Real Power vs. Title of Authority:
Many managers / teachers / leaders
feel that they have power simply due to a title or position of authority. Authority
is the position of leadership; however, power is actually “the ability to
influence various outcomes” (Bowditch, Buono, & Stewart, 2008, p. 209). There are many people who are managers or who
are in the position of leadership (those who have authority over others),
though to have power is to be able to influence the environment and make
changes where changes need to be made.
Power is a tool that is earned, not granted due to a position or a title
given.
I have personally witnessed
managers who are promoted to a greater title but they have absolutely no
control or power over subordinates due to a lack of relationship-building
techniques. It almost seems as though
many people equate positions with power and feel that just because they have a
title that they should automatically have power and respect. One particular manager I encountered had been
hired from outside the company directly as a manager because she had her 4-year
degree with a major in accounting. None
of the employees knew her and even though we tried to get to know her, she was
often short, rude, and holier than thou.
She had the feeling, because she was hired directly to a position of
authority that employees had to automatically give her respect. She truly believed due to her title that she
had power over the employees under her and she was not shy in sharing her sense
of entitlement with employees. She was
an appointed leader, but was not a true leader in the sense that she did not
have any influence or power over employees; nor did she have the authority to
carry out many organizational tasks as she thought she did. As Bowditch, Buono, &
Stewart (2008) state, “although an individual may be granted a formal
leadership position, this does not mean that the person will necessarily be
effective in ‘leading’ others or exerting influence on them” (p. 209). I agree with this very much - I found from
observing my manager that in order to be a true leader, one that can influence
changes and one who has real power, a person needs to network and to build
social relationships, to have the trust of others, but to also give trust to
others, and in order to gain respect of employees a manager must first respect
the employees.
Expanding the thought:
The insight that I gained when researching this topic was the difference
between real power and title of authority; how real power is obtained through
relationships and how to use the power once it is obtained. Power
is gained through relationship-building, trust, commitment, and knowing what to
do with the power once it is in your grasp. It is important to note how to get power, but
as the Pfeffer article points out, it is also very important to understand
something about power and that is the identity of power itself. Pfeffer (1992) stated that some people choose
to remain powerless because it is easier to simply do nothing at all rather than
to be saddled with the label of the person who may have done a bad thing or who
may have made a mistake. “In
many domains of activity we have become so obsessed with not upsetting anybody,
and with not making mistakes, that we settle for doing nothing. Rather than
rebuild San Francisco's highways, possibly in the wrong place, maybe even in
the wrong way, we do nothing, and the city erodes economically without adequate
transportation” (p. 48). This says a lot
to me because contrasted with the over-zealous boss I had, who had a seriously
flawed sense of entitlement, I have also witnessed a very close friend of mine
and noticed that he will never take the lead in any situation because he is
afraid of making a mistake; he is also afraid of being responsible for his own
actions/decisions. Is that simply being
lazy? Or is that insecurity?
“Obtaining power
is not always an attractive process, nor is its use” (Pfeffer, 1992, p.
48). Being a leader and obtaining power may have a
tainted name due to some leaders in history; it is important, however, not to
allow a few bad apples to ruin the entire bushel. Power is a good thing in the right hands, and
power makes things happen - it is with power that things get done and it is
necessary in today’s workplace. If no
one ever wanted to step up and take a risk or make a change, then not much
would ever get accomplished. We would
have an entire group of people just sitting around analyzing situations instead
of getting up and taking action. Reading
the sources for this week, I have noticed that people shy away from
responsibility in organizations because they do not want to take the risk of
making bad decisions, but at the same time people want that large salary with a
nice title. Perhaps that is the issue
with some managers is that they rush to get the title without first working on
gaining real power? Or perhaps those who
have real power have no clue how to apply it to real-life situations? What does anyone else think about this?
References:
Bowditch, J. L., Buono,
A. F., & Stewart, M. M. (2008). Chapter 7: Leadership. Power, and the
Manager. A Primer on Organizational
Behavior (7th ed., p. 155). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Pfeffer, J.
(1992). Understanding Power in Organizations. [i]Columbia University.
[/i]Retrieved November 27, 2012, fromhttp://columbiauniversity.us/itc/hs/pubhealth/isett/Session%2003/Pfeffer%201992%20Power.pdf
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