 You know sometimes we have this illusion that power can be balanced under the right circumstances for individuals for groups or whatever But the truth is there's always this imbalance in a power dynamic in one direction or another that's just part of human nature and human existence in groups and otherwise but In this video, we're going to focus on that the nature of power and how to negotiate power within the context of a group And then working within a group not power dynamic. So First of all let's determine what we mean by power power is very simply the ability to influence the attainment of goals sought by you or others so You have any kind of influence over someone else or the behavior of someone else the attitudes of someone else the The outcome in some way then you have power by definition rights powers The ability to influence the attainment of goals sought by you or others and there are different types of power I just very quickly. We're just gonna look at the different types of power There's what we call power over which just means you for example person A is in a position of power And they have a thwarty or some influence over others and others are going to Kind of be followers in that instance or be influenced more heavily in that instance So somebody has power over others You can also have power from within which is sort of this self-confidence and The ability to speak your mind and be comfortable doing that regardless of the circumstances and it's when you have that power from within against that comfort level with speaking up and and making your voice heard and those types of things and Then there's power with which has to do with the power that we experience Within a group of others that there is power within the collection of people and power with that group that we feel Empowered by being a part of that group and the group feels empowered by the collectiveness of the people that are that are involved in it then One you know Kind of negative aspect of power that we that we have to think about is is oppression Because as spider-man taught us with great power comes great responsibility, right? And as he found out there are ways that that power can be used for good and ways that it can be used for not so good purposes And and we are really responsible for that the power that we have of the hammer over the egg For example a hammer can be a wonderful tool a powerful tool and and be very valuable in creating and Doing lots of good work, but then it can also be used for very damaging Purposes as well So the the hammer and the person behind it more has the as a great deal of power and we need to wield that power Responsibly and effectively in groups and otherwise when we fail to do that we have we call oppression Right and oppression is just the unjust or cool exercise of authority or power Especially by the imposition of burdens. So oppression becomes this anchor and people You know are the are in that balloon then right? We are that balloon and oppression is what's anchoring us down We throw up obstacles for people and make it more difficult to do anything and you know We think back for example in the Jim Crow era of the United States history Especially in the South the Jim Crow era where you know, okay? Black people have the right to vote and African Americans have the right to vote But we're gonna throw up all these other obstacles that make it much much more difficult for them So that they legally yes have the opportunity in the right to vote just like everybody else, right? We make it so so difficult That's oppression right when when people who are in power use that power to make things more difficult For people who don't have that power that is oppression and so that's a problem with power That's the kind of the dark side of power so to speak and so we need to be aware of that So and then that comes in all forms, but So specifically within groups if we're looking at groups There are some bases of power developed by French and Raven researchers named French and Raven These bases of power that they identified where typically power comes from one of these sources of somebody has power Has the ability to wield that kind of significant influence? Generally comes from one of these sources First you have referent power referent power, which is just we somebody we look up to right somebody We we idolize or respect in some way and so they wield influence over us by virtue of That kind of that that the view that we have of them so this is why for example celebrity endorsements and and and popular influencers have Referent power right even when they're speaking either doing a commercial about something that's not in their area of expertise or whatever We think oh wow I really like this person I admire this person. I want to be like this person and if they use this product then I need to use it too So this referent power just somebody we look up to the cool kids, right? But somebody we hold in regard or respect for whatever reason they can wield that influence over us in in some ways with that referent power Well, so we call expert power expert power is just what it sounds like it's somebody who's an expert in that area So they have power by virtue of their expertise We we look to them and they they wield heavier influence Within that area because they have a level of expertise there, right? So if we were in a group all of us together and communication is my field and if you if that's not your field And we were working on a communication related thing that I would have expert Power in that area because that's something that I've studied and it's it's my field of expertise, right? So I have expert power in that but if we were working in a group and trying to come up with a solution to some sort of Aeronautical engineering problem, then that would not be my field of expertise We would look to somebody who's an aeronautical engineer or has some experience in that field or something of that nature If somebody had would have expert power right but not me So expert power is contingent upon having expertise in that area But if you do then you can wield that kind of influence and power. I'm using that expertise Legitimate power This power that comes or influence that comes from legitimate sources what we call legitimate sources. This is you know essentially somebody who has Higher hierarchical status than you so it's your boss for example somebody who is your superior in it in that Hierarchical charter or sense right that they have that kind of power or they have a you know They're an elected official the judge has power to to control the courtroom and to do sentencing and things like that because they have that Legitimate power that power that's been vested in them by their position. So that's what we mean by legitimate power Let's have you know kind of two sides of the the opposite sides of the coin here are reward power Which is just what it sounds like the ability to reward people and to offer incentives and to provide benefits to people for for Following your lead and for doing what it is you think they should do and on the opposite side of that then we have coercive power Which is the power to punish people if they don't do those things so we can wield influence through Punishment right so reward and coercive power kind of the carrot and the stick if people do what we say We can reward them with the carrot if not then we can punish them with the stick right don't use that old expression Power typically comes from one of these sources that one or more it could be that you have more than one of these but But you know so one of these one or more of these bases of power What will be at work in for individuals in a group and then you have this whole mix of things So what what if you have somebody in the group who has legitimate power? They have you know some sort of they've been appointed as the leader of that group But you also have somebody who's an expert or somebody who has the ability to offer rewards And you have these different powers then that can compete against one another It's not exclusive and somebody may have you know more than one of these So you know somebody may be the boss right which may mean they have the the ability to reward and to punish So they may have reward power and coercive power in additional legitimate power and potentially they could be an expert too In that area and potentially they could be somebody you look up to it's potentially Somebody could have all five of these powers and that would be you know a great combination if you're trying to lead that group Or you could have one or or some combination of those but you're gonna see these bases of power in groups and and so How we use them then and the way that we use them will will Oftentimes influence the amount of cooperation we get in a group and the type of cooperation we get in a group From that from the other members of the group So there are basically three and you know on this spectrum. We're gonna we're gonna say there are essentially three Ways that people will respond to this power. Okay, typically we're gonna see either resistance where people are really pushing back in there They're resisting Where we're leading they're resisting that influence the resisting the use of that power and basically working against that Or we could see compliance, which is they're gonna do it But they're not gonna be happy about it and they may just do what's required of them. They may not do any more They're not doing it with that, you know that With the happy spirit and they're not really putting additional effort into it They're gonna do it, but only what's required of them and and then you know kind of half-heartedly in a sense And then we could have commitment. That's another potential So we can have people who are not only gonna do it, but they're gonna do it Well, and they're gonna put their all into it They're gonna go above and beyond and so forth and when we use these different kinds of power We see different levels of cooperation within that. So this is true in groups This is true for employees from you know in a hierarchical sense as well, but so when we when we Use these different kinds of power. We see different responses as a result. So for example when we use coercion When we use that punishment, it's not really as effective as other Types of power we normally see resistance, you know If the only thing we're offering people is punishment then then if we get something out of them It's gonna be with great resistance. They're gonna they're gonna resist, you know They don't want to be punished But maybe but but they also don't like being controlled in that way probably and being threatened in that way And it's a little better when we see reward and legitimate power in use We get compliance typically We'll get maybe what we want or need out of that But not much more and people aren't gonna be very happy about it in the long term. That's not ideal either And you know because we want people to be more committed than that But but if we just need somebody in the short term, you know reward power legitimate power This can be effective ways to gain compliance But we see then, you know with commitment Expert and referent power are the ways that we secure commitment from people and and and see people going above me on and not just Meeting the bare minimums and getting something done. But what really them putting their heart into it as well There are a variety of things that influence power and what we call these power dependencies, right? There are things that the elements and factors that Determine how power can best be used and and how effective it's going to be and and what's gonna work best in these situations So we call these power dependencies and they're really a couple of different elements that are important to consider here First are the subordinates values. What is it that they are? What's important to them? What do they value and how can we meet that if you know? We think of something like Maslow's hierarchy of needs Where can we meet them and fulfill? Whatever needed is they have in that sense. Are they are they do they value finances? Do they value those kind of rewards or do they value promotion? Do they value? Internal rewards like just you know the satisfaction of a job well done Or do they you know value? External recognition through awards and things like that So we need to figure out you know and identify and use what we know about there's the subordinates values and consider that in that power Equation and that's a major power dependency is the subordinates values Well, so you need to consider the nature of the relationship in general Or is this somebody that is our co-worker? They a colleague? Is it somebody we know well or don't know? Well, is this a subordinate and where their boss or vice versa? Is it somebody who's a client and we were outside the eight, you know There's any number of variables here, but we need to understand what the nature of our relationship is and and factor that into How we use power and how we can best apply power in those situations that'll be important too To understand in who is this person to me? Who am I to them? And what is the nature of our relationship and how does that impact on the way that we can best? use power to influence things Then we also need to understand counterpower Counterpower right so what's the you know the opposite reaction every every action has an equal and opposite reaction, right? So So what's the counterpower that this person has? You know how much ability do they have to resist these things and and do they have You know other things that work, you know basically how strongly can we influence this person? So if we think about different counterpower response patterns, and if we look at this graph We can see we have you know one end where a person a is power over b is very high Right and and they have a lot of Influence a lot of control over over person b and at the end of the other end of the spectrum It's very low because person B's counterpower is very strong over a so they have ways that they can push back Whether that's you know, maybe they got a secret file on stuff about person a right that they can that they can pull out this Opposition file and use some embarrassing things or maybe it's just that They don't really need this job or this this assignment or whatever And so they the person you know a can't really use that to influence them because Person B could just walk away and wouldn't be a big deal, right? So what is person B's counterpower over a and how strong is that and that's going to influence then? Person B's response to a's influence, right? So how does person B respond to them to the way that a is trying to influence them? If person a has a lot of power over b if they're on the higher end of that spectrum Then a person B is probably going to comply with person a right? They're probably going to just go along. They're gonna do it. You're not gonna get a lot of argument They're just gonna they're gonna do it if they don't have many other options There at least don't feel like they do then they're gonna comply as we go down here though We can see that you know a little little more they may be able to bargain They may have a little bit of counterpower So they may be able to bargain and get a better deal or whatever and and maybe get a better You know, I don't know what a better position or better time better Whatever they can they can negotiate a little bit though in this regard if they have a little bit more counterpower They may even be able to fight with a and work against that and just you know completely Counterman that and say no, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna resist. I'm gonna go against this And if they have a lot of counterpower if they've built a just walk away They can just ignore a altogether, right? This is a volunteer type situation, right? If you're volunteering somewhere and and person a is really trying to influence you and use your power And you're just not having it you can just ignore them If you've got that kind of counterpower, you don't really need this then that that can be you know potential response as well So but we can see that the more counterpower person B has then the the less Strong the less strength in the power and the influence that a will have over that individual So we need to consider that as a factor as well. So the support its values the the the counterpower that a has are the B has in that situation and And so just those elements that we need to consider that the power dependencies, right? Okay, some common power tactics and I have you know, mr. Burns Illustrator here because these are not great. These are these are typically not as effective In terms of power these are things you can do when you have power But and they may bring some short term gain But in the long run these are these are not great power tactics But these are used things that are commonly used by people who want to use power to influence The people in their group and but they're not great So people commonly acts or control access to information They feel like if I'm the only one who knows everything then then everybody else has to kind of defer to me If I'm the only person who has all this information, so they'll keep you other people in the dark They'll try and control access to that information They'll control access to other persons keep people in different silos So again, they become the lynchpin in this and nobody can really do anything on their own It's another common power tactic that That people use again not very effective in the long run But anyway, they have the selective use of objective criteria So it's easy to kind of make sure you're getting really good evaluations If you're the one selecting the the evaluation criteria, right? If you're able to set those criteria that then you can select things that are going to be good for you And you can ignore the things that are not going to be as good for you, right? So people will empower oftentimes be selective in the objective criteria quote-unquote objective criteria that they use For different evaluations and different situations. So they'll control the agenda, you know, just you know, I can think about Think about congress. I think about congress a lot when I think about this one The speaker of the house for example determines if they have the majority They can determine what comes up for a vote and what doesn't in congress, right? I'd say with the senate they they can control What's going to be discussed? What's going to be voted on or if it's something they don't like they don't have to vote against it They can just not bring it up at all not have it brought up on the floor at all not allow it So they can control the agenda and that's a that's a power tactic that people use frequently Using outside experts bringing in people to support what you what you are trying to sell to other people And then bureaucratic game has been shipped just making the red tape so difficult to Drive people nuts and they just kind of give up or or you know Using this like game of thrones type behind the scenes power moves or whatever these power tactics using those tactics using those bureaucratic games from ship To to control people through power And then coalitions and alliances think about that, you know a game like survivor or something like that Then where he says coalitions and alliances to try and Exert power over other people or other groups or whatever Again, these are these are common power tactics and they're used a lot and they can be effective But they're probably only going to be effective in the short term People are going to start to resist and people are not going to be they're not going to like Being controlled or being you know having having this kind of manipulation happen around them so In the long run, it's probably not going to be great for as your prospects long term in terms of using power in that group, but They can be effective in the short term and people use them a lot But I don't know that they're the best way to go about things. So what I would recommend is that you consider The ethical use of power which we can look at through again. There's there's different different Bases of power that we talked about earlier these the from french and raven the Referent expert legitimate reward and course of power that we discussed earlier We can use these bases of power ethically. There are ways that we can you know not control But use these things Ethically and and and use them well. So for example with referent power, we can We can treat subordinates fairly. We can defend our subordinates interests We can be sensitive to their needs and feelings. We can engage in role modeling and show them What you know effective productive group membership looks like and and what we need from them So we can do all of these things using and enhance and and take advantage of our referent Power if we have access to that if we have expert power, we can promote the image of our expertise We can maintain credibility. We can act confidently and decisively We can keep people informed instead of controlling that information. We can be open and share that information We can recognize employee concerns all of this, you know from the standpoint of our expertise On which we'll lend value and lend weight to that as well then when we when we come at it from our Vantage point of as an expert there Even when we have legitimate power when we are in control when we are responsible as a group We can still be cordial and polite. We can be clear and and follow up to verify understanding Of group members. We can explain the reasons that we are making different requests and and We can follow the proper channels and go through channels and and be Respectful regarding those things We can enforce compliance of the different rules and not let things slip just because you know somebody Is getting preferred treatment or whatever we can be sensitive to our subordinates concerns and even when we are in Have legitimate power. We don't necessarily have to be sensitive to those things We can do it anyway and wield that power ethically In terms of reward power we can make things We make feasible and reasonable requests We can attach those to our rewards. We can offer rewards that are desired by subordinates We can you know make make some good rewards and we can only offer credible rewards right things that are legitimate things that are That have value to those people and also are That legitimate incredible rewards and when we have course of power It's not necessarily the ideal but when we do need to use or have course of power We can inform subordinates of the rules and penalties make sure they understand those and make sure that they are clear upfront We can warn people before punishing them We don't have to automatically just bring down the hammer. We can give them some latitude and then And give them an opportunity to improve and we can warn them before punishment We can administer punishment consistently and uniformly Not show preferential treatment and and just do it, you know be consistent and and uniform in the administration of that punishment We can make sure that we understand the situation before acting not just respond impulsively or respond to the first thing we see but Understand really fully and explore that situation before we take action We can make sure the punishment fits the crime. We can fit that punishment to the infraction Make sure that it is consistent with the The level of severity of that infraction and then we can punish them private We don't have to make this a public spectacle If we're going to have to punish we can do so in a private way that doesn't you know add additional embarrassment for that person So now that we understand kind of you know what power is and and how we can most effectively use it in a group Hopefully we'll be able to it can wield that ethically and consider those those different bases of power And understand that there are ways that we can do those things and use that power ethically And really enhance our long-term prospects for the group and our and our prospects in that group by doing so If you have questions about power in small groups and how it's used how we can how we can best manage and utilize and Leverage that kind of power for the betterment of the group. Please feel free to contact me I'd love to hear from you via email and chat with you in that way In the meantime, I hope that you do have a new understanding of power And the good that it can provide for groups when it's used in a positive manner