Podcast Summary: How to Wield Power to Improve the Workplace: Invisibilia by Yowei Shaw, Peter Belmi, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Alejo Gonzalez

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Many people think of power in the workplace solely in terms of their personal careers. But, the fact is, those who wield power shape their organizations as a whole, for better or worse. In this episode of NPR’s Invisibilia, host Yowei Shaw speaks with business professors Peter Belmi and Jeffrey Pfeffer, and union organizer Alejo Gonzalez, about how traditional paths to power might discourage marginalized individuals from pursuing leadership roles – and why your comfort level with seeking power matters in ways that transcend your individual circumstances.

Take-Aways

• Employees from marginalized groups, and those with strong ethics, often feel uncomfortable pursuing positions of power.
• Improve your organizational culture by employing “pro-social” approaches to power, instead of more traditional cutthroat tactics.
• Give workers opportunities to feel unified and to challenge traditional power dynamics.

Summary

Employees from marginalized groups, and those with strong ethics, often feel uncomfortable pursuing positions of power.

Many people – particularly women, people of color and those from less-advantaged backgrounds – experience a clash of values when faced with traditional strategies for obtaining power. Such tactics, while successful, often prove downright Machiavellian. They’re premised on the idea that, as author and professor Jeffrey Pfeffer claims, you have to “take care of yourself” first and foremost. Hard work alone won’t help you get ahead, and he points to research that shows niceness is often a handicap. To get power, you must use everything at your disposal – including deceit and manipulation – to achieve your goals.

“Could the pathways to power at elite organizations be turning people from marginalized backgrounds off from even wanting to play the power game?” (Yowei Shaw)

As a graduate student, now business professor Peter Belmi felt disheartened by Pfeffer’s take on power. But, Pfeffer’s perspective helped him zero in on a key question that defines his own research: Is it possible that traditional approaches to achieving power are, themselves, a structural form of exclusion? After interviewing over 1,000 people, Belmi determined that socioeconomically advantaged people tend to feel comfortable pursuing their own self-interests; however, less-advantaged people learn from a young age to prioritize the group’s well-being as a survival tactic. The self-focused nature of traditional power ploys, then, prompts individuals from underrepresented groups to “opt out” of the power game – meaning they are less likely to achieve leadership positions in the business world.

Improve your organizational culture by employing “pro-social” approaches to power, instead of more traditional cutthroat tactics.

One irony of power is that those most likely to use it well – for the greater good – are less likely to pursue it; getting ahead too often runs afoul of their sense of right and wrong. But Belmi’s studies did show something that could help people overcome that reluctance: Power gives you the opportunity to help others. Once you achieve a leadership position, you have the ability to make your organization more inclusive and less accepting of ethically questionable behavior.

“I know what power does to people. And I know what most people tend to do with their power. And I ask the students, like, prove me wrong.” (Peter Belmi)

Belmi also argues that, while businesspeople should understand traditional power strategies, a “pro-social” approach can be just as effective at helping you rise as more cutthroat tactics. An authentic, diligent individual, who thinks of what’s best for the team, can garner as much influence as a person who plays the traditional power game.

Give workers opportunities to feel unified and to challenge traditional power dynamics.

When you feel powerless, pushing back against higher-ups can seem pointless. Mounting an effective campaign hinges on changing your perspective of how much power you possess. Union organizer Alejo Gonzalez doesn’t deny that organizing for better working conditions is an uphill battle, especially given the lack of employee protections in the United States. The risks are real. But it’s a mistake to believe workers have no leverage – particularly when they band together to pursue a goal.

“You’re not telling them collective power is powerful. You’re really getting them to see it.” (Alejo Gonzalez)

Gonzalez uses several tactics to help workers feel more powerful: showing up to a meeting with just a handful of workers, for example, and then forcing management to scramble around foolishly for more seating when a large number arrive later. Another approach involves role-playing: posing as a bullying member of a business’s management team, and running through a series of anti-union talking points. Gonzalez then reveals that truth – that he’s an organizer – and teaches the group counterpoints and strategies for handling such situations.

Whatever the method, Gonzalez believes the most important thing is getting people to believe in their power. Give workers opportunities to feel unified – even if that involves something small like everyone wearing a button – and to challenge the usual power dynamics.

About the Podcast

Yowei Shaw is the co-host and editorial lead of NPR’s Invisibilia podcast. Peter Belmi is the Scott C. Beardsley Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Alejo Gonzalez is a lead union organizer with SEIU Local 105 in Denver, Colorado.