Power Balance and Goal Alignment
Initiative in the workplace is influenced by many factors yet ultimately comes down to the person being more or less motivated. Motivation can be described using a range of words. Consider your impression of an individual’s level motivation with each of these terms: inspired • committed • compliant • complacent • incompetent.
Effective leaders have communication skills which directly impact motivation.
An important, and related aspect of working with and through others, is enhanced by addressing Power Balance and Goal Alignment. Consider these four situations where coaching (and a leader) makes a difference:
- Collaboration: power balanced, goals aligned
- Negotiation: power balanced, goals not aligned
- Influence: power imbalanced, goals aligned
- Domination: power imbalanced, goals not aligned
All four examples of power and alignment bring challenges. Not surprisingly, the most unstable is situation #4 where power balance and goal alignment are both low. When this occurs the party without the power feels dominated or oppressed by the other. Domination is obviously an extremely uncomfortable condition, with individuals and groups who are dominated tending to respond with behaviors like defensiveness and sarcasm.
Domination is likely present if you notice colleagues are avoiding topics (give up), are cutting off communication (stonewall), are actively trying to make others look bad (sabotage) and seem to be aggressive (open conflict). Each of these four situations complicate the work setting. Capable leaders recognize and name them when they occur. Even if the challenge is described as cynicism or contempt, Leaders who work with Inside Out Perspective have developed skills to intervene.
