Power Strategy for Middle Managers

Top leaders should push power downward, across the organization, empowering people at all levels to make decisions (Columbia Business School, 2016). As a

Power is commonly defined as the capacity or ability to influence others (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015, p. 284), whether that power is derived from a person, team or organization. Power, therefore is a necessary component to effective organizational behavior. Large organizations experience a great deal of power shifts as personnel changes are made. These inevitable shifts have the potential of creating interpersonal conflicts, as work performance is often measure by past successes. When a person steps into a new position within an organization, understanding office politics and sources of power utilized by their superiors may be necessary in effective assimilation into the new position.

Reading Rebore’s (2014) descriptions of the various aspects of power, I was able to relate to a time in my career where I can honestly say I have encountered each and every one. As a young leader with the desire to grow in this profession, I found myself admiring a great many administrators. Each one I feel that I emulated to some degree and integrated their opinions and philosophies in becoming who I am. However, as Rebore (2014) states, “Every administrator must develop a leadership

Expert power is the ability “to control the behavior of others because of their knowledge, experience or judgment” (More, Vito, Walsh, 2012 p. 278). Managers like this should take every advantage to keep up with what is current, to strive to be knowledgeable in many areas so that they have the ability to pass on that knowledge to others in helping them or in

Saint Louis Medical Center’s (SLMC) vision primarily focuses on promoting evidence-based health practices, excellent patient care, and innovative healthcare. As a nurse executive at SLMC, my management of power would be one that is based on supporting staff, encouraging “out-of-the-box” thinking, and promoting efficiency. The leadership theories that best suit my management of power are the transformational and the nine-factors of full-range theories. In both theories, leaders motivate their staff by appealing to moral values that stem from the organization’s vision statement (Doody & Doody, 2012). These types of leaders create a work environment in which the staff feels safe to take certain risks that promote creativity and innovation (Doody & Doody, 2012). They encourage communication, teamwork, and professional collaboration to help staff deal with healthcare’s rapid changes (Tinkham, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to describe my management of power through the transformational and the nine-factors of full-range theories of leadership and will have the following sections: leadership theories, organizational structure influences, supporting evidence, and conclusion.

POWER. The most important and unyielding condition of management isn't human relations, communication skills or employee empowerment, but power. POWER. Defined as the ability to influence and produce a desired effect on other individuals without having one's own behavior modified in any undesired way by other individuals. On one hand, some people view power as being limited in amount, kind of like a pie, with constant conflict about who gets the largest slice. On the other hand, people view it as open-ended, having no limits, except those imposed by the situation. The latter may be the more reasonable way of viewing power. Unfortunately, power can lead to exhibitionism. A supervisor, for instance, can use power just to show that power

Harrison (1972) examines further that a power culture is characterized by a highly competitive mindset. Therefore, this culture avoids being subject to any regulation and people within the organization try to retain their power at any cost. However, this characteristic enables them to thrive in a highly competitive environment.

The previous CEO held a distributive type of power which relied on acquiring her power at the expense of others. She was able to get things done with the use of coerciveness and aggressiveness (Gilley, 2006). Her influence towards others arose from legitimate power based on her ability to influence attributed to her powerful position (Gilley, 2006). The authoritarian power proved to be ineffective in her leadership and therefore created inactive participation from subordinates and peers.

By being in a position that is high in ranking, filled with copious amounts of cash, as well as lots of temptations, it does not mean that an individual has to take advantage of his or her newfound power. Our case study this week is a perfect example of identifying how easy it is to abuse power. Tyco is a company who is facing some serious charges after the executives of Tyco were accused as well as convicted of stealing from the company. The executive officers of Tyco are faced with numerous charges because they had an extreme amount of power that they were unable to handle which ultimately led to them abusing their company power by using the companies assets for their own personal benefits. There is a multitude of ways that this type of behavior could have been prevented, or minimized throughout the executive officer positions in Tyco. The company Tyco has a board of directors that is set into place to prevent this type of behavior. The board of directors is supposed to protect the shareholders from inappropriate actions in the company; they are the voice for public. Since the board of directors were blind to this type of behavior the entire Tyco company is now facing consequences for a few of their executives unethical behavior and decisions, which is how the company became to be a decentralized corporate institution.

Power and Politics are necessary influences in most organizations today. Power is not a necessary evil and is most often contained within the position of authority. Politics is a little harder to describe. People often see it when an individual is attempting to influence a decision or position within an organization without a formal role or authority. In this paper I will analyze an organizational management and leadership practices that impact organizations. I will also provide a couple real-world examples of the relationships between power and politics and how this relates to management and leadership practices.

Many leaders become engulfed in the Sacrifice Syndrome (Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). Not maintaining the balance of sacrifice and renewal can lead to burnout by sacrificing too much for too long of a period of time. It can be lonely at the top. Power creates distance between people, cutting off the relationships and support needed by leaders for renewal. This constant giving of the self will wear out a leader, and this exhaustion will create a never-ending loop into dissonance (Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). Defined as power stress, the constant decision-making, putting out small crises, and lightning speed at which decisions have to be made lead to a form of chronic stress (Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). The constant pressure day after day in positions of power lead many to become dispirited

The challenges faced by strategic leaders in implementing complex and long-range consequential decisions demand that they be sophisticated with respect to issues of leadership, power and influence. The changes that are shaping the nature of work in today's complex organizations require that we develop the political will, expertise and personal skills to become more flexible, innovative and adaptive. Without political awareness and skill, we face the inevitable prospect of becoming immersed in bureaucratic infighting, parochial politics and destructive power struggles, which greatly retard organizational initiative, innovation, morale and performance

Power and influence theories of leadership take an entirely different approach – these are based on the different ways that leaders use power and influence to get things done, and they look at the leadership styles that emerge as a result.” (Mindtools.com, 2014)

Chapter 3 is called Power and Authority. This chapter explores topics that concern the proper exercise of power and authority: managing power, styles of leadership, adapting to events, and delegation. There are four kinds of power: designated, expert, charismatic, and information. Designated power depends upon a specific and formally recognized organizational role. Expert power depends upon the personal talents, skills, and experience of the individuals who posses

How, then, do business managers fall to a point in which they are abusing their entrusted power as a means for personal gain? Is it solely the power with which they have been entrusted that leads to the corruption? Or are there other factors that play a part in the downward spiral of managers, many of whom are incompetent and destined to be failures anyway?