Status and Power Dynamics Workshop

This module explores status and power dynamics as tools of communication and leadership, drawing on video examples (including clips from The Office, The Simpsons, and 30 Rock) and live improv-style exercises to identify and practice status behaviors. Participants analyze status moves in film and TV clips, then practice raising, lowering, and transferring status through voice, tone, physical presence, expression, words, and knowledge in paired and group exercises. The module also includes a home exercise on eye contact and a discussion on applying status tools intentionally in meetings, performance reviews, 1:1s, and decision-making.

This opening module introduces the concept of "status" as a behavioral dynamic in the workplace and previews how the workshop will explore power and leadership. Participants examine how status shows up in everyday workplace and leadership behaviors, look at different sources of power available to them as individuals and leaders, and begin discussing how to use status and power deliberately to lead and manage people in their organization.

This module teaches how status and power dynamics play out in everyday interactions, distinguishing status (perceived relative power, shown through behavior and presence) from power (actual authority or resources). Participants learn Keith Johnstone's framing that "status is not something we ARE, it's something we DO," explore six status transactions (raise yours, lower yours, raise other, lower other, match, change the physical space), and map which sources of status are static (job title, wealth, age, network) versus flexible and within their control (posture, voice, calmness, use of questions, listening). Practice includes observing contrasting high- and low-status entrances, a poll ranking sources of status in participants' own organization, and the "Status Cards" exercise, where partners wear a playing card on their forehead and must speak and respond according to a status level they can't see, then discuss how the tools apply to real situations like meetings, performance reviews, and 1:1s.

This module distinguishes power (actual authority or influence) from status (how others perceive your importance), and maps four types of workplace power: positional, relational, expert, and informal. Participants build a concentric-circle influence map of their own power sources???direct control, influence, and visibility-only areas???then discuss in small groups which type of power they rely on most and how a direct report might map their own power differently.

This closing module consolidates the workshop's core distinction between status (how people behave and are perceived in the moment) and power (what they can actually do or decide). Participants review key leadership takeaways on adjusting status behaviors without giving up real power, recognizing how entering a room sets the tone for who speaks and who stays quiet, and treating each meeting they lead as a chance to redistribute power.