bureaucracies. The new power stems from two sources: first, from the access to
resources, information and support; and secondly, from the ability to find and
mobilize staff and allies. This power requires emotional intelligence and the ability
to manage relationships (see Kanter 1998, p. 146).
Today’s leadership is no longer about obedience and command, control and
punishment, but about the power of relationships. This form of power is obtained by
others committing to be led by you, by having a reputation as an expert, or by
making others identify themselves with your own goals and values (for a good
leader, these are always the goals and values of the company). Another way to gain
the power of relationships (that I do not recommend, as it is counter-productive and
in my understanding the opposite of good leadership) is to make the employee
aware of his or her dependency. The same applies to the method of demonstrating
and expanding your own power over individuals or groups by constantly enforcing
changes in their immediate surroundings (see Kotter 1999b, p. 94 ff.).
3.2.9.2 The Balance of Power
At this point I do not see any need to go into more detail about power always being a
double-edged sword that can also be destructive. There has already been enough
written on the subject, and everyone knows negative examples that illustrate how
leadership can devolve to arbitrariness, or how corporate objectives and responsi-
bility can transform into megalomania. J€urgen Schrempp, the now retired ex-CEO
of Daimler-Chrysler AG, was once a charismatic, visionary leader with an assertive
personality. What is left of that image now?
In every organization there are Machiavellians who masterfully play power
games for their own advantage. They put their personal goals above those of the
organization, they use the performance of their employees to put themselves in the
spotlight and use intrigue with cold calculation. They betray others at the drop of
a hat if it benefits them, they push their mistakes off on others and poison the
corporate climate by sowing fear and distrust. This is how Manfred Kets de Vries
characterizes this type of leaders.
His description makes it clear: power always needs a counterweight that ensures
the balance. Managers must also be monitored, and in any organization there should
be an institutionalized oversight body that the executives have to face regularly.
Especially leaders need feedback, because it is lonely up at the executive levels,
where they have to decide on the company’s future isolated from everything. Even
on the 30th floor, executives must work to stay grounded. Power corrupts very
quickly, and people can easily lose themselves in reciprocal loops if they get no
input from the outside.
A position of power should not lead the person who holds it to burn all the
bridges behind them so that no one can follow and perhaps dispute their position – if
not today, maybe tomorrow. In the interest of the company there has to be a living
development of executives. The old and the young should communicate more and
show their mutual appreciation for what the other generation contributes in
3.2 Leading with Your Head and Heart 177