DQ3-1 respost

Running head: POSITIONAL POWER 1

POSITIONAL POWER 2

Positional Power

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Positional Power RESPONSES

Response 1

Positional power can be seen as legitimate, reward, or coercive types used via the job title held by an individual. Public administrators to manage predetermined goals and ensure success in an organization use power. However, if it is self-serving, it will be seen that public administrators create harsh working conditions that contain little to no trust in the people, who are dictorial, uncompromising, and unpleasant, forcing everyone to yield to a certain vision. Public administrators who lead and use power in a responsible way are often collaborative and transparent, acting more like a coach than a dictator. Legitimate power can be used to create a vision and maintain organizational values. Reward power adds value through an appraisal process. Coercive power appropriately disciplines to create an ethical climate. These of course can be dangerous if used for self-serving purposes, such as forcing unethical conduct in the organization, influencing unethical conduct, or unfairly treating employees or unfairly serving the public. Leading only by using one of these sources of power can be unsuccessful for organizations as well; as one study points out, only leading by using the classic iron fist does not work and actually leads to unethical business values and lower performance, however leading by example with values and enforcing those values prove to boost team values and commitment (Nygaard, Biong, Silkoset & Kidwell, 2017). Positional power influences local, state and federal intergovernmental interactions by how to bridge the gap between political acceptability and administrative sustainability in public administration as well as how to involve citizen engagement.

Nygaard, A., Biong, H., Silkoset, R., & Kidwell, R. (2017). Leading by Example: Values-Based Strategy to Instill Ethical Conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(1), 133–139.  https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2885-9

Response 2

I interpret positional power as a power that is created by those who are placed in leadership roles. Meaning, it becomes a matter of strategy and a skill set leaders to get things accomplished. Positional power can be handled in various aspects of the concepts of power that we recently learned. It all depends on the type of leader and their style of leadership. The leader defines positional power. For example, positional power can be obtained with legitimate power, which we often see in politicians and/or lobbyist. However, it is not limited to legitimate power. Politicians and public service workers may utilize referent power, gaining the trust and respect of fellow colleagues and the public, which in turn gives them positional power to carry out their mission (Johnson, 2013). They use their positions in politics to get their agendas carried out. It can be a good thing; however, it can also be a very bad thing depending on the leader utilizing the powers. They can be for either good or evil.

As for intergovernmental interactions, I think of positional power as being a tangled web of relationships juxtapose with one another. We have state and local officials entertaining the ideas of federal officials, some working together, to carry out their focus or mission. These relationships coexist between all branches of government. Campaigns, lobbying, political ads, etc. all of which have hidden agendas and hidden pathways for positional power to transpose. Positional power then becomes a highly desired and coveted item, sought by many who gain access to power. As long as these positions of government (local, state, and federal) remain transparent and true to the citizens in which they serve, then positional power becomes obsolete. Meaning, it is not about who has the most positional power, but rather what has the most positional power. In my opinion, using the concept of referent power will give the leader the purest positional power in public administration.

References

Johnson, C. E. (2013). Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ISBN-13: 9781452259185 URL: http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/sage/2013/meeting-the-ethical-challenges-of-leadership_ebook_5e.php