When power makes others speechless
Subtitle: the negative impact of leader power on team performance
By: Leigh Plunkett Tost, Francesca Gino, Richard P. Larrick
Contributors: Gino, Francesca; Larrick, Ricard P.; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 11-087; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 11-087.
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2011
Place of publication: [Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 47
Description: We examine the impact of subjective power on leadership behavior and demonstrate that the psychological effect of power on leaders spills over to impact team effectiveness. Specifically, drawing from the approach/inhibition theory of power, power-devaluation theory, and organizational research on the antecedents of employee voice, we argue that a leader's experience of heightened power produces verbal dominance, which reduces perceptions of leader openness and team open communication. Consequently, there is a negative effect of leader power on team performance. Three studies find consistent support for this argument. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Notes: "February 2011"--Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references.