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The Interrelationship of
Ethics and Power in
Todays Organizations
Charles M. Kelly
.robably the best-kncwn comment about echoed the point in Power in Management
power is Lord Acton's "Power tends to corrupt (AMACOM, 1979) by warning executives, "I
and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Will have seen many extremely able people lose a
and Ariel Durant qualified this observation key promotion or lose favor with their su-
by suggesting, "Power elements even more periors, making a turning point in their
than it corrupts, lowering the guard of fore- careers, because of their unrealistic ideas
sight and raising the haste of action." about power."
Although modern behavioral scien- Such opinions are based on be-
tists also warn of the potential dangers of havioral and organizational research, as well
power, they take a more kindly view of its ac- as direct observations of the realities of hu-
quisition and use. In fact, a great deal of man institutions. Essentially, both sources
training and self-help materials now are yield the same valid conclusions: The use of
devoted to assisting the modern executive in power is necessary and inevitable; it must be
his quest for greater influence, control, and sought to be acquired; and there are predict-
prestige in the organization. ably successful ways of getting it.
Encouraging a more utilitarian view Unfortunately, ethics and values
of power, David C. Mci^lelland (writing in suffer, not because their importance is de-
the Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 24, nied, but because they are given a distinctly
No. 1, 1970) observed, "America's concern subservient role to the facts of human be-
about the possible misuse of power verges at havior. Although writers make the obligatory
times on a neurotic obses:iion." John P. Kotter references to ethical desirabilities, and even 5
to the power advantages of ethical behavior, orientations toward working relationships
their usual emphasis is on the more appealing vis-a-vis the use of power became evident.
aspects of acquiring and using power. Five personality types appeared: Leader, De-
I suggest that our recently acquired structive Achiever, Builder, Innovator, and
knowledge about power fails to add to our Mechanic.
ability to use it wisely. Moreover, it has be- For our purposes it is sufficient to
come a justification for power's more cynical define the Leader as an ethical manager with
exploitation. In fact, the increasing sophisti- charisma who effectively leads a group for
cation in the practical use of power could well the net long-term benefit of the organization.
be a major cause of the steady decline of all A Builder is an ethical and effective man-
kinds of maturing institutions corpora- ager, but without charisma. The Destructive
tions, including the family business, as well as Achiever has the charisma of a Leader but
whole societies. lacks his operational values; this achiever's
Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. net effect on the long-term welfare of the or-
Waterman Jr. cited 43 "excellent" companies in ganization is negative. The Mechanics are the
their book In Search of Excellence (Harper & people who are functionally competent in
Row, 1982). Subsequently Business Week their professions (they can be chemists, law-
reported ("Who's Excellent Now?" Nov. 5, yers, or janitors); they maintain the state of
1984) that 14 of these companies had "lost the art but don't advance it significantly. The
their luster." Peters and Waterman responded Innovator is at the cutting edge of his pro-
candidly, "If you're big, you've got the seeds fession and contributes to its creative break-
of your own destruction in there." The "excel- throughs. Of course, as with all behavioral
lent" companies just seemed to be big corpo- categories, there are no pure types; everyone
rations that were "losing less fast." incorporates some of each, albeit to varying
How can this pessimistic view be degrees.
possible when there has never before been so Since the qualities and behaviors
much knowledge about the managerial and of Leaders are well recognized, this article
behavioral sciences? It would be foolish to will focus on the Destructive Achiever (DA).
pick a single cause of the difficulties, but a He is easy to confuse with a Leader, and
candidate for first choice has to be the interac- his impact on lower-level Leaders, Builders,
tion of the organization's ethical base and the Mechanics and, especially. Innovators is
individuals it chooses to exercise power. disastrous.
Over the past 25 years I have con-
ducted well over 1,000 in-depth interviews
with the superiors, peers, and staff of "focal" THE DESTRUCTIVE ACHIEVER
managers in many different kinds of organi-
zations. Because of agreements with respon- Destructive Achievers come in a variety of
dents, I could not communicate conclusions types: Harry Levinson's "Abrasive Personal-
or assessments to anyone other than the focal ity" {Harvard Business Review, May-June
managers involved. As a result, 1 have been 1978), Michael Macoby's "Gamesman" {The
able to observe (on an unusually comprehen- Leader, Simon & Schuster, 1981), or David C.
sive basis) the working behaviors and the per- McClelland's "Personalized Power" (with
ceived values of individuals, the impact these David H. Burnham, "Power Is the Great Moti-
had on other personnel and organizational ef- vator, " Harvard Business Review, March-
fectiveness, and the resultant increase or de- April 1976), among others. They all have in
6 crease of individual power. Certain value common some combination of strengths and
The Self-Righteous DA
show up. The items that reach the newspapers Fred is well respected by all those who work with and
are the more blatant results. Far more costly for him. Superiors, especially those some distance
are the day-to-day deterioration in employee fronfi him, are not sure of his abilities. He needs lo
work to improve their confidence.
morale and the resultant loss of quality
productivity. His outspoken manner sometimes gives upper
management the wrong impression of a negative at-
titude.
The DA's Competitive Edge Good downward and lateral communications. Needs
to devote more effort to upward communication.
The major reason Leaders are so vulnerable
to this promotional bias is that they have per- These assessments identify genuine
sonal rapport with DAs; DAs seem more like individual weaknesses; in excessive numbers,
Leaders than do the Builders, Mechanics, or however, they become indictments of the
Innovators. DAs have the charisma of profes- managements that made them weaknesses.
sional image; they dress well and speak well; These managements have created a culture in
they are persuasive, knowledgeable, ener- which: (1) many solid performers cannot be
getic, and competitive; and they have a sense fully effective in their day-to-day interactions
of urgency and are willing to work long with others, especially upper management
hours. and (2) a personality profile and its accom-
DAs also exprt ss the same values as panying values continue to be underrepre-
Leaders the production of a quality prod- sented in management's decision making.
uct; good customer service; high ethical stan- Attempts to help Builders confront
dards; and the development, involvement, such an environment (one-to-one counseling,
and participation of Icwer-level personnel. training in assertiveness, effective presenta-
These leadership behaviors and expressed tion, persuasive interviewing, etc.) may actu-
values are easily observed, even in the brief ally add to the cynicism some Builders feel.
contacts that managers have with personnel Many Builders believe that the problem lies
several levels down. with higher management's values, not their
In spite of suggestions in current own skills.
training materials, it is difficult for Builders The number of employees who have
(or Mechanics and Innovators who are capa- an old-fashioned dislike and distrust of self- 9
serving power is far greater than is generally people it promotes, dismisses, or allows to
recognized. Many have literally turned them- stagnate.
selves off to organizational pressures for the
dynamic conformity. They consider it de-
meaning to have to devote time to communi- Management Bias and the Perception of
cations designed primarily for their own or Performance
their superior's personal advancement. One When Builders become successful following
respected and effective technical group leader promotion, management is usually some-
reacted to a coaching session in this way: what surprised and pleasantly relieved. Man-
I know what you're saying is good advice. But I'm just
agement cannot quite understand how such
not going to be that way. I'm respected in this plant. an unimpressive person can meet the urgen-
People know they can come to me and I won't take cies of the business, especially at the next
advantage of them or take undue credit, I'd just as higher level, whatever that level is. Consider
soon not do all that "communicating" if that's what
these superiors' reactions:
it takes to get promoted.
John's group gets results, and I find it difficult to criti-
The cumulative negative effects of cize his performance. I know this sounds crazy-and
management's promotional bias cannot be I apologize for it but if he would just look n:iore
overemphasized. Every time a DA is pro- xworr I erf when we have a crisis, I would feel a lot more
moted and the ethical difference between the comfortable. He doesn't seem to have that sense of ur-
DA and other candidates is apparent to the gency that's necessary to get things done.
staff, the organization's value base is dimin- I know Chuck is doing a fine job where he is. But he's
ished and the way is opened to even faster de- working in a confined environment. I can't see him
taking on that crowd we've got in marketing.
terioration. No action of management has
more impact on its operational ethics than the On the other hand, management is
surprised when the DA fails; he seems to have
all the trappings of a Leader. The DA looks
like a Leader even when he is accepting the
blame for failure. He does it with class and in
such a way to make it obvious that the cir-
cumstances just were not right. He knows
where he made his mistakes and now will be
an even better manager.
When the Builder fails, manage-
ment's suspicions are confirmed and the per-
son's influence in the power structure is per-
manently reduced. When the DA fails, he
frequently is transferred or promoted much
to the astonishment and dismay of his subor-
dinates and peers. Two examples: