Podcast: The effect of power and status at work and in Black Lives Matter

Power and status are integral to business and society, but not always obvious, causing major misunderstandings, says Associate Professor Jennifer Overbeck.

"Power is your ability to get somebody else to do something that you want them to do, whether they want to or not," Professor Overbeck says.

"That's typically through your control of resources that they want, rewards that you can administer to them, or punishments and threats and their fear of what you might be able to do on the negative side.

"Status is the ability to influence people but it relies on their voluntary cooperation. You might have status because you're wealthy and attractive. You might have status because you're an expert in something and people really want to listen to what you say."

Professor Overbeck was speaking on the latest episode of the Melbourne Business School Podcast, joining host Yasmin Rupesinghe to discuss the effect power and status have on people at work, Australia's response to COVID-19 and social movements such as Black Lives Matter.

Listen to the full episode above, or visit our podcasts page for more.

Professor Overbeck teaches Organisational Change, Negotiation and Managing People on our MBA programs. Visit her faculty profile for more information.

Yasmin is a Program Manager on our Executive MBA and Senior Executive MBA programs, and a radio presenter for PBS FM.

To find out more about studying at Melbourne Business School, visit our Degree Programs and Short Courses pages, or learn about how we design Custom Solutions with organisations.