Title
Dynamics of power in the organization
Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Leadership is the art of getting people to do that which they might not otherwise do, even when you are not there watching to ensure their actions. An essential element of leadership is power. Power exists all around us in every situation we face on every day. It isn’t good or bad, it just is. Yet, many people are uncomfortable with the idea and concept of power and are reluctant to embrace it, or even discuss it, whether in their work lives or their personal lives. This aversion to embracing power has been taught to us from early childhood. Leaders in all types and sizes of organizations face many challenges as they fulfill their roles. One of the most common areas of difficulty for any leader, especially new leaders, is in dealing with the dynamics of power within their organization. By failing to recognize power within their organization and to effectively harness that power they create many of their own problems. Yet, this topic is one of the most commonly neglected in Management or Supervisory Development Training, where it exists. The question then becomes, “How do we deal with power as it presents itself within a context?” In 1959 John French and Bertram Raven proposed 5 Bases of Social Power (French & Raven, 1959). These bases of power were Position, Referent, Coercive, Reward, and Punishment. In 1965 Raven revised this list to include a sixth base of power: Information (Raven, 1965). This research has formed the basis for studying leadership, power, influence, communication, and politics ever since. This session will: Take a look at these bases of power and examine how they play out within an organization. Discuss common pitfalls for new and developing leaders, as well as senior leaders, with regard to dealing with power in their role(s). Provide indicators of and practical suggestions on how to avoid these pitfalls. Provide examples of how various organizations have embraced these concepts in their operations.
Date
10-22-2016
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
presentations
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Dynamics of power in the organization
Leadership is the art of getting people to do that which they might not otherwise do, even when you are not there watching to ensure their actions. An essential element of leadership is power. Power exists all around us in every situation we face on every day. It isn’t good or bad, it just is. Yet, many people are uncomfortable with the idea and concept of power and are reluctant to embrace it, or even discuss it, whether in their work lives or their personal lives. This aversion to embracing power has been taught to us from early childhood. Leaders in all types and sizes of organizations face many challenges as they fulfill their roles. One of the most common areas of difficulty for any leader, especially new leaders, is in dealing with the dynamics of power within their organization. By failing to recognize power within their organization and to effectively harness that power they create many of their own problems. Yet, this topic is one of the most commonly neglected in Management or Supervisory Development Training, where it exists. The question then becomes, “How do we deal with power as it presents itself within a context?” In 1959 John French and Bertram Raven proposed 5 Bases of Social Power (French & Raven, 1959). These bases of power were Position, Referent, Coercive, Reward, and Punishment. In 1965 Raven revised this list to include a sixth base of power: Information (Raven, 1965). This research has formed the basis for studying leadership, power, influence, communication, and politics ever since. This session will: Take a look at these bases of power and examine how they play out within an organization. Discuss common pitfalls for new and developing leaders, as well as senior leaders, with regard to dealing with power in their role(s). Provide indicators of and practical suggestions on how to avoid these pitfalls. Provide examples of how various organizations have embraced these concepts in their operations.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology