Workplace Power — What is It? How to Use It?

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” —Abraham Lincoln.

Power, a word that gets the adrenalin going in some and strikes fear in others. Workplace power is an integral part of any business environment.

In her book “What Keeps Leaders Up at Night” psychologist Nicole Lipkin describes the idea of six types of power previously introduced by psychologists John French and Bertram Raven.

Six Types of Workplace Power

1. Legitimate Power: The more traditional form, where a person has earned the role of leader over a group of people in an organization. Of course, people may question why the individual was given the role and everyone knows it’s not a birthright, so it can easily be taken away.
2. Coercive Power: This is where threats and force are the norm. It is a dictatorship in a workplace. This form of leadership can be very disruptive; its effects can be disastrous. The short-term result is that anyone who can leave — does — depleting the talent pool and demolishing morale. Longer-term, it impacts the reputation of the group, making recruitment difficult. Finally, and probably most important, this type of hostile workplace power environment is illegal.
3. Expert Power: This type of power may be justified by a person’s education status (“he has an MBA”), work experience (“she worked at McKinsey”) or specific talent (“speaks Mandarin and Arabic”). Though the fact may be true, it does not necessarily mean the employee is equipped to lead or be handed power.
4. Information Power: This is a double-edged sword. It might be short-term power but can be very intense. The staff member is the only one in the organization who understands a vital piece of information for a project. Or, the person knows high-level confidential information with which the organization would suffer, if those details were to be disclosed internally or externally. This type of workplace power can be essential or very threatening and destructive. In the wrong hands, it can be devastating. For the owners of the secrets, it might not bring the credibility or influence they want or think they deserve. To the firm, it can be a constant threat or a source of relief.
5. Reward Power: In a work environment, this type of power revolves around the ability to impact salary increases, bonuses, promotions, titles, privileges, even access. It is about influencing the system. Used well, it can help deserving workers obtain what they have earned; applied poorly, it can corrupt a system, rewarding favorites or loyalists.
6. Connection Power: We all are acquainted with people who seem to know more, get more, and have accessibility to more, merely because they have contacts and connections to people in high places. It speaks volumes to the workplace power of networking up. Used properly, it can benefit the employee and their team. The risk is jealousy, contempt, and the feeling that “this isn’t fair” and forces a type of competition that is not healthy.

There are many types of workplace power. An awareness of them helps you navigate an organization. It also gives you examples of what you wish to aspire to or promise yourself you will never become. Once you rise to a certain level of influence, you will have a choice as too what type of leader you want to be and how you will use your power and influence for the greater good.

Power can be intoxicating and distracting. It makes you question your value system and your view of yourself. How you were treated in the past is a good measure of how you will behave in the future — sometimes you want to emulate a mentor and at other times you swear you will never become that person. A regular pulse taking is a good idea.