Power and Influence: CEO Power and the Use of Tactical Influence

Abstract

This paper describes how the CEO of an organization can effectively manage the organization by using the identified sources of power, and the various techniques of gaining power in an organization. Often, an organization fails because of insufficient attention paid to how power is managed and deployed. This paper identifies and discusses the power dynamics in organizations, the possible sources of political conflicts at work, and how to solve such issues when they arise. It also discusses the best influence tactics that can be wielded by a CEO to provide guidance, the direction that such influence should take and on which group of people. The authors suggest that the best way to manage employees as a CEO is by becoming a storyteller. This "storyteller" metaphor suggests that CEOs should always focus on creating friendly and interactive environments, rather than tense environments, in which the storyteller (CEO) always engages the audience and makes them feel at ease. It asserts that legitimate and coercive sources of power are no longer advantageous.

The Power Sources and Influences of Secondary School Principals in Eastern Ethiopia

“…The fourth major finding was that the influence of the school principals brings three types of influence outcomes on subordinates' performance: commitment, compliance, and resistance. Most of the respondents, however, reported that subordinates mostly resisting their school principals' influence (Twalh, Alsolami, Cheng, & Islam, 2016). Further, the best way to lead employees as a manager is to become a storyteller meaning that leaders should always focus on creating user-friendly and interactive environments, rather than tense environments, in which the storyteller (manager) always engages and puts the audience at ease (Yan, 2020).…”

“…Most of the time, an organization does not succeed because attention had not given to how leaders' power is managed and deployed (Twalh et al, 2016). School principals are mostly using proactive tactics than the rest two.…”

Organizational influence systems as a function for strategy building: An applied study in Jordanian economic sectors

“…The strongest of these are in a dominated external coalition, where an individual or group has most of the power, and this concentration facilitates control over the internal entrepreneurs via the board of directors or other direct controls (Garvin & Levesque, 2006). Here an outside entrepreneur would have control through his/her control over important individuals in the organization who depend on him/ her (Twalh & et al, 2016). In the case of a divided external coalition, power is distributed among a small number of individuals or main groups seeking to impose different goals using pressure campaigns and others (Selart, 2010).…”