The Professor Makes A Minus Power Move

If you think the power move has costs, consider the alternative. We are talking -- four friends -- bringing one another up to date on our personal and professional lives.

David is department chair at the university; he is depressed. "Bummed out," he says. "I find myself withdrawing, caring less and less about the department, the school."

We are stunned; just a month ago David was so enthusiastic about the possibilities he saw for creating a dynamic department. This is a man who deeply cares about relationships and family and here was his chance, as department chair, to create a caring professional community. He had just overseen a series of interviews with a promising candidate. "She is terrific, she has great energy, her research work is solid, and I think she impressed everyone she met." This was to be an important beginning, and David was charged up.

"So what happened?" we ask. "The Dean," says David with considerable disgust. "The Dean said he'd support her appointment, but not with tenure. And without tenure we weren't going to get her. Without the Dean's support it just wasn't going to happen. So we lost her."

We then drifted into a conversation about the Dean, his personal deficiencies, his weak leadership, his vision for the school (which was never anyone else's vision), and particularly about his aversion to diversity issues and women's studies, the rejected candidate's research areas. "He's a chauvinistic pig," says David, "all that feminist stuff makes him nervous." Then the conversation gets into speculation as to how much longer the dean will be around, what his employment prospects are.

And so the hope for departmental salvation appears to lie in waiting for the Dean's retirement.

At this point Max speaks up. "I can't believe this conversation. Your most powerful strategy is to sit here fantasizing about when the dean will leave. What about power? I looked at the listing of the nation's top one hundred schools, and yours was nowhere to be seen. What does that say about the Dean's leadership? And does that poor showing give you some leverage?"

Max then looks at Dan. "The same thing happened to you. What was it, ten years ago? They screwed you on tenure, and you just walked away with your tail between your legs."

Dan recalls a dream he had at the time. "I was leading a protest march; there was this army of students and faculty behind me." "Sure," says Max, "but that was your dream; in the wide-awake world you just walked away." Where is power?

Dan has a thought about that question. "You know," he says to David, "You could have resigned the chairmanship, or at least threatened to. You could have said to the Dean, "I'm department chair, and it's my judgment that this candidate with tenure is just what the department needs. If you are not going to support my judgment on this, then I'm afraid I'll just have to resign."

The conversation at this point becomess more electric. What might such a move have accomplished? Maybe nothing. "Sorry to see you go," says the Dean. But maybe it gets the Dean to think; it certainly makes clear the strength of David's commitment. And his resignation would cause some difficulties for the Dean.

David is thoughtful. Dan's notion has much appeal, and it is frightening (a combination that inevitably accompanies the emergence of a power move.) "I would have been all alone on this; there would have been no faculty support, we are just too diffuse." "Maybe," says Max, "but maybe that's just the kind of leadership move that would have mobilized the faculty." David nods in agreement.

Dan says, "And look at the costs of not making that move. You're depressed; all your enthusiasm for energizing the department is gone; the faculty remains diffused; and you lost a damn good candidate. Meanwhile the Dean comes away unscathed."

David continues to be deep in thought. "You know what strikes me," he says, "the move never entered my mind. It's not like I thought about it and rejected it; I just never saw it."

***

Limit Situations (Reference to Paolo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

I just never saw it. David's illumination gets to the heart of the limit situation. It is not some clear challenge that the actor faces and then chooses to take on or not. It is rather an option that is invisible to the actor. At the point of the limit situation, the actor sees no choice. The Dean's "No" is the end, in Vieira Pinto's words (cited by Freire), the "impassable barrier." It is "the given." It is only with a flash of insight, or a working through of one's depression, anger or anxiety, or, as in this case, through dialogue, that the invisible becomes visible, that one can "negate and overcome the given" (Freire's words), that "impassable boundaries where possibilities end" become "real boundaries where all possibilities begin."

Strangely,the clues to opportunities for power lie in those moments when we are feeling angry, hopeless, and powerless.

Barry Oshry
Chief Theoretical Officer
Power + Systems, Inc.
barry@powerandsystems.com
http://www.powerandsystems.com

---

What Every HR Manager Should Know About Hiring Productive Employees

The characteristics of job applicants have a strong influence on... Read More

Five Principles of Effective Communication

The problem with communication is the illusion that it has... Read More

Why Half of All Mergers Fail After the Honeymoon Ends

Marriages and corporate mergers in America have at least one... Read More

Dialogue: the Four Dialogic Principles For Successful Communication

"But you don't understand!" exclaimed the manager, "this new initiative... Read More

Business Innovation ? the Value of Structure

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Why Would Anyone Do That in My Meeting?

Imagine that you open a meeting by saying, "We need... Read More

A Checklist for Organized Executives

I could begin this article by providing a checklist of... Read More

Think it Over

You can't solve a problem with the... Read More

Improving Your Inter-Company Communications At No Cost

It's all very well having a flashy (and expensive) advertising... Read More

Employee Orientation: Get New Hires Off To a Great Start

The good news is that a new hire orientation program... Read More

The Fairness of Office Politics... Integrity and Political Motivation!

I hear many complaints daily about the "unfairness" of politics... Read More

Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 404: Old Dog, New Teeth

The failures we have seen in the quality and integrity... Read More

Take Your Firm to the Next Level

So you did such a good job in 2003 at... Read More

Bullying and the Not for Profit Organisation

Where there is people there is politics! Bullying is now... Read More

To Meet or Not to Meet - What are the Questions?

Meetings can be a total waste of time or a... Read More

Developing Your Mission

"The best Leader is one who knows how to pick... Read More

Quick Tip - Effective Meetings Have a Complete Agenda

Most agendas for a meeting look like this.* Budget* Payroll*... Read More

Outsourcing Problem Analysis

As an HR professional, you have responsibilities in several broad... Read More

Why Training Fails

Sometimes when I conduct my workshop on Effective Meetings, one... Read More

Teaching Large Companies To Think Like The Little Guys

Q: I am an executive at a large company and... Read More

Finding Proactive Solutions: A Key to Demonstrating Your Management Fitness

In my book Talking Points: 25 Tips for Clear, Credible... Read More

Vampire Meetings and How To Slay Them

Meetings can be like mythical vampires ? sucking the life... Read More

How to Create Trust

People buy from you, offer help, and grant rewards based... Read More

Internal Communication: 12 Essential Elements

There are 12 essential elements of a successful internal communications... Read More

Why Free Agent Thinking Is Good For Your Company

It's no secret! Day after day the news is riddled... Read More

The Top 5 Signals That Your Business Is Running You

Starting your own business is a great undertaking but running... Read More

Why All Managers Are Alike

Because, like you I suspect, they have key target audiences... Read More

Issue Management Methodology for Tracking Project Issues

1. What is an Issue?An issue is an incident, circumstance,... Read More

What Your Employees Want You to Know (But You Might Be Afraid to Ask)

This is a challenge for every company owner and manager.... Read More

Managing Change in the Workplace

Change is exhilarating. Change is terrifying. Change is badly needed... Read More

A Leadership Screw Driver: The 90 Day Improvement Plan

I was talking with first-line supervisors in a utility company... Read More

Passion for Profits

Business owners and managers are busier than ever. As their... Read More

The Seven Cs: Partnership Danger Signs - Communication Breakdown

An ongoing series of articles exploring the seven critical areas... Read More