CHAPTER 7
Power, Politics, and Leadership
The purpose of this chapter is to provide readers with new insights into power and politics so that they
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND LECTURE NOTES
To function effectively, leaders must use power effectively, including applying political tactics to acquire
and retain power.
I. SOURCES AND TYPES OF POWER
To exercise influence, a leader must have power, the potential or ability to influence decisions and
control resources.
A. Position Power
A standard method of classifying power is based on whether the power stems from the
organization or the individual.
1. Legitimate Power. Power granted by the organization is referred to as legitimate power.
This power increases as one moves up the organization ladder.
power. It is based on fear.
B. Personal Power
Three sources of power stem from characteristics or behaviors of the power actor: expert
C. Power Stemming from Ownership
The strength of ownership power depends on how closely the owner is linked to shareholders
D. Power Stemming from Dependencies
According to the dependence perspective, a person accrues power by others being dependent
E. Power Derived from Capitalizing on Opportunity
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
Power can be derived from being at the right place at the right time and taking appropriate
F. Power Stemming from Managing Critical Problems
G. Power Stemming from Being Close to Power
unit reports in a firm’s hierarchy, the more power it possesses.
H. Power and Self-Serving Behavior
An obvious problem about leadership power is that it can be directed more toward self-serving
behavior than the good of others including the organization and all stakeholders. A study with
working supervisors, as well as a simulation, indicated that powerful leaders who were held
accountable acted less self-servingly than their non-accountable counterparts.
II. TACTICS FOR BECOMING AN EMPOWERING LEADER
It is paradoxically true that power and influence increase when the leader shares power with others.
knowledge, the most successful organizations will be those that effectively use the talents of all
players on the team.
A. The Nature of Empowerment
Empowerment refers to passing decision-making responsibility from managers to group
members. One study identified four components of empowerment. Meaning is the value of a
B. Empowering Practices
The practices that foster empowerment supplement standard approaches to participative
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
1. Foster Initiative and Responsibility. Encourage team members to take the initiative and
give them broader responsibility.
2. Link Work Activities to the Goals of the Organization. Empowerment works better when
the empowered activities are aligned with the strategic goals of the organization.
5. Encourage Self-Leadership. Encourage team members to practice self-leadership because
it is the heart of empowerment. The basic idea of self-leadership is that all
organizational members are capable of leading themselves at least to some extent. When
employees lead themselves, they feel empowered.
6. Continue to Lead. Although the leader empowers group members, the leader should still
provide guidance, emotional support, and recognition.
9. Practice an Optimal Amount of Empowerment. The leader should use a contingency
perspective by sizing up the situation and asking to what extent he or she should
empower group members. A study found that a certain amount of empowering leadership
enhances self-efficacy and performance. Beyond this optimal amount, empowerment
becomes a burden that increases worker tension and lowers performance. Another
approach to exercising the right amount of empowerment is to take into account group
member expectations about being empowered.
C. Effective Delegation and Empowerment
A major contributor to empowerment is delegation, the assignment to another person of
formal authority and responsibility for accomplishing a specific task. Delegation is narrower
III. FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
Organizational politics refers to informal approaches to gaining power through means other than
Contributing factors to politics are as follows:
A. Pyramid-Shaped Organization Structure
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
The pyramid-shaped organization structure fosters a power chase because a pyramid concen-
trates power at the top and leads to competition for limited resources.
B. Subjective Standards of Performance
Subjective standards of performance foster political behavior. People often resort to
C. Environmental Uncertainty and Turbulence
Environmental uncertainty and turbulence fosters politics because when people operate in an
unstable and unpredictable environment, they tend to behave politically. It is difficult to
specify what people should be doing in an uncertain situation.
D. Emotional Insecurity
Emotional insecurity can lead to political behavior as people attempt to ingratiate themselves
with superiors because they lack confidence in their talent and skills.
IV. POLITICAL TACTICS AND STRATEGIES
To make effective use of organizational politics, leaders must be aware of specific political tactics
and strategies. Here we offer a representative group of political tactics and strategies categorized as
ethical versus unethical. Many of the influence tactics to be described in Chapter 8 can also be
considered political.
A. Ethical Political Tactics and Strategies
Ethical political methods are placed into three related groups: those aimed directly at gaining
help the leader succeed in and manage a stressful work environment.
1. Strategies and Tactics Aimed at Gaining Power. As Tom Peters notes, the slow and
steady (and subtle) amassing of power is the surest road to success. The following nine
2. Strategies and Tactics Aimed at Building Relationships. Much of organizational politics
involves building positive relationships with network members who can be helpful now
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
3. Strategies Aimed at Avoiding Political Blunders. A strategy for retaining power is to
refrain from making power-eroding blunders. Some of these key blunders are (a)
B. Unethical Political Tactics and Strategies
Any political tactic might be considered unethical if it is carried to extremes. These
III. EXERCISING CONTROL OVER DYSFUNCTIONAL POLITICS
Carried to excess, organizational politics can hurt an organization and its members. A meta-analysis
showed that employee perception of political behavior and lead to such unfavorable outcomes as
more strain, lower task performance, and less organizational citizenship behavior.
A comprehensive strategy to control politics is for leaders to be aware of its causes and techniques.
VI. GUIDELINES FOR ACTION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Developing political skill leads to career success and personal satisfaction. A meta-analysis of 120
studies shows the following outcomes if political skill: career success, self-efficacy, job satisfaction,
organizational commitment, work productivity, organizational citizenship behavior, and personal
reputation.
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
COMMENTS ON EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
Leadership Self–Assessment Quiz 7–1: Empowering Attitudes and
Beliefs
This brief quiz offers the advantage of focusing the students’ attention on the importance of attitudes and
Leadership Skill–Building Exercise 7–1: Conducting an Empowerment
Session
A potential contribution of these role-plays is that they illustrate the importance of leadership input in the
Leadership Self–Assessment Quiz 7–2: The Positive Organizational
Politics Questionnaire
An advantage of this questionnaire is that it focuses on the use of positive political tactics. The quiz also
Leadership Skill–Building Exercise 7–2: Paying Back Favors from
Network Members
Leadership Skill–Building Exercise 7-3: Asking Advice Role Play
The scenario in this exercise is purposely vague, and requires that the role player come up
Leadership Skill–Building Exercise 7–3: Controlling Office Politics
Although the subject is dealing with the control of impression management techniques, this exercise is
Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz 7-3: The Blunder Quiz
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 7-4: My Leadership Portfolio
A useful message sent by this exercise is that it is important to look for the potential political advantage in
COMMENTS ON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
1. How might a person in a fashion clothing company have a lot of power even he or she does not
hold an executive title.
The opportunities for having considerable power although not being an executive are limited, yet
still exist. A highly successful designer at a fashion clothing company might have considerable
sources.
2. Many business leaders today give up having private a private office, and instead work at a desk or
cubicle in the middle of the work area to be among other employees. What effect do you think this
work area placement has on their power?
For workers who value leaders who do not emphasize rank and status symbols, the leader who
3. How can a leader occupy a top-level executive position and still have relatively little power?
A low-power executive could be one who has so little expert power that his or her advice is not
4. Contrary to popular opinion, CEOs of major U.S. companies come from a wide variety of private
universities and state universities, not just a handful of well-publicized MBA programs. What does
this fact tell you about sources of power and organizational politics?
The general picture here is that power can stem from a variety of sources including expertise and
5. What can you do this week to enhance your power?
An approach that might work for many students is to look to make one useful contact, such as
potential. Studying, to enhance expert power, is another accessible method.
6. To what extent do you think that wearing the right type of clothing and accessories can really make
a person appear more powerful?
Wearing expensive and stylish clothing is often touted as a method of appearing powerful,
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
7. Many business leaders say something to the effect of, “We practice empowerment because we don’t
expect our employees to leave their brains at the door.” What are these leaders talking about?
problems and make decisions on their own.
8. Many people have asked the question “Isn’t office politics just for incompetents?” What is your
answer to this question?
9. How might emotional intelligence be related to committing political blunders?
Emotional intelligence is closely linked to both committing and avoiding political blunders. A
person with high emotional intelligence shows good sensitivity, and will intuitively size up the most
10. A regular occurrence in business firms, and some government agencies, is for somebody to be fired
because of a Facebook or Twitter post criticizing the employer or a specific manager. Why do you
think so many people commit this career-threatening error?
All ideas are welcome here as to explain why this ridiculous blunder occurs probably every day.
One explanation is that many people are not sensitive enough to understand the impact of political
11. Ask an experienced worker to give you an example of the successful application of organizational
politics. Which tactic was used and what was the outcome?
The information gathered in response to this question should be illuminating. A modal answer is
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
PLAUSIBLE RESPONSES TO CASE QUESTIONS
Leadership Case Problem A : Ray, the Empowered Athletic Club
Director
An important theme to this case is the challenge a leader faces in finding the right balance between
empowerment and leaving a direct report on his or her own without offerencing useful guidance.
1. How effective is Larry’s approach to empowering Ray to boost enrollment?
It appears that Ray has already taken all the plausible initiatives he can think of to boost enrollment.
2. Which political tactic or tactics do you recommend Ray use to deal effectively with his empowering
boss?
Ray might use a little positive psychological capital to indicate to Larry that he is trying to
3. What might Larry do to help Ray boost enrollment, within the limits of empowerment?
Larry might suggest that Ray hire a local marketing consultant of Ray’s choice to see if the
Associated Role Play
A focal point of this role play is how well Ray can get Larry more involved in the enrollment problem
Leadership Case Problem B: Team Leader Tanya Wants to Be Truthful
A key point this case illustrates is that although candor and constructive feedback might be welcome
in an organization, being critical in an insensitive way might make a person look foolish
1. In what way might Tanya be committing political blunders?
A major political blunder Tanya committed was an implied criticism of the CEO’s judgment in
2. If Tanya is committing political blunders, to what extent might they hinder her chances of
becoming a vice president of marketing?
Committing too many political blunders could very well prevent Tanya from becoming a vice
Chapter 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
3. How should Tanya’s boss deal with her with respect to the type of political blunders she has
committed?
A good starting point would be a candid, but not hostile, discussion with Tanya about her low
Associated Role Play
Gus and Tanya have different opinions about whether Tanya has a problem with respect to committing