Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career

Understand the New Rules about Status

It used to be that with status came power and influence. Under the old style of organization everyone knew that the boss had the status, and from that status flowed power and influence. It was simple and predictable, and mostly, it worked. What the boss wanted, the boss got. In the modern organization however, the rules about status and power have changed, and if you want to avoid the status trap, part of the solution is to understand the new rules more clearly.

 

The New Rules for Status

• Status is not the same as power or influence.

• Empowerment demands that status is to be used less explicitly.

• The more you rely on status the less powerful you can appear.

• Be selective, use status for the vital decisions you need.

• Be clear with people when you are deciding for them and when you are facilitating and involving them.

• The organization is no longer a simple chain of command, so status is no longer as clear as it once was.

• Status belongs first to the job and second to the jobholder.

 

The dramatic changes in organizational design have resulted in improved effectiveness but have also increased complexity. Matrix line reporting, cross-functional work, and special project teams are now more commonplace. Now that there are multiple bosses and stakeholders to report to along with an empowered workforce and an increasingly competitive environment, then power, status, and influence have evolved.

There used to be more ...