Impact or effects or consequences of power on the activities of other people in the organization may be outlined in the following points:
- The use of power changes other dynamics of the group process.
- Unequal power changes the way the leader treats other team members and the way members communicate with one another.
- Subgroups that disagree with the majority can have a substantial influence on how the team operates. The level of interdependence among team members changes the power they have over one another.
Status and the corrupting Effects of Power
Power corrupting occurs when someone has a great deal of power but is not held accountable for its use. The result is an abuse of power for personal gain.
Power is rewarding, so people with power often want more of it. IT has a corrupting influence and those corrupting influences and way of corruptions are discussed below:
1. Higher share of rewards: People with more power often give themselves a higher share of rewards and facilities those they are not supposed to get.
2. Commands rather than requests: It is easy for someone with the power to give commands rather than make requests. Because powerful people get mostly positive feedback from subordinates, they begin to care less about what subordinates say and have an inflated view of their own worth.
3. Corrupting influence on groups: Powerful people demonstrate the corrupting nature of power on the group in business organizations and families. They documented a cycle of power where the power leads to a desire to increase one’s power. One of the problems with this effect is that its impact is often unconscious.
4. Abuse of power: Over time, powerful leaders come to believe their subordinates are externally controlled. Therefore they must be monitored and commanded by their leaders to get them to do anything.
5. It is a self-reinforcing cycle: A team may try to deal with this problem by rotating team leaders. When leaders know they will eventually become just another team member, they are less likely to use controlling power tactics.
6. Poor decision making: The consequences of the power corrupting cycle are poor decision making, use of coercion, a low opinion of employees, more distance from employees, and possibly ethical or illegal actions take n by the manger.
7. Sexual harassment: Sexual harassment, gender discrimination, color discrimination are a much-known way of power corrupting those powerful people usually use.
Related Content of Organizational Power:
- What is the Meaning of Organizational Power?
- Two Faces of Power Proposed by David McClelland
- Theories of Organizational Power
- Tactical Dimensions or Strategies of Power
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Autocratic Leadership
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Democratic Leadership
- What is the Definition of Authority?
- What are the Characteristics of Authority?
- Difference between Power, Authority, and Influence
- Difference between Power and Authority
- The Elements of Power
- Importance of Power in an Organization
- Sources of Power in an Organization
- Forms of Power in an Organization
- Measurement of Power in an Organization
- Disadvantages of Individual Power
- Unequal Power in a Team