As expressed in the text, power is based on the assumption that it is something a person or group possesses and can exercise through actions. The book gives five examples of social power, following the assumption that person A has power over person B when A has control over some outcomes of B wants: 1) reward power, 2) coercive power, 3) referent power, 4) expert power, and 5) legitimate power. At IBM, where I worked for five years, there were employees called principals. These were technical individuals that have reached high level status in the area of their expertise. They have gone through the process of being tested, critiqued and accepted by the discipline’s experts through a rigorous process. The social power of the expert power is regarded high at IBM through the principal job description and implementation. Therefore, I was trained by those principals and mentored when needed during customer engagements. I am grateful to those individuals that supported me in my career growth and have due respect for their knowledge of the business and application of the technology.
MEntorship is a way of transmiting power.Which is what your mentors at IBM did with you. Power is not always shared though. Unfortunately, when we don't share power the impact of this power decreases. This works in both positive and negative ways. When you have for example a skill that no one else has you should empower other people to learn it and this way more people can benefit from this skill. Sometimes people in power don't want to share power because they feel that this is a threat.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your blog I thought of the role of critical researcher. By natural progress, I think, that critical researchers participate in advocacy and towards social justice. Although the example is where I think power is more justified, expert power. People fear the loss of power and may sway to reward, coercive or legitimate power assumptions to maintain. So I think its cool that you recognize the expert power that existed for you at IBM; their power supported you in your career growth. Where critical researchers would have a problem is where the exercise of power leads to unjust consequences. The notion that power and control in organizations is so fearful may be because being a forced apprentice is very different from being a willingful one.
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