Wisconsin Youth Futures Technical Reports

Ann Keim
Associate Professor, Family Development, UW-Extension
Volunteer Development Specialist

Keim, A. (1992). Identifying and recuiting individuals who will enhance group effectiveness. (Wisconsin Youth Futures Technical Report No. 4, 9 pages). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension.

I. Introduction

Reorganizing a community to reduce risky behaviors in adolescents is a daunting task. The two essentials needed by each Youth Futures Committee to make this change are "motivation and resources" (Burns, 1979). The strong commitment to this task by committee members provides the necessary motivation. The most important resource of a committee is utilizing power to cause lasting change in a community. This power is expressed in the collective power contributed by each individual committee member. The major task for the leadership of each committee is to make sure that the collective motivations of the group (their commitment) fits the collective resources (individual and group power). When that fit occurs, there will be enough power generated to get the job done.

We will discuss identification of power actors in communities, assess power bases of individuals and examine how changes occur in communities.

II. What is power?

Power has such a bad name that many "good" people convince themselves they want nothing to do with it. The ethical and spiritual apprehensions are understandable. But one cannot abjure power. Power in the social dimension is simply the capacity to bring about certain intended consequences in the behavior of others. Parents have power. So do teachers, police, etc.

Two misconceptions about power are that power is limited and that one person holds all the power in a community. According to Kouzes and Posner (1991), traditional management thinking promotes the idea that power is a fixed sum... if I have more, then you have less. Naturally, people who hold this view are reluctant to share power. They hold tightly onto what little power they may perceive themselves to have. But this view is archaic, and it seriously retards getting extraordinary things done. People who feel powerless, be they managers or subordinates, tend to hoard whatever shreds of power they have. The expandable power pie concept (Kouzes & Posner, 1991) leads to greater reciprocity of influence, the leader and the followers are willing to be mutually influenced by one another. When a leader strengthens others, his level of influence with them is increased. By building up credit with them, this credit may be drawn upon when extraordinary efforts are required.

A second misconception about power is that an individual can have power in all situations. Generalized power is virtually nonexistent in our pluralistic society. To say that someone has power is an incomplete description. Power to do what? Even the most powerful person in your community has power only to accomplish certain specific things. A union leader may have the power to force decisions within an industry, but not the power to prevent an increase in the property tax.

III. Understanding the arena of power

A similar decision process occurs in every community as leaders decide to get involved in Youth Futures. It is decided that the community needs to address the effects of risk behavior in adolescents and a group of citizens agrees to work together to change the environment of youth. Some of the challenges facing a Youth Futures committee includes opposition to the group's efforts, reluctance to let go of deeply entrenched attitudes and behaviors and even concerns that local businesses will suffer if these attitudes change. Youth Futures causes adults to question ways of life that seem familiar and normal. All these challenges will require a committed group that is able to access the resources they need to be successful. If you go into this project convinced that what you are doing is morally right because the Teen Assessment Project and UW-Extension is on your side -- you're in for a surprise.

Anyone who enters the arena of power armed with integrity alone discovers that he is naive. In his book, On Leadership, John W. Gardner (1990), relates this story,

"When Robert LaFollette was seeking the nomination for governor of Wisconsin in 1896, he learned the night before the balloting that the opposition was literally buying delegates away from him with substantial cash offers. He wrote in his autobiography, "Shortly after midnight Charles F. Pfister came to my headquarters, "LaFollette", he said, "we've got you skinned. We've got enough of your delegates away from you to defeat you. " I told Mr. Pfister that I was able to take care of myself...When the balloting came on the next day, I was beaten."

Eventually, LaFollette became extremely effective in combating such power plays, not by descending to the level of his opponents but by drawing on the power of his devoted constituency, the power of public opinion, and other weapons. "He learned, as so many individuals of high purpose have learned, that he had to know his opponents and their sources of power, know when to do battle and how to make the battle ground of his own choosing. And he learned to use his own power unflinchingly." Although your role may not be the same as "Fighting Bob's" much can be learned from his experiences in the arena of power.

IV. How to identify power actors in a community

Hershey and Blanchard (1982) developed four methods of identifying power actors in a community. When assembling the original committee, adding new members or developing sub-committees, any of these four methods may be useful.

1. Positional

   The oldest method of identifying community power actors. These people hold key formal authority positions in major social, economic, political, governmental, cultural and religious institutions and in related formal voluntary associations.

   Examples: ministers, school administrations, president of PTA

   Advantages: These leaders are highly visible, easy to identify, easy to assess the skills the person will bring to the group and they may be knowledgeable about other leaders in the community.

   Limitations: It may be difficult to determine which positions actually hold power and which ones do not, they may not choose to use their power in relation to the group's task, and this method does not identify the leaders who work behind the scenes and may have the real power in a community.

2. Reputational

   This procedure involves selecting knowledgeable community citizens and asking them to provide a list of power actors and then rank them according to their reputation for social power.

   Examples: other types of leaders may or may not be reputational leaders depending in how well known their work has been. Often reputational leaders are well established in the community or have been involved in an effort that is well known.

   Advantages: This method identifies a wide scope of actors, is able to ascertain those who work behind the scenes in a community and can identify those with a very specific interest in the issue at hand.

   Limitations: This method tends to identify an elitist structure of established leaders but fails to identify emerging leaders.

3. Decision making

   This method involves tracing the history of a community decision that is related to the issue at hand. Power actors are those identified as actually participating in the concrete decision and whose suggestions and demands were incorporated in the final outcome.

   Example: Community leaders organized a cooperative pre-school program may be good candidates to serve on a task force concerned with day care.

   Advantages: This method helps identify those who are interested in the task because they have experience.

   Limitations: If there have been several related projects to study involving a number of projects, this may be very time-consuming or if the issue is new, there may not be people with a track record in this issue.

4. Social participation

   This method involves listing participants in voluntary associations in the community. Power actors are those who are holding formal positions in these associations and are participating in their activities.

   Advantages: This method identifies the most active community leaders and can help include younger or emerging leaders.

   Limitations: This method may identify those who are active but result in a group that has very little power.

V. Assessing the Power Bases of Potential Task Force Members

Recruiting leaders with valuable power bases will increase the effectiveness of a Youth Futures Committee. This means also recruiting people who may be in opposition to the effort because if they are not included, they may use their power to work against the effort. If your group only includes well-meaning people who have little power, you will be waging a very difficult war. Many researchers have studied power and leadership styles. Hershey and Blanchard (1982) identified two classes of power bases with seven sub-categories. Groups utilize different types of power at different times, depending upon what is needed. By recruiting people who hold a variety of power bases, a committee will be more versatile and effective.

Formal Power

1. Coercive--based on real or imagined force. Fear of being hurt, poorly treated, or dismissed, allows power wielders to rule over the fearful.

2. Legitimate or Positional--is based on the office or title of the leader. Usually, the higher the status the more compliance one is able to get.

3. Expert--is based on the knowledge, talent and skill of the leader. This must be coupled with respect for that skill, along with the assumption that this expertise is valuable to followers.

Informal Power

4. Reward power--is based on the leader's ability to give recognition, promotions, money or goods to followers.

5. Referent power--is based on the leader's personal traits. Charm, charisma, sensitivity, creativity are all intangible but very real characteristics of most leaders. They can command awe, respect and loyalty.

6. Information power--is based on the ability of the leader to get and give the information that is necessary to the successful functioning of the organization. Channeling and/or withholding information is a very effective way to control actions.

7. Connection power--It is based on the leader's ability to build networks and coalitions that are helpful to personal goals or aims of the organization.

VI. Sources of Power for a Group

The amount of power that a group has is derived from the ability to perform important tasks and the degree of visibility associated with the job (Gardner, 1990).

After assessing the individual power bases of the committee members, you must pay attention to the power of the group. In a community context, power comes from the ability to perform certain tasks and the visibility connected with these tasks. Keeping in mind the expandable power pie concept, the power of the group is unlimited, but the group has to become aware of its resources collectively and access the individual power bases of its members. There needs to be ample opportunity to get to know each other on a variety of levels.

To enhance the group's clout,

-involve others formally and on an ad hoc basis
-really understand the issues
-identify and challenge decision makers' assumptions about problems
-understand concerns, viewpoints and priorities of your enemies and allies.
-define your ideal, your vision of a society where problems which concern you have been resolved.
-adopt the attitude that the public needs to know about you, your thinking and your positions on issues
-develop a more forceful image, a clear impression that you'll stick with it until you get what you're after
-change the name of your group, choose a tougher name to reflect a more vigorous posture
-become a household word
-choose winnable issues
-celebrate victories
-understand the form of citizen participation which your group represents
-decide whether your group would be more effective by using a different strategy, if so, figure out how to change and do so
-assume that you have the power you would like, start acting as if you have it.

VII. Role of Leaders of Group

-share information and make it possible for followers to obtain appropriate kinds of education

-share power by devolving initiative and responsibility

-build the confidence of followers so that they can achieve their own goals through their own efforts

-remove barriers to the release of individual energy and talent

-seek, find and husband the various kinds of resources that followers need

-resolve the conflicts that paralyze group action

-provide organizational arrangements appropriate to group effort

VIII. Teams shape winning organizations

We can learn from business about how to develop a winning team. Glenn M. Parker in Team Players and Teamwork, describes twelve characteristics or behaviors that distinguish effective teams from ineffective teams. They include:

1. Clear sense of purpose

   A group must know why they exist and what they will be doing. This can be expressed as a mission statement, a goal or objective.

2. Informal climate

   One signal of an effective team is that they enjoy being together. People attend and when the task is over, often continue to meet. Humor seemed to be an integral part of successful teams.

3. Participation

   Everyone needs to participate. That does not mean that everyone participates equally, but in that manner that they can. This is called weighted participation. This concept holds that it is the quality and more important, the impact of the participation that must be calculated.

4. Listening

   The single most important factor distinguishing effective from ineffective teams is the ability of team members to listen to each other. It is a skill that serves as an underpinning for all the other determinants of effectiveness.

5. Civilized disagreement

   Disagreements are to be encouraged and accepted as a natural consequence of a dynamic, active organization. Effective teams create a climate in which people feel free to express their opinions even when those opinions are at odds with those of other team members.

6. Consensus

   A centerpiece of the effective team is the use of the consensus method for making key decisions. Everyone does not agree, but everyone agrees to support the outcome.

7. Open communication

   Members must have confidence that they can reveal aspects of themselves and their work without fear of reprisals or embarrassment. The higher the level of trust, the more risks team members are willing to take.

8. Clear roles and work assignments

9. Shared leadership

   Everyone must feel and take responsibility for meeting the task and process needs of the team.

IX. Using Power to Help Communities Change Themselves

After the necessary power actors have been recruited to a Youth Futures effort and the group has formed an organization that can work together, the next task is to develop plan to cause change. Depending upon the situation, change occurs in different ways, requiring different methods of working and calling into play different types of power.

According to Rothman (1968). There appear to be at least three important orientations to deliberate or purposive community change in contemporary American communities. We will call them locality development, social planning, and social action.

Model A, locality development, presupposes that community change may be pursued optimally through broad participation of a wide spectrum of people at the local community level in goal determination and action. Its most prototypic form will be found in the literature of a segment of the field commonly termed community development. Defined by the United Nations as a process designed to create conditions of economic and social progress for the whole community with the active participation and the fullest possible reliance on the community's initiative. Strategies emphasized include: democratic procedures, voluntary cooperation, self-help, leadership development of community members and education. The power of locality development lies in the broad based grass roots involvement of participants who pool resources to achieve change.

Roles of power actors: In this method, the strength is derived from the broad base of support and the openness of the democratic process to listen to and respond. The proposed change must be one that most people will accept after becoming aware of the issue with very little controversy or perceived cost or risk. Information power, expert power, and connection power are used to cause change.

Model B, the social planning approach, emphasizes a technical process of problem-solving with regard to substantive social problems, such as delinquency, housing and mental health. Rational, deliberately planned, and controlled changes have a central place in this model. Community participation may vary from much to little, depending on how the problem presents itself and what organizational variables are present. Professionals and experts are the leaders. Group establishes what they want the results to be work accordingly. The power of social planning lies in the collective power of the individuals and the total power and authority of the group.

Roles of power actors: In this method, the strength is a combination of having access to people who are already in power and have the authority to make decisions for others, either by being able to affect them or being able to include them in the process. Coercive, legitimate, expert, reward, information and connection power are used to cause change.

Model C, the social action approach, presupposes a disadvantaged segment of the population that needs to be organized perhaps in alliance with others, in order to make adequate demands on the larger community for increased resources or treatment more in accordance with social justice or democracy. Strategies include mobilizing people to achieve changes, organizing around clear problems and concerns, often confronting established power structure and encouraging leaders who may be new to the process. The power of the social action approach lies in the mobilization of many people who believe in a cause and their ability to influence those in power.

Roles of power actors: In this method, the strength is in a group's ability to get the attention of those in power in such a manner so they will take them into account. Coercive, information, expert and connection power are used to cause change, often in a manner that is very public and attention-getting.

In summary, changing attitudes and behaviors in a community takes careful planning, hard work, patience and the ability to assess progress and develop new plans. Although highly motivated, Youth Futures committees need to assess the power they have and develop plans to increase it. As a Youth Futures group addresses different tasks, they will draw upon the power bases of its membership and choose orientations to change that best fit the situation and the resources of the group.

Reference List

Burns, James MacGregor. Leadership. New York: Harper 7 Row. 1979.

Gardner, John W. On Leadership. New York: The Free Press, 1990.

Hershey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth. Management of Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1982.

Parker, Glenn M. Team Players and Teamwork. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990.

Rothman, Jack (1979). Three Models of Community Organization Practice. In F. Cox (Ed.), Strategies of Community Organization, pp. 25-45.

Tait, J., Bokemeier, J. & Bohlen, J. Identifying the Community Power Actors: A Guide for Change Agents. Iowa State University, 1975, pp. 5-22.

Ordering Information

Copies can be ordered by writing to Karen Bogenschneider, Youth Futures, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 120 Human Ecology, 1300 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1575. Copies are $3 each with $1 postage and handling for each report. For ordering information, call (608) 262-2611. Make checks payable to University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Youth Futures.