Leadership and Organizational Culture

Power and Influence in Organizational Culture 

Power and influence will dictate values and that directly impacts the culture of any organization. Leaders with the most power will tend to imbue the workplace with their values and beliefs. It is these values which permeate the organization and influence the development and change of culture. For instance, Steve Jobs came into Apple, Inc. for his second stint at the helm and changed everything about the company (Avesson & Sveningsson, 2015). He imprinted his values and aspirations into every team in the firm and eventually led to organizational change. It is the most powerful who mold the organizational culture.

Power and influence also determine what the firm’s strategy is thus influencing policy. Decision making is all about power. The people who wield the most influence will see their views being actualized in organizational decisions. Their influence on decision making impacts on how the organization operates and acts. For instance, an organization might have a weak safety department. The result is that the department will not be a significant part of the decision making. Safety will slide down the rank of priorities and the organization’s culture of safety will be eroded. Power in the right places determines priorities which in turn influence organizational culture.

The struggle for power and influence determines who gains leadership positions and that has a direct effect on organizational culture. Entities which regulate the pursuit of power and try to reward merit will tend to have positive organizational cultures (Avesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The workers will understand that power struggles are not a zero-sum game. It becomes likely that the employees will develop a culture of ethical competition knowing that the playing field is level. The opposite happens when there is no regulation and cronyism trumps merit. Power struggles exist in every organization but those with positive organizational cultures find a way to level the playing field.

Power and influence play also determine who becomes the face of the organization thus dictating how the entity views itself. Executives who are powerful will wish to set the agenda. They will use their power to mold the organization’s external image which then affects organizational culture. A good example is the public relations exercise carried out by General Norman Schwarzkopf during the first Iraqi Way. He used his power to push the narrative of an ethical force with overwhelming capabilities. Public displays by powerful leaders do have real and measurable effects on organizational culture.

Finally, power and influence determine how resources are distributed and thus how the organization orients itself (Alvesson, 2016). For instance, there is always a power struggle between the research and acquisitions divisions in large firms. The research and development team wants to innovate while the acquisitions team needs the money to go after other businesses. When the research and development team wields power, the organization will be innovation-oriented. The organizational culture will encourage the creation of internal solutions as opposed to the buying of external ones. In that manner, the distribution of resources dictates preferences and in the process impacts organizational culture.

Sources of Power 

The most common source of power in any organization is the title one holds and its relative position in the hierarchy. One typically gains more power and influence as he or she rises up the ranks. The office grants the holder authority and enables him or her to exercise power. For instance, the chief executive in an organization should ideally be the most powerful employee. The relative position also determines power. One can have a lofty title but lack the ability to actually affect operations or decision-making thus reducing his or her power. Titles are the most formal sources of power.

Second is the ability to control access to and use of resources. Every individual in an organization needs resources. They need vehicles for transport, utilities for functioning, machines for making work easier and, most importantly, cash for operations. The struggle for these resources is usually severe since they are finite (Avesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The result is that the people who control access to the resources become quite powerful. A good example is the military where quartermasters are quite powerful even when they are not officers. The person who assigns resources gains power by the mere fact that other people need his or her services.

Power also comes from one’s natural charisma and polished leadership skills. There is evidence that some individuals exercise power innately. Children gain followings on the playing field not because they have read leadership books but because of who they are. Powerful individuals then hone these skills with training and practice (Alvesson, 2016). They are able to use their personality and charisma to influence others. These individuals do not require formal titles: they are able to leverage their following into power. Such leaders know that their power comes from the number of people they can influence at any time.

Professional competence and personal integrity are also excellent sources of power. It is especially the case when one is a member of a professional group. People will tend to defer to those who have shown prowess in a particular field. The deference translates into followership thus making these individuals quite powerful. For example, the late Dr. Stephen Hawking had power in the field of science due to his competence. He had proven that he was ahead of his peers and he deserved his position of veneration. One’s professional and personal accomplishments can grant him or her power and influence.

Finally, there is power that comes from being close to the actual centers of power. Really powerful people are hard to reach. They have coteries of followers, employees, admirers, and other people who either impede or completely block access to them. These powerful individuals are also quite busy and find it challenging to create time for everyone who might want to speak to them. In that instance, the people who can provide access to the powerful individuals then gain power (Bolman & Deal, 2017). They are able to parlay their access to the actual powerful entities into positions of influence and power.

Leadership Behavior and Culture 

The organization should recognize how important leadership is and take positive steps to use it to create a positive organizational culture. Google employees say that one cannot improve what he or she cannot measure (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). Therefore, organizations need to invest in research. They need to study their internal and external environments and use the data to make leadership decisions. The right leadership rarely develops organically. Entities have to decide which leadership style they want and then work towards creating it. Organizations which rely on relevant, current, and accurate data to make leadership decisions tend to have a positive organizational culture.

Secondly, the organization should know that leaders are made. It is possible that some people are born to be leaders but organizations cannot rely on genes. They have to put in place training and development programs which identify and nurture the right leaders. For instance, Amazon has a system where it awards leadership points to its workers. The aim is to develop leaders inside the organization instead of importing them. These leaders will have come up through the system and will understand the organization’s culture and values (Bolman & Deal, 2017). The training and development give the organization motivated and competent leaders who understand and embody its culture.

The right environment should also exist to attract and retain the right leaders. Organizations which have merit-based promotion systems tend to attract and retain good leaders. Truly talented and competent individuals will not want to be mired in power struggles. They will not want to be a part of a corrupt organization. Therefore, these toxic environments will only attract and retain toxic individuals. The right environment, on the other hand, presents a challenge to talented and ethical leaders. They will want to be a part of an organization where their skills and talent are the primary determinants of success.

Finally, it is impossible to run a “do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do” organization in the modern world. Subordinates are quite aware of what the boss does and they will take their cues from their leaders. Therefore, leaders need to buy into the organizational culture. They need to not only accept it but embody it. The workers should see their superiors living the creed that they preach. There should be no disconnection at all between the words spoken by the directors and executives and their actions. It is only by setting the right example that leaders can create the right organizational culture.

Importance of Leadership Influence 

Most importantly, it is the leader who codifies the organizational message and then passes it effectively to the rest of the organization. A good leader is a focal point for both technical expertise and motivation. He or she should understand the firm, its objectives, strategy, and values. It is this information that he or she will then use to synthesize a winning message. The leader uses the information and skills he or she possesses to make the followers understand the organizational culture and aspire to live it (Bolman & Deal, 2017). The right leader is able to deliver the message effectively to all stakeholders.

Leaders and their influence also determine which values the organization practices. They are role models and all stakeholders see them as representatives of the organization as a whole. The way these leaders act will have a direct influence on what norms develop in the entity. For example, a leader who is not truthful will create a culture which is permissive with the truth. He or she will set the pace and the subordinates will find it increasingly normal to lie and mislead. Therefore, organizations should decide what values they want to champion and then choose leaders who represent these values.

Complexity of Leadership 

Leadership is complex primarily because one has to find a balance between representing stakeholder interests and creating a path to the future. A leader cannot ignore his or her people. He or she has to listen to them and try and understand what they want. At the same time, he or she must have a vision. He or she must have a strategic mission which fulfils needs not conceptualized yet (Bolman & Deal, 2017). He or she also has to convince stakeholders to trust him or her in all circumstances. Leadership is extremely complex meaning that organizations have to get it right.

Opinion 

There should be no doubt that leaders determine the fate of whole organizations when they exercise power. These are individuals whose actions have a disproportionate impact due to the power that they wield. Modern organizations cannot afford to get the leadership question wrong. It is leadership which largely decided the battle between Apple, Inc. and vanquished firms like Nokia and Motorola. Companies and other entities have to be willing to invest in leaders and the pipelines which conduct and refine them. The evidence shows that the right leaders understand how to wield power responsibly.

References 

Alvesson, M. (Ed.). (2016).  Organizational culture . Sage.

Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015).  Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress . Routledge.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017).  Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership . John Wiley & Sons.