Margaret Thatcher Paper: 1

Running head: MARGARET THATCHER PAPER: CLC TEAM RED

Margaret Thatcher Paper: CLC Team Red

Shannon Evens, Patricia Lebens, Ronald Williams

Grand Canyon University

Power, Politics, and Influence

LDR 610

Mr. Chrys Davis

April 13, 2011

 Margaret Thatcher Paper: CLC Team Red

What bases of power did Thatcher develop in her early career?

Margaret Thatcher instinctively understood the value of great preparation and knowledge

as key to acquiring expert power (Mossholder, Bennett, Kemery, & Wesolowski, 1998).

However, it was her knowledge and a tenacious desire to be affable that won her first

opportunity to serve the people of England. Thatcher’s newly won parliamentary position

provided the legitimate power she needed to affect change (Mossholder, Bennett, Kemery, &

Wesolowski, 1998). Thatcher’s well-researched and spirited delivery of her first speech set the

stage for the referent power she would enjoy in the early days of her career (Mossholder,

Bennett, Kemery, & Wesolowski, 1998).

However, Thatcher stood stoically in the midst of what soon became personal even

physical attacks upon her, gaining further notice from her colleagues, albeit, some still not so

favorable of Thatcher as a woman in Parliament (Getty, 2006). Nonetheless, it was her stalwart

approach to governing, which resulted in Thatcher rewarding her constituents (Mossholder,

Bennett, Kemery, & Wesolowski, 1998). In addition, she was a master tactician, often using

silence to coerce her colleagues toward her goals (Mossholder, Bennett, Kemery, & Wesolowski,

1998). It is interesting to note that when she spoke one could not help but note her influence

upon the discussion.

How did she exercise influence?

Early in Margaret’s life her and her father where an alliance and the more her father

pushed her the more she responded; Margaret’s temperament and ambitions coincided with her

fathers.
 Margaret could be charming and gracious one minute and then become engage in

uncompromising conflict the next gaining her influence with conservative members of

parliament. With this influence Margaret’s career took off quickly in October of 1959, she was

elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Finchley.

Over the next several years, Margaret was moved into many different position gaining

more and more knowledge and influence with each different position she took. What was taking

place was that Margaret was gaining influence with each different position she was assigned, as

she excelled in each position by working long hours and researching each positions issues with

passion and determination to correct and better each area she was asked to work in.

How did she build credibility?

“Margaret has the patience and the stamina to realize her visions and bring them down to

earth, a fine balance between hard work and realism, and a positive, hopeful spirit. Margaret

Thatcher grows through following systems and plans, and taking one-step at a time. Her patient,

well-balanced approach gives Margaret Thatcher credibility with many different types of people,

and she is apt to gain an excellent reputation for being able to do big things without overreaching

or becoming pretentious (Top Synergy in Relationships Group, 2003)”.

“Thatcher dedicates herself wholeheartedly to a cause, makes a great deal of sacrifices,

and does away with superfluous activities and interests. Others find her approach too severe and

are unwilling to go along with Margaret Thatcher under the difficult circumstances that she is

willing to tolerate. Her determination and capacity for self-denial often help Thatcher get through

the rough spots and achieve the goal she is aiming for (Top Synergy in Relationships Group,

2003)”.
 “Margaret Thatcher is apt to receive much publicity and popularity through her

professional pursuits, for she has a way of winning the hearts and trust of many people. Margaret

has an instinct for what the masses of people will respond to emotionally, and this feeling-sense

of what other people want enables her to succeed in sales, promotion, and so on. Her career

could also involve protecting and caring for people, and nurturing them in some capacity (Top

Synergy in Relationships Group, 2003)”.

What lessons can be learned from the case study?

Margaret Thatcher lived a very spirited life for a woman in those times. She eventually

became the Prime Minster of the United Kingdom of Great Brian and Northern Ireland in 1979

as a result of an early dedication to education and her father holding an elected official position,

she committed her adulthood to being a political activist. In her youth, her father invested in her

education and the potential for her future successes when she was very young. Her father

provided a “dead serious” home environment and planned very early for her climb to success.

Thatcher, regretfully, experienced the luxury or fun of bike riding or hot baths. As Thatcher

continued her educational endeavors and popular and not-so popular political career

advancements, she was later known as the “ditch the bitch” because of an unpopular decisions to

raise the prices on school meals and discontinue milk to needy children and families.

What questions are raised?

Thatcher’s personal agenda created a divided opinion regarding her initial personal

objectives to be a political setting. She studied and labor regularly, sometimes only on 4 hours of

sleep. Once she was asked to go home because she fell ill at a local library preparing for another

speech. Thatcher introduced a positive way for women to begin their mark in political history;

however, she sacrificed her personal life for professional gain. She learned that in all power there
are sacrifices and setbacks and unfortunately may not receive positive support from every

position of power where you may want to progress. Undoubtedly, Thatcher was always well

prepared for any political debate; more so, her charm with local residents and her knowledge of

previous history – made her an undeniable asset. Could the conservative party continue to allow

Thatcher to be a part of the conservative arena? To be effective, Thatcher had the style of a

determined visionary and a ruthlessness of an outsider.

What were Thatcher's strengths and weaknesses?

Thatcher’s greatest strengths emanate from her commitment to understand the issues and

defend her position on those issues, regardless of cynics. Her commitment to rigorous study,

undeterred by the traditional gender roles, often matching toe-to-toe with her male colleagues,

made her likeable (Getty, 2006). Thatcher seems a master strategist; grasping the intricacies of

shadow negotiations of other, Parliamentarians, typically bringing the argument back to the

technical matters at hand (Kolb & Williams, 2001).

To her weakness, she was a staunch proponent of her own ideals; often leaving a wake of

damaged alliances behind her as she championed her own concerns. A further weakness was her

lack of being a part of the noble coalition in a country that sees blue bloods as benefactors of the

people (Zaleznik, 1970). One could argue other weaknesses existed in her application of power,

but her strengths seem to overshadow such.

 References

Getty, K. C. (2006). Gender and Professional Experience as Predicators of Consultants'

Likelihood of Use of Social Power Bases. Ann Arbor: ProQuest Information and

Learning Company.

Kolb, D. M., & Williams, J. (2001, April). Shadow Negotiation. Executive Excellence, 9.

Mossholder, K. W., Bennett, N., Kemery, E. R., & Wesolowski, M. A. (1998). Relationships

Between Bases of Power and Work Reactions: The Mediational Role of Procedural

Justice. Journal of Management, 24(4), 533-552.

President and Fellows of Harvard College, (1998, May 13, 1998). Margaret Thatcher. (Available

from the Harvard Business School, Boston, MA)

Top Synergy in Relationships Group (2003). Margaret Thatcher drive and ambition. Retrieved

March 30, 2011, from http://famous-

relationships.topsynergy.com/Margaret_Thatcher/Drive.asp

Zaleznik, A. (1970, May-June). Power and Politics in Organizational Life. Harvard Business

Review, 47-60.