A key to successfully managing your career, your business or your employees is building your personal power bank. Understanding and utilizing this sphere of influence will prove to be invaluable in solving problems, gaining needed information and in coaching your employees.
In Bases of Power, author M.F. Rogers distinguishes position power and personal power. He describes position power as the extent to which one has rewards, punishment and sanctions to bring to bear in influencing others. This type of power typically is established by one’s organization and is the scope of one’s authority. On the other hand, personal power is described as the extent to which one gains the confidence and trust of people that they are attempting to influence. This type of power is earned from others and must be exercised in order for it to sustain itself or it will deteriorate.
Five contributing factors that determine the strength of your personal power are:
1) Personal Attributes: The manner in which you present yourself, your drive and the trust and credibility that you have build with others.
2) Demonstrated Competence: Your reputation as an expert in your industry, your ‘track record’ for getting things done both technically and as a leader.
3) Working Relationships: The quality of relationships that you build, your ability to maintain open communication and understand other’s needs and requirements.
4) Group Norms and Agreements: The benchmark understanding and belief system of your group, which can be blamed in bad times and praised in good times.
5) Exchange of Favors: Your willingness to provide others with what they need with the expectation that they will return the favor.
In the Harvard Business Review article, ‘How Bell Labs Creates Star Performers’, it was uncovered that internal and interpersonal skills were the more accurate predictor of their star performers versus IQ or academic talent. Secondly, they learned that a balance of networking was crucial to those star performers individual success quotient. Once their engineers achieved expertise as a technician they were instructed to inform and make themselves available throughout their network. Their offerings then served as bargaining chips to receive and call upon their colleague’s expertise. While average performers loose valuable time waiting for inquiries back from their colleagues when stumped on a technical question, star performers expeditiously tap their constructed network.
How strong and dynamic is your own personal power bank? If you do not have your own networks established like the engineers at Bell Labs to call on when you or your business is in need; work on building your own business ‘life-lines’ today. Be sure to maintain a healthy balance between your deposits and your withdrawals!
