Power is the capacity to produce effects on other or the potential to influence others. Power is valued by many people so people may seek it out but when leaders begin to fear they are going to lose it and its benefits they may begin to show their self-serving behaviors (Wisse, Ruth, Keller & Sleebos, 2019). There are five bases of power including: expert power, referent power, legitimate power, reward power and coercive power (PSUWC, 2020). But one type of power that emphasizes these self-serving behaviors is personalized power. Personalized power is when an individual with high needs for personalized power are selfish, impulsive, uninhibited and lacking self-control. These leaders exercise their power for their own needs, not the good of their subordinates or the organization as a whole (PSUWC, 2020).
Power can be valued by the tangible or intangible benefits that are associated with the leader’s power. These self-serving behaviors or personalized power can be detrimental to an organization and the subordinates because the leader is prioritizing their own needs at the expense of those around them (Wisse, Ruth, Keller & Sleebos, 2019). Once leaders become accustomed to the certain benefits that come with their power they may do anything to keep their benefits. Some of these benefits include: a raise, a nice office, a new division or a bonus. If threatened with the loss of power, the leader can become self-serving. Some examples of this would be to take credit for work or jobs that the leader did not actually do. The leader effectively is prioritizing their own personal gain over the organization (Wisse, Ruth, Keller & Sleebos, 2019).
In my own personal experience as an employee, I have seen how self-serving behavior of can affect workplaces. When I worked at a bridal boutique there was a supervisor who was on track to become a manager to do this she had to sell a certain amount a month to get in the good graces of management. During the slow months, she began to take credit for other people’s sales to make sure that she could continue to hit her goals. This began to cause issues with many of the sales associates because they were losing their commission money because she was taking credit for their sales. She continued to do it because she was nervous that she was going to lose her chance to be manager. This caused many issues over the next few months because none of the sales associates could trust the supervisor anymore and at the end of the day it cost her becoming a manager when the company found out about what she was doing. This is just one example of a real life situation of how a leader begins to fear the loss of power so they begin to perform self-serving behaviors to save their benefits and in my specific case their career.
References:
Wisse, B. and Rus, D. and Keller, A.C. and Sleebos, Ed. (2019) ‘Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it”: the combined effects of leader fear of losing power and competitive climate on leader self-serving behavior.’, European journal of work and organizational psychology., 28 (6). 742-755.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2020). PSYCH 281 Lesson 7: Power and Influence. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2040131/modules/items/28001757