Chapter 5: Gaining Power and Influence

Chapter 5: Gaining Power and Influence

Learning Objectives

• To enhance personal and positional power
• To use influence appropriately to accomplish exceptional work
• To neutralize inappropriate influence attempts

What is Power?

• Power is the capacity to influence behavior
• Use of power and politics creates a critical skill for managers
• Power comes from assisting others in completing tasks
• Political clout is required

Odes to Power

• Lord Acton stated that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
• Benjamin Disraeli shared that "Power has only one duty-to secure the social welfare of the People"
• Mao Tse-Tung stated that ”Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"
• Thomas Jefferson shared, "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be"
• Harold MacMillan indicated that "Power? It's like a Dead Sea fruit. When you achieve it, there is nothing there"
• Fyodor Dostoyevsky believed that, "Power is given only to those who dare to lower themselves and pick it up."
• Henry Kissinger considers that, "Power is the great aphrodisiac"
• J.W. Gardner stated "Power has such a bad name that many good people persuade themselves they want nothing to do with it...To say a leader is preoccupied with power is like saying that a tennis player is preoccupied with making shots her opponent cannot return."

A Positive View of Power

• Power leads to progress
• Power is how managers complete work
• Lack of power causes unhappiness

Abuse of Power

• Characteristics that derail managers' careers include insensitivity to others, arrogant, untrustworthiness, overly ambitious, unable to delegate, and overly dependent on others

Manager's Upward and Outward Power

• Powerful managers intercede favorably on behalf of someone in trouble
• Powerful managers secure desirable placements for talented subordinates
• Powerful managers get expenditures approved beyond the budget
• Powerful managers affect policy meeting agendas
• Powerful managers maintain fast access and contact with top decision makers
• Powerful managers acquire information early on decisions and policy shifts

Personal Power: Stepping Stone or Stumbling Block

• An effective amount of power resides with optimal personal power
• Having inadequate amount of personal power results is lacking effectiveness
• Abusing of power occurs with self-interested personal power

Sources of Personal Power

• Expertise
• Personal attraction
• Effort
• Legitimacy

Expertise in Personal Power

• Work-related knowledge is derived from directed learning, education, and experience
• Expertise allows those with positional power to gain influence
• Staff can increase their positional power by developing expertise
• Expertise requires consistent effort, time and with organizations evolving swiftly

Personal Attraction

• Personal attraction is based on behavior, charisma and physical characteristics
• Leaders who express inspiring vision are considered charismatic
• Charismatic leaders incur personal sacrifice and risk to achieve their vision
• Charismatic leaders have acute timing and uncannily understand possibilities
• Charismatic leaders recommend atypical approaches for shared goals
• Charismatic leaders demonstrate member sensitivity to needs and concerns
• People believe they will have an open, loyal and honest relationship with likeable people
• Likeable people foster intimacy by being emotionally available
• Likeable people provide positive regard and acceptance
• Likeable people make sacrifices when the relationship demands it
• Likeable people provide reinforcement in the form of sympathy or empathy
• Likeable people engage in social exchanges that are needed to sustain a relationship

Effort in Personal Power

• Effort makes a desirable employee
• Effort is linked to expertise
• Effort signifies commitment and dedication

Legitimacy in Personal Power

• Legitimacy is consistent with the value system with focus on following ethical ways of businesses
• Actions align with organizations' value systems
• Organizational leaders defend core values vigilantly
• Organizational values are important historically and strategically
• Conforming to organizational cultures may not always be ethical.

Sources of Position Power

• Centrality and Brokerage
• Flexibility
• Visibility
• Relevance

Centrality and Brokerage

• Social capital is conceptualized as accessible resources embedded in social networks mobilized for productivity and power
• An important way of gaining power is occupying a central position in a network as opposed to a "lone wolf" approach
• Access to information helps with communication
• Optimal networks have structural holes, where connections do not exist between the network's people
• Linking role are called Brokerage

Flexibility in Position Power

• Exercising judgement is a freedom and determined by rewards, position and proactive personality
• It is a tendency to effect change in one’s environment
• Flexibility relates to a position's life cycle
• Proactive personality has been defined as a tendency to effect change by forming networks and getting promoted earlier

Visibility in Position Power

• Interaction with influential people in the organization who are senior officials, informal leaders, and decision makers
• Examples of visibility include volunteering for presentations, social media engagement and problem-solving task forces

Relevance

• Working to meet the objectives and issues in an organization
• Relevance is determined by what employee does and which department they’re in
• Being affiliated with activities that are core to an organization's mission

Transforming Power into Influence

• Power is required for influence
• It is possible for people to possess power and lack influence

The Three Rs Model of Power

• Retribution forces adherence through coercion and intimidation
• Reciprocity helps others want to do as asked through ingratiation and bargaining
• Reason shows others that it makes sense to act through values and facts

Retribution Techniques

• General form: "If you don't do X, you will regret it."
• Threat: "If you do not comply, I will punish you."
• Social pressure: "Others in your group have agreed; what's your decision?"
• Enough nagging?: "I will stop nagging you if you comply."
• Perceived scarcity and time pressure: "If you don't act now, you'll lose this opportunity/cause problems for others.”
• Avoid causing pain to others: "If you don't agree, others will be hurt/disadvantaged."

When to Use Retribution

• There is unequal power that favors the influencer
• Commitment and quality are irrelevant
• Restrictions exist on the time
• Violations are serious
• Requests are unambiguous and specific
• Resistance is likely

Reciprocity Techniques

• General form: "If you do X, you'll receive Y.”
• Promise: "If you comply, I will reward you."
• Esteem: "People you value will think better of you if you comply/worse of you if you do not comply."
• Pregiving: "I will do something you like for you; then will you do this for me?" Obligation: "You owe me compliance because of past favors."
• Reciprocal compromise: "I have lowered my initial offer/price, and now I expect you to reciprocate."
• Escalation of commitment: "I'm only interested in a small commitment."

When to Use Reciprocity

• There's mutual dependence between parties
• Valued resources exist for each party
• Adequate time for negotiation exists
• Exchange norms exist that are established
• Commitment is not critical to goals
• Needs exist that are short-term and specific

Reason Techniques

• General form: "I want you to do X, because it's consistent with/good for/necessary to . . .”
• Evidence: "These facts/experts' opinions demonstrate the merits of my position/request."
• Need: "This is what I need; will you help me out?”
• Goal attainment: "Compliance will enable you to reach a personally important objective."
• Value congruence: "This action is consistent with your commitment to X."
• Ability: “This endeavor would be enhanced if we could count on your ability/experience."
• Loyalty: "Because we are friends/minorities, will you do this?"
• Altruism: "The group needs your support, so do it for the good of us all."

When to Use Reason

• Discussion can be extensive because there is enough time
• Common goals exist
• Parties share mutual respect
• Parties share ongoing relationship

Exercising Upward Influence or Managing the "Boss"

• Issue Selling occurs by convincing the superior that their attention is needed on a serious issue
• Selling upward involves congruence, credibility, communication, compatibility, solvability, payoff, expertise, responsibility, and presentation
• Speaking to lead up is important
• Before leading up, team up
• Lead up, do not argue up
• Avoid trying to accommodate everyone

Neutralizing Retribution Strategies

• Countervailing power serves to shift dependence to interdependence
• Exploiting individuals should be confronted head-on
• Avoid attempts to influence that are unwanted

Neutralizing Reciprocity Strategies

• Review intent with giving favors or gifts
• Confront manipulative bargaining tactics
• Refuse bargaining using high-pressure

Neutralizing Reason Strategies

• Describe effects on adverse compliance based on performance
• Defend rights that are personal
• Refuse requests

Sexual Harassment

Model of Influence and Power

• Sources of Personal Power: expertise, personal attraction, effort, and legitimacy
• Sources of Position Power: centrality, flexibility, visibility, and relevance
• Power of an Individual: selection of proper strategy to influence others, increasing authority via upward influence
• Influencing others with assertive responses to inappropriate influence attempts by others

A. Bartlett Giamatti

• “Far better to conceive of power as consisting in part of the knowledge of when not to use all the power you have … Whoever knows how to restrain and effectively release power finds … that power flows back to him.”

Behavioral Guidelines

• Increase personal power through expertise enhancement, legitimacy and personal attraction
• Increase position power through visibility, relevance, centrality, and flexibility
• Know how to neutralize retribution and use reciprocity and reason appropriately.
• Be able to tell your superiors the concerns.

Key Examination Points

• A Midterm Review will include 70 marks.
• 10 True/False questions worth 10 marks
• 40 multiple choice questions worth 40 marks
• 4 short answer (out of 7 possible) worth 20 marks
• Short answer questions will be about big ideas from chapter

Explore power dynamics and influence in Chapter 5. Learn to enhance personal and positional power. Discover appropriate influence tactics for achieving exceptional work and strategies to neutralize inappropriate influence attempts in management.