Potent "Must Read" on Power

Review of Real Power: Stages of Personal Power in Organizations (3rd Edition)

Reviewed by Don Blohowiak, Lead Well Institute, http://www.LeadWell.com/

Power affects all relationships in a way that is, arguably, either underestimated or misunderstood. Or both.

So a book that takes a fresh-eyed view of personal power is a welcome addition to understanding the complexities that underlie all human relationships.

In Real Power, Janet Olson Hagberg has delivered a book of profound insights. It is one of those rare works that forever alters how you view yourself and the world around you. It is replete with wisdom you can leverage to shape your personal destiny in ways you could not before encountering its ideas.

REAL POWER IS PERSONAL POWER

Personal power, Hagberg instructs, results from combining external power -- the capacity for action -- with internal power -- the capacity for reflection.

The crux of her thesis is a simple, but richly developed, model. It describes six stages of power that individuals can experience, "which we layer one upon another as we develop."

The six stages are:

1. Powerlessness (feeling that you have little to no power)
   
   
2. Power by Association (a sense of power derived from others who have power, or from learning)
   
   
3. Power by Achievement (power that originates from having accomplished feats or acquired the culturally accepted signs of achievement; the stage within which most professionals and managers and their employing organizations function)
   
   
4. Power by Reflection (the power of thoughtful competence and integrity, marked by a search for and transition to deeper meaning)
   
   
5. Power by Purpose (the power that transcends ego, intellect, and will -- difficult hurdles that Hagberg collectively labels "The Wall" -- to serve a larger cause by empowering others)
   
   
6. Power by Wisdom (the power that flows to one who is exceptionally capable and mature and, paradoxically, neither seeks nor desires power)

According to Hagberg, individuals operating mainly in the first three stages perceive that their power comes from outside themselves, while those in Stages 4 thru 6 view their power as emanating from within themselves.

THE REAL FOCUS OF REAL POWER

While the subtitle of the book suggests that it emphasizes the role of "power in organizations," it quickly becomes obvious that organizational dynamics is not the main focus of the book. Real Power (fortunately for its readers) really unveils the potent role that power plays in fueling everyone's actions and shaping everyone's relationships. On the job, at home, in houses of worship, everywhere.

In fact, Hagberg routinely includes comments aimed at helping women, minorities, and the economically or politically disadvantaged to see (and re-think) their limiting views of power. (Throughout the book and in a special chapter, Hagberg even gives attention to how traditional roles and power expectations for men can limit or trap them as well.) Moreover, she includes thoughts about how each stage of power relates to one's spirituality (a theme she has more fully developed in a separate book devoted to her view of spiritual development).

POWER AT WORK

Since most of us work in organizations to pay the bills, Real Power is useful in decoding the sometimes cryptic forces that drive organizational dynamics. And the book does specifically and thoroughly address how personal power issues affect organizational leadership (with helpful chapters devoted to the topic).

So the book certainly is useful for understanding how power issues shape organizational behavior. But to cast Real Power only onto the burgeoning mountain of business tomes purporting to explain organizational life is to do this book (and thereby alienated potential readers) a great disservice.

Real Power deftly blends personal psychology and organizational sociology. It renders a great service to anyone fortunate enough to learn the Hagberg model and heed her actionable advice for consciously moving through the personal power stages.

THE SPIRIT OF THE AUTHOR

Hagberg, an organizational consultant and activist, writes with refreshing humility and candor. And unvarnished self-disclosure.

"The seduction of success and recognition are almost irresistible for me.... I have a hard time knowing when to draw the line, when I've had enough."

And (surprisingly):

"I have also experienced two divorces, both after many years of marriage.... It astounds me to realize how far we grew apart over the years, despite our best efforts to work at the spiritual and psychological aspects of our marriage. It is a mystery to me..."

In an extraordinarily generous gesture of service, Hagberg gives blanket permission to others to produce seminars on her work and even to reproduce her graphics. All she asks in return is a donation to an organization, with which she is involved, dedicated to eradicating domestic violence. (The Silent Witness National Initiative.)

THIRD SWING

This is the third, and quite expanded, edition of "Real Power." And while it bursts with provocative thinking, the book quietly moans for an editor who'd inject more organizational discipline into its many insightful pages. (Notably to maintain a consistent voice and to segregate asides and supporting examples into approachable sidebars.)

Perhaps that will be the case with a fourth edition of this profound work that richly deserves both A) a bit of re-working to be most useful to readers fortunate enough to learn from Hagberg's illuminating model, and B) blockbuster best-seller status.

But don't wait for the perfect iteration. No matter your station in life, get and read a copy of "Real Power" just as fast as you can. All hyperbole aside, you'll forever see yourself and the world with greater clarity. And you'll possess far more power to choose and shape the kind of life you are capable of living -- especially if that doesn't seem to be in your power right now.

Order Real Power here.

Lead Well® helps organizations to improve measurable results by developing their current and future leaders. For more information, please contact us. By phone, toll-free in the USA: 1-888-LeadWell (532-3935), or 1-609-716-9490. By email, Info@LeadWell.com.

REPUBLICATION: Permission is granted for publishing this article in periodicals provided that you:

1) Notify us (Info@LeadWell.com) and

2) Include the following attribution statement:

Don Blohowiak, a management consultant and popular conference speaker, is the author of several business books. The executive director of the Lead Well® Institute in Princeton, NJ, he may be reached at http://www.LeadWell.com/.

SELLING this material requires our written permission.

TRADEMARKS: "Lead Well" and "Natural Selection" are registered trademarks, and "Lead by Design" is a trademark, owned by Don Blohowiak, Lead Well Institute.

Copyright © 2005, Don Blohowiak, Lead Well Institute

~ All Rights Reserved ~