ASPECTS OF POWERI worked for a boss in a small company who was fond of these
power games. We called one of his favorite games "blotting out
the light-" He would come up to a worker's desk and just stand
there. As one young woman put it, "He blotted out the light. He
loomed over me like some enormous bird of prey, not saying
anything, just looking. If I was on the phone, no matter with
whom, I'd have to mutter 'I'll call you back,' and hang up to
give him my full attention."
He had another favorite game which Bill, one of the salesmen,
labeled "nobody's home on the telephone." As Bill explained it:
"He'd call me when he knew I was out to lunch, and he'd leave
a message with my secretary. When I tried to call him back,
he'd always be in conference.
"I'd leave word that I had called, and sure enough he'd get
back when he knew I was away from my desk. He must have
clocked every move I made. I'd return the call, and he was 'unavail-
able' just then.
"This would go on for days, it seemed, and if I met him in
the hall and tried to ask what he wanted or set up a date, he'd
hurry past in annoyance. 'Why don't you give me a call, Bill.' It
wore me down!"
Bill, however, didn't take the game playing for long. He was
a good salesman, and that gave him some power. He looked around
quietly and found a better job. "I did that while I was still working
for the old game player," he told me. "The next time I called
him back, and he was 'not available,' I told his secretary, 'Well,
he knows where to find me!' "
I laughed, envisioning the boss's face when he heard that. "What
did he do?"
Bill shrugged. "Funny thing. He must have realized I didn't
care. He did an about-face and became very respectful. I realized