Building a Strong Power Base and Using Influence Wisely
A Balanced View of Power
The effective use of power is the most critical element of management.
The most influential leaders in all walks of our society: They made others feel powerful.
LACK OF POWER
This negative view of personal power is especially common in cultures that place a high
value on ascription, rather than achievement, and on collectivism, rather than individualism
There is nothing more demoralizing than feeling you have a creative new idea or a unique
insight into a significant organizational problem However, many soon become discouraged
and embittered. They blame the old guard for protecting their turf and not being open to
new ideas
Powerful managers not only can accomplish more personally, but can also pass on more
information and make more resources available to subordinates
ABUSE OF POWER
One of the fundamental human needs, the need for power. Managers with an institutional
power orientation use their power to advance the goals of the organization, whereas those
with a personal power view of power tend to use their power for personal gain.
Both a lack of power and the abuse of power are equally debilitating and counterproductive.
In contrast, empowerment uses sufficient amounts of personal power to achieve high levels
of effectiveness.
The purpose of this chapter is to help managers stay on top of the power curve,
1. Gaining power (overcoming feelings of powerlessness);
and
2. Converting power effectively into interpersonal influence in ways that avoid the abuse of
power.
Strategies for Gaining Organizational Power
THE NECESSITY OF POWER AND EMPOWERMENT
1. Organizations are becoming less hierarchical, or flatter, as they downsize layers of
management (especially middle managers) and as they outsource work that can be done
more cheaply by someone else.
2. Information technology, such as computers, is helping to decentralize the flow of
information to lower levels of the organizational hierarchy.
3. Information technology, such as computers, is helping to decentralize the flow of
information to lower levels of the organizational hierarchy. As we see evidence of the virtual
organization composed of a network of different entities: project team
4. The percentage of the workforce working in companies with fewer than 100 employees is
increasing.
Two basic factors determine a persons power in an organization: personal attributes and
position characteristics.
It has been shown that Eastern cultures encourage contextual, or situational, logic (He was
promoted because he got to know lots of people while working in headquarters), whereas
Western cultures foster personal, or dispositional, explanations (He was promoted because
he is the smartest engineer in the company).
Human capital refers to an individuals abilities and competencies, whereas
Social capital refers to a persons social connections within and outside an organization.
Managers with high social capital (what we are calling high position power) are in a better
position to capitalize on their human capital (personal power) because their social
connections allow them to leverage their personal knowledge and abilities. Hence, it makes
sense for managers seeking to increase their influence in an organization to increase both
sources of power.
SOURCES OF PERSONAL POWER
Four personal characteristics are important sources of power.
Expertise
Expertise, or work-related knowledge, is the great organizational equalizer because it can
come
from formal education, self-directed learning, or on-thejob experience.
A staff specialist can compensate for weak position-power by developing expertise in a
particular aspect of organizational life.
Attraction
We will consider three ways in which interpersonal attraction is a source of personal power:
charisma, agreeable behavior, and physical characteristics
Effort
A high level of personal effort is one of the most highly prized characteristics of employees
because it means they are dependable, reliable human resources.
Make a distinction between extraordinary effort and extraordinary image. The former
focuses on enhanced performance, the latter on enhanced regard (without performance).
The objective of the first is enhancing the boss; the objective of the second is impressing the
boss.
Legitimacy
increases acceptance, and acceptance is a key to personal influence.
In summary, we have highlighted four sources of personal power, in the sense that they are
organizational valued assets attributed to individuals, not to the positions they occupy or the
titles they carry. These personal characteristics have one thing in commonthey are the
antecedents of trust
The relationship between trust and power is central to the overall view of power and
influence espoused in this chapter. One meaning of the term trustworthy is being above
suspicion. Hence, individuals who are deemed trustworthy by their peers are likely
candidates for positions of power and influence in organizations because organizational
authority in their hands is less threatening.
SOURCES OF POSITIONAL POWER
Four important characteristics of a position account for its power potential in an
organization: centrality, flexibility, visibility, and relevance.
Centrality
One of the most important ways of gaining power in an organization is by occupying a
position of centrality in a broad network of task and interpersonal relationships.
Those who have extensive diverse social networks in their work earn higher salaries and are
more successful than those with extensive but narrow contact with others
It is important that managers seeking to form wide-reaching social networks understand that
social relations look very different in different cultural settings.
Flexibility
A critical requirement for building a power base is flexibility, or discretionthat is, freedom
to exercise ones judgment.
Power can be lost because circumstances often change more readily than people or their
jobs can change to keep up with the new times
Visibility
One measure of visibility is the number of influential people with whom you normally
interact in your organization. This helps explain why people-oriented positions are often
more powerful than task-oriented positions.
By far, the best way to gain visibility is by means of direct contact, and face-to-face
communication is the most influential means to accomplish this.
Distinction between centrality and visibility. The purpose of becoming central in a broad
communication network is to tap into a rich flow of information so you can satisfy the
information needs of others. In contrast, from the point of view of visibility, being in a
position that allows you to interact with a large number of influential people increases your
power by making your accomplishment more evident to the people who allocate resources,
such as desirable assignments and promotions.
Relevance
which means being associated with activities that are directly related to the central
objectives and issues in an organization.
Task relevance. An individual who seeks influential positions must be sensitive to the
relevance of his or her departments activities for the company. For example, a design
engineer who works for an oil company is less likely to become influential than one who
works for an electronics firm, and operations researchers will have more influence in
companies with established product lines and an assembly-line production process
Transforming Power into Influence
We cannot talk about influence without first understanding power, because power is a
necessary precondition for influence. Influential people have power, but not all powerful
people have influence.
Influence entails actually securing the consent of others to work with you in accomplishing
an objective. Many powerful people cannot do that.
INFLUENCE STRATEGIES: THE THREE Rs
The influence strategies used by managers to obtain compliance fall into three broad
categories: retribution, reciprocity, and reason.
One approach that has received a great deal of attention is called issue selling (Dutton &
Ashford, 1993).
Effective issue selling draws attention to those issues or problems that concern you,
notwithstanding the numerous other issues that compete for your superiors time and
attention.
ACTING ASSERTIVELY: NEUTRALIZING INFLUENCE ATTEMPTS
Neutralizing Retribution Strategies Used by Others
1. Use countervailing power to shift dependence to interdependence.
2. Confront the exploiting individual directly.
3. Actively resist. As a last resort, you should consider fighting fire with fire.
Neutralizing Reciprocity Strategies by Others
1. Examine the intent of any gift or favorgiving activity.
2. Confront individuals who are using manipulative bargaining tactics.
3. Refuse to bargain with individuals who use high-pressure tactics.
Neutralizing Reason Strategies by Others
1. Explain the adverse effects of compliance on performance.
2. Defend your personal rights.
3. Firmly refuse to comply with the request.
