Organizational Power- 3 Questions a CIO Must Explore!

It may be difficult to define what organizational power is but we all intuitively understand what it is. The difficulty in defining the concept of power arises due to its subtle and multifaceted nature.  Power is one of the most important aspects of organizational existence that a CIO need to deal with. Their own success very often is a direct consequence of their relation with the organizational power. Yet, it is so often ignored and equally often not discussed so openly.

I bring the issue of power prominently in my leading change workshops designed for the CIOs. I am not very surprised to find that many of the CIO participants find this topic novel, yet very useful and relevant. 

Inspired by the discussions I had with the CIO friends during these workshops, I thought of writing this piece on power.

Power is something, which makes one do what (s)he or wants to do.  It is a much sought after thing and when one has it, it attracts more.  But power essentially emanates from possession of resources. These resources can be-

structural (authority, position),

financial (stake, funds, net worth),

social (reputation, relations, lineage, connections) and

human (knowledge, skills, education).

These resources can be used to unleash power through two mechanisms- coercion (asking others to follow) or persuasion (influencing others to follow).  

There are three questions regarding power, which every CIO must explore and answer.

#1. Who is powerful in the organizational and why?

This is an issue of power distribution and power bases. Though every individual has some power, it is clearly visible only in case of few at the top of an organization. It is pertinent to sense that who in the top has power in the organization? Though CEO is often considered as a power centre, there may also be other power centres existing. If a CIO ignores these others power centres, it may be potential source of problems.

As described earlier, power comes from possession of resources. A CIO should examine, what are the resources these power centres possess. For example one CIO shared with me that the COO was quite powerful as he has been a veteran in the organization and the CEO just cannot do without him. Similarly I noticed in another organization that one of the executive directors was powerful as he came from the same educational institute as the CEO and they knew each other for long.

The logic is applicable the other way round also; many CEOs lose their power to lead when they are unable to create a functional organization or lead in dysfunctional ways.

It is very important for a CIO to sense and assess, who all in the organization are powerful and why? Are there few power centres or are there multiple power centres in the organization?

# 2. How does power manifest itself in the organizational life?

It is one thing to assess who is powerful, and it is another thing to note how these power centres manifests themselves.  Do they manifest in terms of coercive or in terms of persuasive mechanisms and through these mechanisms do they create a dysfunctional or functional power centres working together.

Functional	1. Individual Leader’s Ability to Lead		3. Collegial, Collaborative and Collective Leadership
Power Centers Working  Together
	2. Individual Leadership Competency Issues		4. Uncontained & Uncontrolled Power Struggle
Dysfunctional
	Few	Number of Power Centers		Many

If we combine the dimension of number of power centres as identified in #1 (few versus many) and the issue of functionality (dysfunctional versus functional), we obtain a matrix as shown above. The four types of power existence and manifestation will have different impact on the CIO’s role and what that he is expected to do to become successful.

The ideal one is quadrant 1, because the CIO needs to deal with few power centres, which is relatively easy to understand and align with.

Quadrant 3 is relatively less easy than 1 as here the CIO needs to understand and align with many power centres. But is generates a conducive environment for the CIO to work.

The most difficult is quadrant 4 as here not only it is difficult for the CIO to understand and align with multiple power centres but there is also varying degree of anxiety and defensiveness amongst the actors, including the CIO. In an environment of power struggle, feeling insecure and constantly remaining on one’s toes is only natural.

Quadrant 2 will be easier than 4 but here the difficulties arise due to different reasons.  More often than not few power centres become dysfunctional due to some form of neurotic and pathological behaviour of the power centres, especially the CEO. The difficulty of relating with such individual(s) is not difficult to understand.

#3.  How does the CIO relate to power centres and why?

And finally it is important for the CIO to understand, how does (s)he relate with the power centres, does (s)he act subserviently  or plays to the gallery or takes head on and apply brute force or influence the power centres through persuasive mechanisms.

Though the functionality of power centres working together is one important contributor to the CIO’s effectiveness, the way a CIO relates and acts is equally important.

A CIO can create change only when he tries influencing the situation using the persuasive route. Without this, he becomes meek or manages somehow or fights too hard and produce sub optimal results.  

It is pertinent to ask oneself

What do you do as a CIO when it comes to assessing and relating with the power centres?

How do you feel relating with the power centres? Why do you feel this way?

Do you use persuasive mechanism adequately to lead change?

Are you caught in the prevalent power struggle in the organization and contribute to it?

In case of multiple power centres do you get identified and closely associated with some?

How do others see you in that case? How do they act and impact your ability to perform?