are Legitimate, Reward, Reverent and Charismatic. If you don't possess them, you must carefully
plan how to acquire them or create an effective substitute.