A superior’s dependence on cooperation becomes exploitable leverage for subordinates

Evidence

Excessive strain on the power-holder in organizations can, in other words, always be exploited by others as their own source of power, if his position does not leave him with the pleasure of acting or not acting. One can not only withhold information from him and thus protect oneself from him, one can also count on his seeking consensus, because he relies on ‘co-operation’ and decisions about ‘free’ consensus or dissent. To the extent that this is the case in a bureaucratic context, a penultimate option, i.e. the possibility of getting one’s way through orders, makes itself available, before the final avoidance alternative of dismissal or resignation. This too contributes to power, if one keeps it in the background and uses it as little as possible. In order to avoid making explicit orders the superior then would prefer to drop relatively unimportant goals, while, on the other hand, subordinates skilfully avoid bringing him to a point where he needs to issue an order. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 798

Categorization

• XREF: The withholding of information and forced consensus-seeking directly mirrors the Giddens ‘faceless commitments’ frame: the superior cannot do facework, so subordinates extract power from that lack of direct engagement. — connects to: Treating power as relational redistributes agency toward the subordinated.