Many team leaders are inadvertently intimidating their team members. This is the conclusion of fascinating new research into the effects of power in teams.
The research, conducted by Tost, Gino, and Larrick, (Academy of Management Journal) shows your expressions of your own power and the reactions of your team members to your dominance can affect the performance of your team on a variety of tasks.
Macho Manager
The traditional hierarchical notion that you probably grew up with is that power is useful in driving performance. You provide clear direction because that’s how the hierarchy works. It creates clarity, alignment, and keeps things moving.
But the authors of this study argue that in our innovation economy, where tasks require creative problem solving, information sharing, and collaboration, we need to get the value of all the members of a team—not just the limited perspective of the boss.
The Findings
The research bares it out. When team members interpret the dominant contributions of their leaders to mean that they aren’t open to or interested in the ideas of team members, they shut down. And when they shut down, the quality of the teams’ solutions goes down—way down. (In one of the studies, teams with dominant leaders scored 25% versus 75% for teams where leaders didn’t dominate.)
Fortunately, you can impact this very important team dynamic. The research showed that when team leaders are reminded about the value of the contributions from the team, they were less dominant and made more room for other perspectives.
Your Opportunity
There is a growing body of research that shows that power changes people—it changes their thoughts and their behaviors. I say that not to make you cringe, but to encourage you to be aware of how your position affects your mindset and your behavior. Dominant behavior is less about being a bad or malicious person and more about a natural response to being given authority.
But now that you know that your dominance is bad for your team, you need to counteract it. Don’t take up all the oxygen in the room.
Try the following:
- Provide clear direction on what you need the team to solve for. That’s an appropriate place for you to be assertive.
- Pay attention to the percentage of time that you talk in meetings. Make sure you are not taking up too much space.
- Seek out different points of view “What if we were to look at things differently?” “How would Finance view the same situation?” “Before we come to a conclusion, what are we not taking into consideration?”
- Help amplify the voices of your team. “Ben, you have an important perspective coming from the field, what are we missing?” “Kendra, what risks aren’t we seeing?”
- When your team chimes in, reinforce it. “Thanks for adding new perspectives to that discussion—I think we came to a really good solution.” “We’re so lucky to have such a diverse and talented team.”
If your team is accountable for bringing innovative new solutions to your organization, you need make sure that everyone brings their full value into team discussions. In the moment, that might feel like you’re giving up your legitimate power, but remember, building a strong team makes you look good in the long run.
Further Reading
How to Deal with an Over-Powering Person on your Team
Managing the Aggressor on your Team