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POWER DISTANCE
Do you feel more comfortable working in a strong hierarchy
or do you prefer a sense of equality with all of your colleagues?
This sensibility is called “power distance”
and it concerns the degree to which power is distributed and expected in an organization
or other culture.
How does an individual, or group
perceive inequalities amongst people?
In a “high power distance” culture
like the military or a large law firm or a country like Russia
strong vertical hierarchy is expected.
Think of the relationship of a general in the military to enlisted soldiers
or a senior law partner to a mere associate
or the Pope to a parish priest.
In a “high power distance” culture
every person has a definite place and role.
In a “low power distance” culture, say a unionized work force or a legal services organization
or a country like Norway,
there's a strong expectation of equality
in power
in decision making
job benefits and other work conditions
What about you?
Do you prefer to give orders
or do you couch them as suggestions?
Do you assume your boss
MISTER GREGORY should have a high-designed,
large, windowed office even though you have only a small
inside cubicle?
Or do you envision that you and your colleagues
are more or less equal,
with your supervisor Suzanne
being only a little bit more equal and maybe only a supervisor in name?
Your deep-seated assumptions about power distance
will
affect how you perceive and navigate
relationships at work.