Coercive Power
The Basic Idea
What does it mean to be successful? Some people equate success with power, but what does being powerful mean? A dictionary would say ‘powerful’ is the ability to control people or things.1 However, does it matter how you exert your control?
Researchers that distinguish between different types of power say yes, it does matter how you exert your power. If you’ve ever worked under a supervisor who frightened and threatened you into being on your best behavior, you’ve experienced coercive power.2 Coercive power comes with the ability to surveille and punish subordinates for their noncompliance.
Coercive power is the curse of the universe, coactive power, the enrichment and advancement of every human soul.
– Mary Parker Follett, American social worker and organizational theory pioneer
About the Authors
Dan Pilat
Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
