Power in Organisations
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Question:
Richard Nixon wrote, “The great leader needs the capacity to achieve ….. Power is the opportunity to build, to create, to nudge history in a different direction” Discuss the above quotation and its relevance to acquisition and use of the traditional and managerial power bases within organisations
POWER IN ORGANISATIONS
Richard Nixon wrote, “The great leader needs the capacity to achieve.......Power is the opportunity to build, to create, to nudge history in a different direction”.
In order to appreciate the above quotation, one must understand what is meant by the word “leader”. A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal. Leadership is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Building on Nixon 's quote however, power is referred to as the capacity that person A has to influence the behaviour of person B so that B acts in accordance with A 's wishes (Robbins & Judge).
Leadership and power are closely intertwined and leaders use their power as a means of attaining organisational and group goals. In order to achieve these goals, power is the means in which it can be attainted.
“Power is the ability to create......” in order to create history - a person must be able influence people so as to achieve goals. Not only that, the individual must be in a position of power to do so. Power is not really about achieving goals but merely about dependency and dependency is probably the most important aspect of power. The greater dependence person B has, person A has more 'power ' over the other.
In organisations, there will always be those that want power, have power and go to great lengths to get it. For example, an employee in the Human Resource department sees the need to have more training in lets say – Industrial Relations. The employee has to go to his/or her boss to get the approval for this training.
Question:
Richard Nixon wrote, “The great leader needs the capacity to achieve ….. Power is the opportunity to build, to create, to nudge history in a different direction” Discuss the above quotation and its relevance to acquisition and use of the traditional and managerial power bases within organisations
POWER IN ORGANISATIONS
Richard Nixon wrote, “The great leader needs the capacity to achieve.......Power is the opportunity to build, to create, to nudge history in a different direction”.
In order to appreciate the above quotation, one must understand what is meant by the word “leader”. A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal. Leadership is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Building on Nixon 's quote however, power is referred to as the capacity that person A has to influence the behaviour of person B so that B acts in accordance with A 's wishes (Robbins & Judge).
Leadership and power are closely intertwined and leaders use their power as a means of attaining organisational and group goals. In order to achieve these goals, power is the means in which it can be attainted.
“Power is the ability to create......” in order to create history - a person must be able influence people so as to achieve goals. Not only that, the individual must be in a position of power to do so. Power is not really about achieving goals but merely about dependency and dependency is probably the most important aspect of power. The greater dependence person B has, person A has more 'power ' over the other.
In organisations, there will always be those that want power, have power and go to great lengths to get it. For example, an employee in the Human Resource department sees the need to have more training in lets say – Industrial Relations. The employee has to go to his/or her boss to get the approval for this training.
References: Judge, Stephen P. & Robbins, Timothy A. (2007). Organizational Behavior, Twelfth Edition. Prentice Hall. Wilde, S. (1983). Miracles. Carson.