Power to the people

Power to the people

Part # 1 What does power mean?

Part # 2 How do people become powerful?

Part # 3 Some advantages of having power.

Part # 4 Some disadvantages of having power.

Part # 1 What does power mean?

Formal power The right that a person has – through tradition or rule of law – to decide things and make things happen.

Control of an agenda The control that a person has of an agenda and assumptions about a problem situation.

Example: Control that a religious leader has to persuade people.

Control of knowledge and information The control that a person has of who gets what information.

Control of financial capital Financial wealth that people have.

The control that a person has over financial resources of an organisation.

Control of digital capital The ability people have to control technology to their advantage. Examples: Control of media.

Human capital

Example: The ability / skills / knowledge / charisma that a person has to foresee change and make provision for that ahead of time.

Social / cultural capital Contacts / sponsors / coalitions / networks, which give individuals advance information.

Informal / invisible networks and alliances through which people trade favours now for favours in the future.

Some sources of inspiration http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/power.html http://www.scribd.com/doc/36349465/Capital http://www.scribd.com/doc/32211076/Power-Distance http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/power http://www.systems-thinking.ca/myfiles/GarethMorgan.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(social_and_political)

Part # 2 How do people become powerful?

Know who you are.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 701. http://www.scribd.com/doc/34534773/Personality http://www.scribd.com/doc/36200010/Questions-to-discover-your-values

Be in the right environment

Find an environment in which you can build a great reputation.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 2362.

Other things being equal, faster economic growth will diminish the importance of wealth in a society.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/05/economist-explains

Specialize and work Specialize Get more detailed knowledge and a denser network of contacts.

Invest time and effort Also small tasks can become important sources of power.

Source Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 754, 2897, and 1553 respectively.

Be visible

Be visible, for example by going to events and/or communicating on social media.

Source Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 459 and 1527 respectively.

On the Web, authority trickles up, not down.

Gary Hamel

http://www.managementexchange.com/blog/facebook-generation-vs-fortune-500

Ask questions, challenge assumptions

Ask why.

Source Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 827 and 2176 respectively.

Interrupt

Power is 80% taken, 20% given.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 2159 and 2061 respectively.

Help people with power

The surest way to build a power base is to help those with more power enhance their positive feelings about themselves.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 505, 1232, and 2489.

Ask for help and hire people to represent you.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 505, 1232, and 2489.

Show authority through body language       

Lean back.

Occupy maximum space.

Hold your head still.

Hold eye contact while talking.

Speak in complete sentences with a clear beginning and end.

Use great, sweeping gestures.

Slow down when you speak.

http://stanfordbusiness.tumblr.com/post/68102494797/how-nonverbal-behaviors-affect-your-status-and-power

http://youtu.be/Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Further sources of inspiration http://blogs.wsj.com/management/2011/05/11/the-purpose-of-power/ http://managementlab.org/files/site/publications/labnotes/mlab-labnotes-019.pdf Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t.

Part # 3 Some advantages of having power

Surveys show that power lead people to take a broader, more communally centered perspective.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Why-Power-Corrupts-169804606.html

Part # 4 Some disadvantages of having power

Disadvantage # 1: You will be watched all the time Examples of what will be watched when you have power:  How you perform.  How you dress.  Where you live.  How you spend your time.  Who you choose to spend time with.  What your children do.  What you drive.  How you act in completely non-related domains.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 2815 and 2884 respectively.

Disadvantage # 2: You will not get honest feedback

The higher you rise in an organization, the more people are going to tell you that you are right. This leads to an absence of critical thought and makes it difficult for senior leaders to get the truth.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 2948.

Disadvantage # 3: You will become overconfident Studies of the effects of power on the power holder consistently find that power produces overconfidence, risk taking and insensitivity to others. Over time, many powerful people come to see taking advice as a sign of weakness. They become narcissistic, consumed with own ego.

Sources Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 3057. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d995d48e-2c4e-11e3-8b20-00144feab7de.html#axzz2h7RsyfQH

Disadvantage # 4: You will easily lose your patience

It’s easier to lose your patience when you’re in power – power leads to disinhibition, to not watching what you say and do, to being more concerned about yourself than about the feelings of others.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 3173.

Disadvantage # 5

You can have power or autonomy, but not both.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t, location 2815 and 2884 respectively.

Further sources of inspiration

http://bigthink.com/ideas/24282 Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power – Why some people have it and others don’t. http://www.strategy-business.com/article/re00162?pg=all http://www.videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=5491ba95-6d3e-4d72-8320-5353c03da280