Failure at the top: How power undermines collaborative performance.

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Organizational Behavior
• Group Dynamics

Background:

• Groups of leaders frequently fail to achieve collective goals, impacting policy and organizational outcomes.
• Existing research suggests power dynamics may influence group performance, but empirical evidence is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if leaders' accustomed power influences their group performance.
• To identify the mechanisms through which power affects group collaboration and outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Multiple studies were conducted involving leaders with varying power levels.
• Tasks included creativity assessments, negotiation simulations, and performance on coordinated vs. uncoordinated activities.
• Mediation analyses examined status struggles, task focus, and information sharing.

Main Results:

• High-power individuals in groups performed worse on tasks requiring coordination, showing reduced creativity and agreement.
• Groups of high-power individuals engaged in more status-seeking behavior and less effective information sharing.
• Conversely, high-power individuals outperformed others on tasks with low coordination demands.

Conclusions:

• Accustomed power negatively impacts group performance primarily through detrimental group processes like status conflict.
• Interventions focusing on improving group dynamics and coordination are crucial for high-power groups.
• Understanding power's role is key to enhancing leadership effectiveness in collaborative settings.