Power is a fascinating social process and conflict is a ubiquitous aspect of group dynamics. “Power is my mistress,” said Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, “I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.” Even today, nothing has changed. The power struggles appear unending in almost every form of organization, irrespective of the size or nature of the business. 

Well, what exactly do people perceive to receive from being powerful? According to studies by authors from the University of Cologne, the University of Groningen and Columbia University, power in people is displayed in two different ways - as a dimension of influence and as a dimension of autonomy. 

“Power as influence is expressed in having control over others, which could involve responsibility for others,” they write. “In contrast, power as autonomy is a form of power that allows one person to ignore and resist the influence of others and thus to shape one’s destiny.” 

Their question: Which of those things, influence or autonomy, would satisfy people’s desire for power?

Over the past 18 months, we have been studying and observing the behaviours of a group of centennials and a group of Gen X professionals to identify if there are any similarities in their need to be perceived as more powerful than their colleagues and team members. 

We asked them if the amplification of hygiene factors such as salary and job titles made them feel more powerful than others or if any other triggers were associated with the perception of power. While neither group undermined the importance of feeling distinct and valued when they were paid more compared to their peer groups, members of the Gen X group stated that the visibility of power and prestige could be attributed only to vertical growth in the workplace, which meant autonomy was important. 

Another interesting find was the display of horizontal power emerging from the need to be deemed as the ‘go-to’ experts in their domain of work. Instead of traditionally screaming out loud, unlike gen X members, the centennials were better at disguise. In reality, while they sought the same thing, they craved respect and power through acknowledgement for their expertise - in common parlance, power as an influence. Through subtle, passive-aggressive behaviours that would surface now and then, the centennials liked exercising the need for power through influence as they attributed it to be a positive behaviour. 

Many senior managers from the Gen X group felt they were powerful only when they had a lot of autonomy, indicating a direct correlation between significance and lowered dependence on others’ decisions, while middle managers, lower managers, and non-managers remained silent in the face of hierarchy as they believed that they would also experience such benefits of autonomy and power in their due course of time at a future date. 

Our inference through these preliminary observations is that irrespective of the generational differences while striving for power reduces people’s well-being, once they have power, they are happier because they feel more authentic - power makes people feel like the circumstances of their lives are more in line with who they feel they are inside. That may be because the power gives them the freedom to make their own decisions, and their sense of well-being grows when they do what they want without feeling obliged or dependent on more powerful groups or individuals.