An increase in the power of the subordinates will spur them on to test out their power on one another. The superior gains a new function as a moderator in the power struggles of subordinates. He then not only finds himself confronted with differences of opinion and the sensitivities of his subordinates but also with power differentials between them, based on structure or cliques which he cannot get rid of as such and in which he is one factor among others.

XREF: Connects to management theory about delegation, distributed leadership, and how empowering teams creates new coordination burdens rather than eliminating them.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 805