Normally we do not talk much about it, but power is the currency of organisations. They are highly political systems where the employees act according to their understanding of the power dynamics. One might think, well we live in a civilised and well-developed part of the world, we have low power distance, but power is part of the game in organisations – actually, in any human relationship, power dynamics play in. Let us act according to this fact and see if we can reduce the power distance.
Have you ever experienced a situation where somebody is taking the lead and forming the generally accepted opinion about something, while the rest are simply complying with that, no matter that they initially disagreed? I guess you have, as this is happening all the time. It happens in families, in groups of friends, in companies and in political parties. Somebody is grasping the power, and anyone else is letting them.
How can that be?
Well, let's explore power as this is part of forming the psychodynamics in your company.
Power is often seen as something you have because of your position. This is to some degree right. However, power is not something absolute, it is rather a ratio or a balance that can be influenced by various factors. Norbert Elias, a German sociologist, was the man behind this thought. Back in 1969 he stated: "The master has power over the slave, but the slave also has power over the master, due to the services provided and the master's dependency on those." It basically means that you do not have more power than people are allowing you to have.
What influences this power ratio?
Your formal position is part of that equation, of course, but it does not mean as much as you think. Information is an ingredient in power. If you know and your opponent doesn't, that gives you an advantage in the power game. Loyalty is another ingredient. The relationship you have with others, and their loyalty towards you, beats any position your opponent may have. Personal confidence also plays in. Research has shown that people who feel confident are often seen as more knowledgeable, skilled, charismatic and convincing than those who have less confidence. This is particularly true for males. For confident females it might backfire as they can be seen as being too much ahead of themselves.
Another driving force for power, and maybe the strongest one, is people's imaginations about what the opponents' use of power will cause. We see this again and again in international politics as well as organisations: patriarchal leaders getting away with bad or even unethical behaviour, because nobody is calling them out on it. People remain silent and do not act because they are afraid of the consequences of speaking up. Often their imaginations are way beyond what actually could happen if they spoke up. Power can be utilised in counterproductive ways simply because it is being allowed.
The introduction of AI will amplify all that has been shared in this article so far.
So, as an Agentic Leader you need to have the awareness of what imaginations others might have about your utilisation of power. You simply cannot control what they think, and no matter how hard you try to keep the power distance low, they might unconsciously still see it as being huge and present. As discussed in a previous article, your emotional intelligence is your primary tool for preventing people's imaginations of you taking your usage of power too far. Your awareness and personal reflections about how the employees might interpret your sayings and actions, can help address matters and act in a way that will not increase the perception of the power distance.
There is no silver bullet to prevent the unfortunate impact of power dynamics in your interaction with employees. What works is investing in the relationships, being present and interested in them as human beings. Over time their imaginations of your power and your utilisation of it will begin to converge with how it really is.
