5 Power, Politics, And Leadership

Leadership

1. Power, Politics, and
Leadership

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What is Power?

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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).

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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.

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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.

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Power stemming from being close to power7
Power stemming from managing critical problems6
Power derived from capitalizing upon opportunity5
Power stemming from providing resources4
Power stemming from ownership3
Power stemming from characteristics of the person
(Personal power)
2
Power granted by the organization (Position power)1
Types and Sources of PowerS. No.

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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)

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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 PowerS.
No.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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 making6
Machiavellian tendencies5
Emotional insecurity4
Environmental uncertainty and turbulence3
Subjective standards of performance2
Pyramid-shaped organization structure1
Factors contributing to political behavior in
organizations
S.
No.

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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.

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

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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

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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
1.Gaining power
2.Building relationships with superiors and co-workers; and
3.Avoiding political blunders

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Political Tactics and Strategies
All political tactics are aimed at acquiring and
maintaining power, even the power to avoid a difficult
assignment.
Six techniques to gaining power:
1.Develop power contacts
2.Control vital information
3.Keep informed
4.Control lines of communication
5.Bring in outside experts (leaders bring in outside consultants
to legitimate their positions)
6.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

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Political Tactics and Strategies
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:
1.Display loyalty
2.Manage your impression
3.Ask satisfied customers to contact your boss
4.Be courteous, pleasant, and positive
5.Ask advice
6.Send thank you notes to large numbers of people
7.Flatter other sensibly
2. Strategies and Tactics Aimed at Building Relationships

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Political Tactics and Strategies
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

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Political Tactics and Strategies
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.
1.Back stabbing
2.Embrace or demolish
3.Setting a person up for failure
4.Divide and rule
5.Playing territorial games.
Dysfunctional Political Tactics and Strategies

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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