Read: management & leadership 7: Power
Based on the work of Mauk Mulder
Definition: to determine, direct or regulate to a certain
degree the behaviour of others.
Features:
- power is everywhere
- it is a two sided process: the influence you have on somebody
else is limited by the way the other lets you have this degree of
influence and, of course, vice versa. Somebody else can have as
much power (influence) on your behaviour as you let him/her have.
Bases of power:
- Power of position: having a certain position in the social
system 'seduces' others to follow, to be susceptible to the wishes
of others. Obeying because one should obey.
- Power of sanction: having the disposal of (positive and
negative) sanctions: rewards and punishments in all sorts of forms
(formal and informal, material and immaterial). The susceptibility
of the receiver determines the effectivity of the sanction.
- Power of reference: someone who admires another person is
likely to follow his or her habits, line of thinking, behaviour,
language, expressions etc.. Happens mostly unconsciously (charisma,
guru, idols).
- Power of influence elsewhere: having influence at the top or
at the base of the organization, or having connections with persons
or institutes outside the organization can lead to an enhancement
of the power position within the organization.
- Power of expertise: being the expert (or the supposed
expert) can be enough to be followed (even if the expertise only
exists in the mind of the less powerful) follower.
- Power of experience: being the one with a lot of experience
in a certain field
- Power to convince: the ability to convince others with
arguments often in combination with reference and expertise power.
- Power of victims: by being 'helpless' or accusing the other
of being cruel/unfair not to do what you want influencing the other
(some people are very sensitive to this form and cannot 'resist' it
and often it is not recognized as 'power').
- Power of identity: being rewarded or punished in a certain
aspect of your being (you are a good mother, or you're not a real
woman).
- Power of social categories: power based on dominance in
society: class, ethnicity, gender sex, health, age etc.