Power, Politics,

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Power, Politics, Leadership

• Influencing Others at Work

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Topics

• Power and influence tactics
• Organizational politics and impression management
• Defining leadership effectiveness
• Models or theories of leadership
• Trait
• Behavioral
• Contingency or situational theories
• Contemporary theories

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Power relationships in organizations

Definition of power Potential ability to
influence others to do things they would not
do by choice
Preferred
Indifferent
Legitimate
Influence
Non-influence
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Sources of Interpersonal Power
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Positional Power Sources

• Legitimate Power
• The authority that a manager has by virtue of his
  or her position in the firm.
• Reward Power
• The ability of a manager to give or withhold
  tangible and intangible rewards.
• Coercive Power
• The ability of a manager to punish others.

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Personal Power Sources

• Expert Power
• Power that is based on special knowledge, skills,
  and expertise that the leader possesses.
• Referent Power
• Power that comes from subordinates and
  coworkers respect for the personal
  characteristics of a leader which earns their
  loyalty and admiration.

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Power relationships in organizations

• Social phenomenon is always relative and is
  always changing
• Involves dependency relationships among
  individuals or units

Greater Dependencies among units
Complexity and change
Power seeking behavior
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Sources of Organizational Power
Positional
Personal
Unit-Based
Informal
Authority Centrality Rewards Punishments Decision
making
Resources Coping with uncertainty Non-substitut
ability Work flow centrality
Expertise Charisma
Networking Coalitions Alliances
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Exercising Power
DOWNWARD INFLUENCE
Features Frequent influence Use indirect
methods Clique formation Power with, rather than
over
Tactics Inspirational Appeal Consultation Ingratia
tion Exchange Legitimate requests Pressure
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Exercising Power
UPWARD INFLUENCE
Features Acquiescence Rule-minded Protection in
numbers Take opportunities to gain power
Tactics Rational Persuasion Ingratiation Manipulat
ion Show effort and initiative Gain
expertise/information Access to powerful others
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Exercising Power
LATERAL INFLUENCE
Features Level determined by 1. task
design 2. networking activities Symptoms of
powerlessness 1. Rule-based behavior 2.
Dictatorial behavior
Tactics Consultation Ingratiation/manipulation Per
sonal appeal Exchange Coalition
building Visibility and participation
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Organizational Politics

• Definition Getting, developing, and using power
  to advance interests and achieve preferred
  outcomes under conditions of uncertainty and
  conflict
• Usually must overcome the opposition of others to
  get ones preferred outcomes
• Both negative and positive connotations of
  organizational politics

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How does organizational politics happen?
By design
Deliberate attempts to exploit situations
By default
Weaknesses or gaps in the formal structure of the
organization
Consider Keith Ferrazzi (Pfeffer, Ch. 14)
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Consequences of Political Behavior

• Positive
• Used to accomplish legitimate goals
• Reduces uncertainties
• Gets things done
• Eases execution of decisions
• Points out weaknesses of the system
• Survival of the fittest?

• Negative
• Increases conflict, hostility, resentment
• Time wasted on infighting
• Reduces trust and cooperation among groups
• Becomes entrenched beyond usefulness
• Backlash from others

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Political Tactics

• Enter areas of high uncertainty and risk
• Control decision premises and information
• Increase indispensability of your position/unit
• Create dependencies on your unit
• Provide resources others need
• Engage in important and critical tasks
• Build coalitions, alliances, networks
• Learn how to bargain, negotiate, persuade, be
  assertive, and articulate preferences
• Learn impression management

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The Nature of Leadership

• What is your definition of leadership?
• What is your personal leadership style?
• Examine self assessment results

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WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? The wicked leader is he who
the people despise. The good leader is he who the
people revere. The great leader is he who the
people say, we did it ourselves. Lao-Tzu
Leadership is the ability to get men to do
what they dont like to do and like it Harry
Truman I believe we shall soon think of the
leader as one who can organize the experience of
the groupIt is by organizing experience that we
transform experience into power. Mary Parker
Follett We are all worms, but I think I am a
glow worm. Winston Churchill Glory is fleeting
but obscurity lasts forever. Napoleon The
ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where
he stands at times of challenge and
controversy. - Martin Luther King Jr.,
"Strength to Love", 1963 I've learned that
people will forget what you said, people will
forget what you did, but people will never forget
how you made them feel. Maya Angelou
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Model of Leadership
Internal Leader Variables
Leadership Style
Processes (first level)
Outcomes (second level)
Situational Variables
What does Pfeffer have to offer about leadership
in Ch. 15, 17, and 18?
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Leadership Models Trait Theories

• Attempts to identify personality traits
  associated with leadership
• Research shows that certain personal
  characteristics do appear to be connected to
  effective leadership
• Problem Many traits are the result of skills
  and knowledge and effective leaders do not
  necessarily possess all of these traits.

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Key Positive Leadership Traits
Consider leadership lessons of George W. Bush
(Pfeffer, Ch. 15)
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Leadership Models Behavioral Theories

• Identifies two basic types of behavior that
  leaders engage in to influence followers.
• Consideration employee-centered leadership
  behavior indicating that a manager trusts,
  respects, and cares about followers
• Initiating structure job-oriented leadership
  behavior that managers engage in to ensure that
  work gets done, followers perform their jobs
  acceptably, and the organization is efficient and
  effective.

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Contingency or Situational Models of Leadership

• Fiedlers Model
• Effective leadership is contingent on both the
  characteristics of the leader and of the
  situation.
• Leader style is the enduring, characteristic
  approach to leadership that a manager uses and
  does not readily change.
• Relationship oriented vs. task oriented

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Fiedlers Model

• Situation Control how much control and
  influence a leader has in the immediate work
  environment
• Depends on three main situational variables
• Leader-member relations determines how much
  workers like and trust their leader.
• Task structure the extent to which workers
  tasks are clear-cut clear issues make a
  situation favorable for leadership
• Position power the amount of legitimate,
  reward, and coercive power leaders have due to
  their position. When positional power is strong,
  leadership opportunity becomes more favorable.

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Fiedlers Contingency Theory of Leadership
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Houses Path-Goal Theory

• A contingency model of leadership proposing that
  effective leaders can motivate subordinates by
• Clearly identifying the outcomes workers are
  trying to obtain from their jobs.
• Rewarding workers for high-performance and goal
  attainment with the outcomes they desire
• Clarifying the paths to the attainment of the
  goals, remove obstacles to performance, and
  express confidence in workers ability.

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Motivating with Path-Goal

• Path-Goal identifies four leadership behaviors
• Directive behaviors set goals, assign tasks,
  show how to do things.
• Supportive behavior look out for the workers
  best interest.
• Participative behavior give subordinates a say
  in matters that affect them.
• Achievement-oriented behavior Setting very
  challenging goals, believing in workers
  abilities.

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Contemporary Theories Transactional vs.
Transformational Leadership

• Transactional Leaders
• Clarify roles and task requirements for followers
• Motivate followers by rewarding them for high
  performance and reprimanding them for low
  performance
• Based on extrinsic motivation processes
• Transformational Leaders
• Develop trust in followers, exhibit self
  sacrifice, and serve as good role models
• Recognizes followers needs for personal growth
  and development
• Motivate workers to work for the good of the
  organization, not just themselves
• Based more on intrinsic motivation processes

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Global Leadership GLOBE Study

• 170 researchers working for over ten years
  collecting and analyzing data on cultural values
  and leadership practices
• 17,000 managers in 62 societal cultures
• 10 culture clusters were developed from the 62
  societal cultures
• Nine cultural dimensions uncovered

www.thunderbird.edu/wwwfiles/ms/globe/
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GLOBE Study Societal Clusters

• Confucian Asia
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Middle East
• Southern Asia
• Eastern Europe

• Anglo
• Nordic Europe
• Germanic Europe
• Latin Europe
• Latin America

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GLOBE Study Cultural Leadership Profiles

• Charismatic/Value-Based
• Team-Oriented
• Participative

• Humane-Oriented
• Autonomous
• Self-Protective

Contribute to outstanding leadership in most
countries
Impedes outstanding leadership in most countries
Differences among cultures in whether it
contributes, impedes or is neutral to outstanding
leadership
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The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Model of
Leadership

• Focuses on the quality of relationships between
  managers and followers
• Revolves around the development of dyadic
  relationships between managers and their direct
  reports
• in-group exchange a partnership characterized
  bymutual trust, respect and liking
• out-group exchange a partnership characterized
  bya lack of mutual trust, respect and liking

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Characteristics of the Servant-Leader
Focuses on increasing services to others rather
than oneself
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The Level 5 Hierarchy
Based on work by Jim Collins in studying
companies that shifted from good to great
performance