A critical aspect of influence that you have to pay heed to is that power shapes the decisions in a given group, at a personal and group level. This means that it will shape the decisions you make and, the behaviours you choose to use.
For example, if the group you are working in responds to credibility in the form of technical know-how, a group will spend a good deal of time considering the technical aspects of any proposal before making a decision. It will want to understand the technology, processes and evidence that support the idea.
In that group, one would also expect that those with the greatest (relevant) technical capability will be the most influential (powerful) in that group. Their opinion will count, people will turn to them for guidance, and will defer to their views.
Now, if that source of power is very strong, it will have greater capacity to influence than other sources, such as networks or even status.
At an individual level, people who are ambitious in that group, will make decisions that ensure their proposals can address the technical questions and challenges. They will also likely aspire to greater personal technical capability, perhaps through experience or education.
Put another way, if you wanted to succeed in that group, a simple route to follow will be to build and demonstrate high levels of technical capability, and that is what most people will do, and be told to do in their performance reviews.
What gets really interesting, is that if people continue in that group for a while, begin to gain success, they will start to see the world that way, not just their group. This is natural. When they go for external job interviews, sit on professional committees, they will take with them their acquired preference to influence with the technical merits of their case.
Which may or may not work. It will largely depend on what the new audience/group views as powerful. If those other groups place more credibility on a demonstrable track-record, or building high-trust relationships, attempting to influence using technical rationale is going to have a limited impact.
For maximum influence, it is mission critical that you develop the ability to be able to notice how the group (or individual) you are attempting to influence views power. Then you can adapt your pitch so that it is more likely to press their buttons. If you don’t learn to do that, you are likely to face major problems moving from group to group.
Here’s a lovely example.
The Gautrey Influence Blog
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On a workshop someone quipped, “The biggest problem when ringing someone in head office is that you didn’t know what grade they are!”
This came from a store manager. In stores, hierarchical power is everything. And, rightly so. Stores are complex operations with many moving parts. Processes have to be strictly adhered. Command and control is necessary, otherwise shelves will be empty, food will perish and accidents will happen.
However, in head office, it is more about the competition of ideas. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Being able to find others who will support an idea is vital. And this is absolutely right for their work to succeed, especially when there is no single right answer.
So, what we had in this quip was an individual, very intelligent, experienced and successful, demonstrating that he needed to know the grade of the person in head office so that he could decide how to influence them or, how to be influenced by them.
From the other side, no doubt the individual he was speaking to on the phone would be more impressed by the number/quality of people this store manager had backing up his idea, than the fact he was a store manager. They certainly would not be moved if the store manager tried to tell them what to do.
If you have grown up and been successful in a store environment, or a head office environment, learning how to succeed in the other group requires that you can overcome your conditioned behaviour. You need to learn to become aware of how power is working and be able to use different power sources to succeed in different groups.
To end, a few questions:
- Think of a group in which you wish to be more influential.
- What sources of power hold the greatest potential to influence in that group?
- What sources of power do you tend to use most?
- How can you reposition your power to be more effective in this group?
Forget the notion that it matters how power should work!
The Gautrey Influence Blog
Ever felt overlooked, unheard, or stuck in office politics? You’re not alone. The Gautrey Influence Blog breaks down the real-world strategies behind leadership, influence, and power—giving you the tools to be heard, respected, and successful. Join 35,000+ professionals getting ahead the smart way—subscribe now..
💡 Benchmark your Influence: Take the Master of Influence Assessment (Free for Subscribers!)
👉 [Subscribe & Take the Assessment]