Power & Influence

1. Power & Influence

2. Overview • Power • Definition • Types & Sources • Transforming Power into Influence • Power vs. Influence • Influence Strategies: The Three Rs

3. Power • Definition • Capacity to produce effects on others • Potential to influence behavior • Types and Sources • Personal: expertise, attraction, effort, legitimacy • Positional: centrality, flexibility, visibility, relevance

4. Sources of Personal Power • Expertise • Attraction • Effort • Legitimacy

5. Personal Power: Expertise • Power of knowledge, capability, experience • Followers can have more expert power than leaders in certain situations

6. Personal Power: Attraction • Appeal one has due to charisma, agreeable behavior, and physical characteristics • Includes admiration and respect

7. Personal Power: Effort • Potential to influence others due to one’s commitment and motivation • Built through reliable performance and willingness to assume greater responsibilities

8. Personal Power: Legitimacy • Credibility due to one’s actions mirroring a group’s values • Others are willing to be influenced by those deemed “legitimate” • Proper adherence to customs and courtesies helps to build this power base

9. Sources of Positional Power • Centrality • Flexibility • Visibility • Relevance

10. Positional Power: Centrality • Based how central your position is within a unit • The more central your position is to the flow of information throughout an organization, and the more critical an assignment is to others in an organization, the more power you have • Horizontal networks – link people at similar levels • Example: knowing a fellow officer in another section allows you to informally discuss work issues with him/her without formal procedure • Vertical networks – link people with different levels of authority

11. Positional Power: Flexibility • Amount of discretion vested in a position • Involves freedom to exercise judgment • Enables leaders to make decisions without specific approval

12. Positional Power: Visibility • Degree to which task performance is seen by influential people in the organization • Be visible to leadership, get out from behind your desk, get involved with subordinates and peers

13. Positional Power: Relevance • Direct result of how important your job is to the group’s central objectives • The power of a position is relative to how critical to an organization’s mission it is perceived to be

14. RECAP: Sources of Power Personal Positional Centrality Flexibility Visibility Relevance • Expertise • Attraction • Effort • Legitimacy

15. Transforming Power into Influence • Power vs. Influence • Strategies for Transforming Power into Influence: The Three Rs • Retribution • Reciprocity • Reason

16. Power vs. Influence Power Influence The change in attitudes, values, beliefs, or behavior as a result of power Securing the consent of others to work with you in accomplishing an objective • The capacity to produce effects on others, known as influence • Based on personal and/or positional characteristics as sources of power

17. Influence Strategies • Retribution • Reciprocity • Reason

18. Influence Strategy: Retribution • Force others to do what you say to do • Direct approach – coercion (threaten) • Indirect approach – intimidation (implied threat) • Pros • Produces immediate results • Tasks accomplished according to manager’s specifications • Cons • Stifles initiative & innovation • Insecurity of boss engenders resentment & alienation • Must increase seriousness of threats to maintain pressure

19. Influence Strategy: Reciprocity • Help others want to do what you say to do • Direct approach – bargaining (exchange) • Indirect approach – ingratiation (obligate) • Pros • Both parties benefit • Justification for request not required (implicit in bargaining) • Cons • Requires trust • Engenders instrumental view of work (expectation of specific rewards for specific actions) • Undercuts group commitment

20. Influence Strategy: Reason • Show others that it makes sense to do what you say to do • Direct approach – present facts (or needs) • Indirect approach – appeal to personal values (or goals) • Pros • Higher compliance and job satisfaction • Commitment to group principles • Low levels of stress • Cons • Takes time to build trust • Manipulation disguised as persuasion

21. Influencing Strategy: Reason • Use for upward and outward influence • Sell important issues appropriately • Shield subordinates from unnecessary pressures from above and outside the organization • Team up – gather allies for credibility • Lead up – display open-mindedness, support, & trust • Be straightforward – gain superior’s attention by being trustworthy

22. Keys to Transforming Power into Influence • Establish power through both personal & positional characteristics • Transform power into influence using three Rs • Influence (up or down the chain) should be for good of group, not personal ambition • Use retribution in crisis; emphasize reciprocity & reason

23. Summary • Power • Definition • Sources • Transforming Power into Influence • Power vs. Influence • Influence Strategies: The Three Rs

24. Whoever knows how to restrain and effectively release power finds . . . that power flows back to him. A. Bartlett Giamatti A Good Thought

25. Leaders who share their power and their time can accomplish extraordinary things. The best leaders understand that leadership is the liberation of talent; hence they gain power not only by constantly giving it away, but also by not grabbing it back. MG Perry Smith, “Learning to Lead” Marine Corps Gazette, Jan 1997 A Better Thought