Managing Power and Conflicts

          Organizations are complex systems arranged by individuals and coalitions that exist with their own beliefs, interests, values, preferences and perceptions (Shafritz, Ott, Jang, 2008).    The mention of power among organizations is primarily seen as negative, as organizations that devour smaller organizations in their quest for advancement. That too much power is not good because organizations can manipulate and control the market in their favor. Power does not reside only in organizations but with groups that exercise their power from bottom up, such as unions or civil rights group.

            Power that lies in organizations and those that help lead it should understand their structure as an organization and learn how to work with internal and external forces that help form the organization.  There are too many interests and at times scarce resources which can lead to struggles and conflicts,  but conflict should not be viewed as negative but rather good because it challenges the status quo (Boleman and Deal, 2008), which organizations often cling to when new ideas, innovation or approaches are introduced.  Boleman and Deal (2008) point out that a leader must have vision and strategy and should learn when to use power, especially when it can affect change in precarious situations.  A key factor taken from the readings:  learn to develop, maintain and balance business relationships among your constituents (organizational subordinates, competitors, the public/customers, political leaders, or your board).  Shafritz et al. (2008) point out that influence is your primary “weapon” in competing and conflicts, therefore, be influential.  A good leader who learns to master this knows that he/she will at one point need to call upon the relationship if they wish to advance organizational interests.  A powerless leader breeds lack of respect, low morale with increased criticism and resistance towards the boss (Shafritz, et al., 2008).  According to Kokemuller (nd.),  a leader’s influence motivates workers to complete tasks, encourages other leaders, aligns organizations mission and vision and goes on to explain that  influencing others to move in a certain direction is a major element of leadership.  A wise leader with influence picks and choose the issues pertinent to an organization and those they think they can win.  If you lack the skill to influence, Tardanico (2011) recommends that you understand your style, understand who are your stakeholders, identify your gaps to determine if you need a different approach, develop yourself in areas that you know you need to improve and practice on smaller scale using individuals or situation to influence. 

A good leader should know how to agenda set, map political terrain, create coalitions, network, bargain and negotiate (Boleman & Deal, 2008).  A leader should not always assume that power is top down but know that power can be bottom-up through the use of pressures or resistance from groups.  A leader with power should proceed with caution because too much power can ruin an organization (Boleman & Deal, 2008).  This was the case with leaders from Enron who used their power to drive the organization into the abyss by financially collapsing the organization.  It is important to understand that your ability to influence bears a great deal in how far you can take an organization but one must be wary of the use of power an individual(s) has over its stakeholders as well as external powers that can change an organization. 

References:

Bolman, L. and Deal, T. (2008).  Reframing organizations.  San Francisco, CA: John Wiley &Sons, Inc.

Kokemuller, Neil. (n.d.). The advantanges of influence in leadership.   Retrieved June 29, 2014            from eHow:  http://www.ehow.com/info_12134514_advantages-influence-leadership.html

Shafritz, J., Ott, S., Suk Jang, Y. (2008). Classics of organization theory.   Belmont,CA:        Wadsworth Publishing Company

Tardanico, Susan. (2011, December 1). Five ways to increase your influence.  Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2011/12/21/five-steps-to-increase-your-        influence/