Why do some teams click while others struggle? The answer often lies in the invisible currents of power and how those subtle dynamics shape trust, collaboration, and results.

Power is one of the biggest factors shaping our conversations, decisions, and relationships. It sits like an unspoken guest in the room, quietly influencing who speaks first, who follows, whose voice is amplified, and whose goes unheard. Every micro-choice: whether we set the agenda, interrupt, stay silent, or offer a question, becomes part of a larger dance of influence. These subtle moves accumulate into the macro dynamics that define how trust, authority, and understanding are built. For teams, recognizing this ever-present web of power is essential. Each step, each word, each pause shifts the balance in the moment, whether intentionally or not. And when we acknowledge that, we begin to see power not as something abstract or distant, but as the very architecture of our relational world shaping outcomes, shaping people, shaping possibility. 

When we think of great teams, whether in sports, music, or business, we often focus on the extraordinary successes they achieved, outcomes that seem almost beyond the realm of possibility. But when we look closer at what truly made those teams successful, a deeper truth emerges: they learned how to name, harness, and work with power. Rather than avoiding the messiness that power inevitably brings, they engaged with it, finding ways to channel it into shared purpose and collective achievement. It’s this ability to navigate and leverage power that transforms a group of individuals into a team capable of achieving not only singular wins, but sustained, ongoing successes. 

The data is sobering: McKinsey research shows that nearly 75% of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional.1 Harvard Business Review points to poor communication, unclear roles, and lack of alignment as common culprits.2 But behind every one of these is a web of power: Who sets direction? Who decides? Who feels safe to dissent? Who feels silenced? 

Teams that thrive don’t ignore power, they work with it. They surface it, name it, and design ways of using it constructively. They treat power not as a problem to suppress, but as a resource to harness. 

What is Power? 

There are many definitions of power, but the one that serves us best in the context of leadership and teams is simple: power is the ability to influence, direct, or control the behavior of others. 

Psychologists have written extensively about the forms of power: legitimate, reward, expert, coercive. When PeopleDynamics Learning Group works with leaders and teams, the focus is less on labels or categories and more on essence: How does power show up here? How does it move? Who holds it, who yields it, and how is it shaping the conversation unfolding in this moment? 

Power is never one-dimensional. In a team meeting, it may show up as formal authority in a manager’s role, as expertise in a subject matter expert, as relational influence in the trusted colleague everyone turns to, and as silence in those who choose not to speak. Together, these dynamics create a constellation that defines how decisions get made. 

• Individual power – is the capacity to act with clarity and confidence, grounded in self-awareness, personal agency, and healthy boundaries. It is the ability to recognize what you need and value 

• Relational power – the dynamic interplay between people: who speaks first, who interrupts, who sets the agenda, who remains silent. These micro choices accumulate into macro dynamics. 

• Systemic power – the policies, hierarchies, and structures that shape how we live and work. Formal authority, reporting lines, policies, each can amplify or constrain voices in the room. 

• Contextual power – our histories, identities, and lived experiences. Our race, gender, age, ability, or privilege influence not only how others perceive us but how we perceive our own agency. 

From Awareness to Action 

Knowing the elements of power is only the first step. The real opportunity lies in learning how to work with them, how to align different forms of power, navigate the friction of conflict, and bring out the strengths of each person so that, together, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. For leaders, this means paying attention not just to the structures and strategies, but to the way your very presence shapes the flow of power within your team. Every choice in how you show up, whether you listen, speak, invite, or direct, shifts the dynamic, either unlocking the team’s collective potential or constraining it. 

For teams, this provides an opportunity to see not just the surface of what’s happening, but also the underlying dynamics at play. With this expanded awareness, teams gain a greater range of choices in how they leverage, manage, and move through those dynamics. This means individuals can bring their best game forward, while the team as a whole is better able to perform, adapt, and thrive. Teams that learn to see and leverage these dynamics build resilience, creativity, and trust that carry them through challenges and allow them to achieve their goals. 

What Is Your Relationship to Power? 

Pause for a moment. Think of a recent conversation with your team.  

• What was your level of power in the room?  

• Which part of the constellation was most present: your individual power, the relational power between you and others, the systemic power of roles and structures, or the contextual power shaped by culture and circumstance?  

Now flip the lens: When you’re in a room with peers or sitting across from your boss: 

• How does that power dynamic shift?  

• What do you say, or hold back?  

• How do others respond to you? 

 These reflections are not about judgment; they are about noticing. Because once you can see the constellation of power, you can begin to work with it intentionally. And when a team can name and navigate the power in the room, they can turn dysfunction into alignment, conflict into innovation, and everyday conversations into genuine collaboration.