The declining influence of leadership positional power in a network society

The declining influence of leadership positional power in a network society: A black and white closeup photograph of the corner of a chessboard. A white King piece is on its side, in front of a black Queen.Almost all organization leaders today wield positional power: the power of a boss to make decisions that affect others. This is unlikely to change soon. However, the growth of the network era, where leaders and workers need to connect outside the workplace in order to stay up-to-date professionally and to be open to new and innovative ideas, is creating a shift away from traditional hierarchical power models.

Positional power

Harold Jarche writes frequently about positional power:

“One major change as we enter the network era is that positional power (based on institutions and hierarchies) may no longer be required to have influence in a network society.”
Harold Jarchethe new networked norm

It’s increasingly possible to have influence these days without being anyone’s boss.

Influence but no authority

As a consultant in various fields for 41 years, this is a familiar world: one where I have influence with a client but less authority than a janitor. Clients are free to ignore my advice. Sometimes they do, but clearly, I have useful influence that typically leads to significant change. (Otherwise, I wouldn’t continue to be hired and — usually 😀 — appreciated.)

Today, far more people work in the gig economy, which has grown in large part because the network era has made it much easier to find and hire specialized services on a just-in-time basis. This development has caused significant disruptions. Two examples: less long-term job security and the weakened ability for workers to advocate for their concerns en masse. However, there’s a positive side.

The network era

The network era is making possible a shift towards decentralized influence and power, and away from the dysfunctional features of hierarchical societal and organizational structures that have led to much suffering and misery throughout human history. Today there’s no reason to pick either positional or network era power. We can create systems that incorporate the best features of both.

Here’s Harold Jarche again:

“…it is up to all of us to keep working on new structures and systems. This is perhaps the only great work to be done for the next few decades. We have the science and technology to address most of the world’s problems. What we lack are structures that enable transparency and action on behalf of humankind, and not the vested interests of the rich and powerful.”
Harold Jarchechaos and order

This isn’t easy work. When consulting, one of my biggest meeting design challenges is to get the boss’s buy-in. Typically middle management is enthusiastic and onboard. But the most senior decision-maker will occasionally override everyone else in the organization. They make poor design decisions based on obsolete ideas about how people learn and a lack of understanding of how good meeting design can transform communities.

The network era is here. Its effect on power relationships isn’t going away. To improve the relevance and effectiveness of social structures, organizations, and meetings, it’s crucial for leaders to understand and accept the potential and value of decentralized influence.

Image attribution: Flickr user thomwoo

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