Macht en leiderschap: De negatieve gevolgen van instabiele macht

Power and leadership: The negative consequences of unstable power Power in organizations is rarely permanent. Employees lower in the hierarchy may be able to climb the power ladder, whereas leaders higher in the power hierarchy can lose their powerful positions. In this article, we provide an overview of dissertation research on the corrupting consequences of unstable power. Specifically, we show that leaders who perceive that they may lose their power experience more stress, do not trust their employees, and are therefore unwilling to share power with employees by involving them in critical decisions and/or delegating important tasks. We further show that these negative consequences of power instability are particularly pronounced for leaders higher in social dominance orientation. By doing so, our investigation moves towards a more dynamic view of power by highlighting the critical role of power instability. We discuss suggestions for future research and practical implications of our findings.