Hagberg Model of Personal Power

Six stages of power and leadership. Explanation of the Model of Personal Power of Janet O. Hagberg. (1984)

What is the Hagberg Model of Personal Power? Description

Janet O. Hagberg defines Personal Power as the combination of external power (capacity to ACT) with internal power (capacity to REFLECT). Her Personal Power model distinguishes the following six stages of personal power and leadership in organizations:

	Stage	Characteristics:	Leads by:	Manages by:	Motivated by:	Needs from manager:
Externally-oriented		Power is primarily sought and obtained from outside the person, from titles, positions, or other symbols or status
	1. Powerlessness	Secure and dependent, low in self-esteem, uninformed, helpless but not hopeless	Domination, force	Muscling, force	Fear	Support, direction
	2. Power by Association	Apprentice, learning the culture, dependent on supervisor / leader, new self-awareness	Sticking to the rules	Maneuvering, catching up	Learning	Safety, freedom to explore
	3. Power by Achievement	Mature ego, realistic and competitive, expert, ambitious	Charisma, personal persuasion	Monitoring, Results	Visible signs of success	Feedback, challenge, questions
Internally- oriented		Power is primarily sought and obtained from the inner journey of the person
	4. Power by Reflection	Reflective / confused, competent in collaboration, strong, comfortable with personal style, skilled at mentoring, showing true leadership	Modeling integrity, generating trust	Mentoring, process	Inner exploration	Time, space
	The Wall	Moving beyond your intellect, letting go of control, embracing your shadow, going to your core, finding intimacy with your higher power, glimpsing wisdom
	5. Power by Purpose	Self-accepting, courageous, calm, conscience of the organization, humble, practical mystics, elusive qualities, generous in overpowering others, confident of life calling	Empowering others, service to others (Compare: Servant-Leadership)	Acting as catalyst	Living their calling	Protection
	6. Power by Wisdom	Integrating shadow, unafraid of death, powerless, quiet in service, conscience in the community / world, compassion for the world	Wisdom, a way of being	Musing	Self-sacrifice	Nothing

Origin of the Hagberg Model of Personal Power. History

The personal power model was developed originally as a culmination of coursework of Hagberg towards her PhD in adult development at the University of Minnesota, many years of business and professional experience, and personal interviews with and feedback from hundreds of people in organizations.

Usage of the Hagberg Model of Personal Power. Applications

Managers
- Managers should learn how to read employees and choose, in addition to the most comfortable managing style (for themselves), an appropriate management style for each employee. Compare: Situational Leadership, Contingency Theory.
Leaders
- Basically, leaders at each of the stages develop followers who are or want to be like them. Compare: Leadership Pipeline.
- The position or status of the person is no guarantee of true leadership. The quality of the person is what determines true leadership.
- According to Hagberg, to be a true leader requires that the person has experienced a crisis of integrity and reached Stage 4 or higher. However, such people often do not pursue positions of power for their own sake and may even shy away from them.
Self-reflection.
Coaching, Mentoring.
HRM

Limitation of the Hagberg Model of Personal Power. Disadvantage

The world surrounding Stage 4-6 people is run from much narrower Stage 1-3 visions, and can rarely appreciate or truly encourage the emergence of higher levels of leadership.

Assumptions of the Hagberg Model of Personal Power. Conditions

Hagberg mentions the following assumptions:

The stages of personal power are arranged in a developmental order.
Each stage is different from all the others.
People can be in different stages of power in different areas of their lives, at different times, and with different people. However each of us has a home stage which typically represents us.
One can move through the home stages only in the order from one to six.
Power is described and manifested differently at each stage.
Each stage has positive and negative dimensions as well as developmental struggles within it.
Women are more likely to identify with certain stages and men with other stages.
You do not necessarily proceed to new stages merely with age or experience, although both are factors.
The most externally- and organizationally-oriented power stages (1-3) show a market contrast to the internally-oriented power stages (4-6).
The development of the ego and then the release of the ego are central tasks inherent within this model. Cultural rituals are necessary in order to do that successfully.
The stages primarily describe the development of individuals who live and work in the USA in the first half of the twenty-first century. Compare: Cultural Dimensions.