5 Power, Politics, And Leadership

Power, Politics, and Leadership

What is Power?

Power is a measure of a person's ability to control the environment around them, including the behavior of other people.
The term authority is often used for power, perceived as legitimate by the social structure.
Power can be seen as evil or unjust; indeed, all evil and injustice committed by man against man involve power.
The use of power need not involve coercion (force or the threat of force).

Leadership and Power
Leaders have power in situations. This does not necessarily mean that leaders should or do have power over people.
Power is simply the right to provide leadership .
As leadership involves influence over other people, power is usually given by the group to the leader. So too can the group take the power away if they are not satisfied with the leader.
The exercise of power is a complex process and appears to be dependent on context , personality and expertise .

Sources and Types of Power
To exercise influence, a leader must have power , the potential or ability to influence decisions and control resources.
Power is the third pillar of leadership, the other two being knowledge and trust .
Effective leaders use power appropriately, and know:
When and how to be directive and when to delegate ; and
When and how to be consultative , providing guidance instead of being directive.

Power stemming from being close to power 7 Power stemming from managing critical problems 6 Power derived from capitalizing upon opportunity 5 Power stemming from providing resources 4 Power stemming from ownership 3 Power stemming from characteristics of the person ( Personal power ) 2 Power granted by the organization ( Position power ) 1 Types and Sources of Power S. No.

Position Power: Most obvious and important
Also called " Legitimate Power ”, refers to power of an individual because of the relative position within an organization.
It is formal authority delegated to the holder of the position.
Is legitimate power enough to produce effects on others or influence them as desired by the leader?
Leader team of experts (Doctors)

Position Power: Most obvious and important Information Power: the power stemming from formal control over the information people need to do their work. The sales manager who control sales leads holds considerable power. 4 Coercive Power:: the power to punish for noncompliance; it is based on fear. 3 Reward Power: the authority to give employees rewards for compliance is referred to as reward power. 2 Legitimate Power : the lawful right to make a decision and expect compliance is called legitimate power. 1 Source of Position Power S. No.

Personal Power
Three source of power stem from characteristics or behaviors of the power actor:
Expert Power
Referent Power
Prestige Power
These are classified as personal power because they are derived from the person rather than from the organization .

Personal Power
Expert Power: Expert Power is the ability to influence others through specialized knowledge , skills , or abilities .
It is an individual's power deriving from the skills or expertise of the person and the organization's needs for those skills and expertise.
Unlike the others, this type of power is usually highly specific and limited to the particular area in which the expert is trained and qualified.

Personal Power
Referent Power : is the ability to influence others through desirable traits and characteristics.
It means the power or ability of individuals to attract others and build loyalty. It's based on the charisma and interpersonal skills of the power holder.
Prestige Power stems from one’s status and reputation. A manager who has accumulated important business successes acquires prestige power.

Power Stemming from Ownership
Executive leaders accrue power in their capacity as agents acting on behalf of shareholders.
The strength of ownership power depends on how closely the leader is linked to shareholders and board members.
The leader’s ownership power is also associated with how much money s/he has invested in the firm.
An executive who has a major share in the company is less likely to be fired by the board.

Power Stemming from Providing Resources
According to this perspective, the organization requires a continuing flow of human resources, money, customers and clients, technological inputs, and materials to continue to function.
Individuals who can provide these key resources accrue power.
An important consequence of resource related power is that when leaders start losing their power to control resources, their power declines.

Power Stemming from Capitalizing on Opportunity
Power can be derived from being in the right place at the right time and taking the appropriate action. (Colin Powel)
What about Gen. Musharaf, Zardari
It pays to be ‘where the action is’ in order to gain power through capitalizing on opportunity.

Power Stemming from Managing Critical Problems
The strategic contingency theory of power suggests that units that are best able to cope with the firm’s critical problems and uncertainties acquire relatively large amounts of power.
Another important aspect this theory concerns the unit’s centrality .
It refers to the extent to which a unit’s activities are linked into the system of organizational activities.

Power Stemming from Managing Critical Problems
A unit has high centrality when it is an important and integral part of the work done by another unit.
Holding a position of centrality does influence the power a worker, and therefore, his/her unit can exert. (Shaukat Tareen)

Factors that Contribute to Organizational Politics
People want power for many different reasons, which is why political behavior is so widespread in organization.
A number of individual and organizational factors contribute to political behavior:
Disagreements that prevent rational decision making 6 Machiavellian tendencies 5 Emotional insecurity 4 Environmental uncertainty and turbulence 3 Subjective standards of performance 2 Pyramid-shaped organization structure 1 Factors contributing to political behavior in organizations S. No.

Pyramid-shaped organization structure : A Hierarchical Organization Structure is a pyramid-shaped system that arranges the relations between the entities within an organization in a top-down way. ...
The power is accumulated at the top of the rung.
Subjective standards of performance are based on the personal preferences of the manager rather than based on any measurable results to be achievable.
It leads to political behavior because people they do of not think organization has objective and fair way judging performance.

Environmental uncertainties and turbulence:
When people or organization units they represent operate in unstable and unpredictable environment, they tend to behave politically.

Emotional insecurity is a feeling of general unease or nervousness that may be triggered by perceiving oneself to be unloved, inadequate or worthless ...
This causes them to engage in politics.
A person who is insecure;
lacks confidence in their own value and capability,
trust in themselves or others, or
has fears that a present positive state is temporary and will let them down and cause them loss or distress by "going wrong" in future.
Machiavellian tendencies refers to a person's tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain

Political Tactics and Strategies
To make effective use of organizational politics, leaders must be aware of specific political tactics and strategies.
There are many. We will examine a few.
Political Behavior: under this heading we will examine political behaviors
Gaining power
Building relationships with superiors and co-workers; and
Avoiding political blunders

All political tactics are aimed at acquiring and maintaining power, even the power to avoid a difficult assignment.
Six techniques to gaining power:
Develop power contacts
Control vital information
Keep informed
Control lines of communication
Bring in outside experts (leaders bring in outside consultants to legitimate their positions)
Make a quick showing (a display of dramatic results can help gain acceptance for one’s efforts)
1. Strategies and Tactics aimed Directly at Gaining Power

Much of the organizational politics involves building positive relationships with network members who can be helpful now or later.
Here are some strategies and tactics most often used:
Display loyalty
Manage your impression
Ask satisfied customers to contact your boss
Be courteous, pleasant, and positive
Ask advice
Send thank you notes to large numbers of people
Flatter other sensibly
2. Strategies and Tactics Aimed at Building Relationships

3. Avoiding Political Blunders: a strategy for retaining power is to refrain from making power eroding blunders which can prevent one from attaining power.
Criticizing the boss in a public forum
Bypassing the manager
Overt displays of disloyalty
Being a pest
Being or perceived as a poor team player
Burning your Bridges
Declining an offer from top management

A technique of gaining power can be devious if practiced in the extreme.
a person who supports a boss by feeding him/her insider information that could affect the price of company stock is being devious.
Dysfunctional strategies may in the long run erode a leader’s effectiveness by lowering his/her credibility.
Back stabbing
Embrace or demolish
Setting a person up for failure
Divide and rule
Playing territorial games.
Dysfunctional Political Tactics and Strategies

Exercising Control over Dysfunctional Politics
Carried to excess, organizational politics can hurt an organization and its members.
To much politicking can result in wasted time and effort, thereby lowering productivity.
Lower commitment
Lower moral
Loss of people

Exercising Control over Dysfunctional Politics
Leaders must combat political behavior when it is excessive and dysfunctional.
In a comprehensive strategy to control politics, organizational leaders must be aware of its causes and techniques.
For example; during a downsizing the CEO must be alert of back stabbing and attempts to please him/her.

Open communication can help constrain the impact of political behavior.
Avoiding favoritism
Setting good examples at the top of the organization can help reduce the frequency and tendency of political behavior.
Politics can also sometimes be constrained by a threat to discuss questionable information in a public forum.

Building Relationships with Superiors
Network with Influential People
Help your Manager Succeed
Volunteer for Assignments
Flattery
Use information Power
Appear Cool Under Pressure
Laugh at Boss’ Humor
Express Constructive Disagreement

Building Relationships with Co-Workers
Maintain honest and open relationships
Make others feel important
Express interest in others’ work
Be diplomatic
Exchange favors
Ask advice
Share constructive gossip
Buddy up with Tech-People
Follow Group Norms

Practical Tips for Managing Organizational Politics
Reduce System Uncertainty
Reduce Competition
Break Existing Political Fiefdoms
Prevent Future Fiefdoms

5 Power, Politics, And Leadership

by Anjum Qureshi on Jan 04, 2010

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