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
