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  • October 2013
  • Article
  • Academy of Management Journal

When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance

By: Leigh Plunkett Tost, Francesca Gino and Richard P. Larrick
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Abstract

We examine the impact of subjective power on leadership behavior and demonstrate that the psychological effect of power on leaders spills over to impact team effectiveness. Specifically, drawing from the approach/inhibition theory of power, power-devaluation theory, and organizational research on the antecedents of employee voice, we argue that a leader's experience of heightened power produces verbal dominance, which reduces perceptions of leader openness and team open communication. Consequently, there is a negative effect of leader power on team performance. Three studies find consistent support for this argument. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords

Power; Leadership; Team Performance; Groups and Teams; Performance; Leadership Style; Power and Influence

Citation

Tost, Leigh Plunkett, Francesca Gino, and Richard P. Larrick. "When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance." Academy of Management Journal 56, no. 5 (October 2013): 1465–1486.
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About The Author

Francesca Gino

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • FIJI Water: Carbon Negative? (Abridged) By: Michael W. Toffel, George Serafeim, Francesca Gino, Stephanie Van Sice and Tom Quinn
  • When Alterations Are Violations: Moral Outrage and Punishment in Response to (Even Minor) Alterations to Rituals By: Daniel H. Stein, Juliana Schroeder, Nicholas M. Hobson, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton
  • Debbie Millman: Designing a Meaningful Life By: Francesca Gino, Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss
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