When looking to develop your power and influence, a key factor you need to consider is that it has less to do with you than you may think.
The most profound impact (or influence) takes place in the mind of the person you are attempting to influence, because of what they think about you.
Specifically about power, they are likely to imagine what power (capacity to influence) you have, and likely exaggerate it out of all proportion.
If that exaggeration is going in a positive direction for you, it will help you at least in the short term, but may cause problems further down the line when the ultimately realise that you cannot deliver what they expected, such as putting in a good word with the CEO who they think you know well, but in reality you only nod to them in the corridor.
So, today’s post is about building greater awareness of how other people perceive you.
Here’s a suggested process:
- If you haven ‘t already done so, complete the Power Profile and learn about the seven sources of power, and the principles of power (see links below).
- Ask some colleagues, or your team members to complete a Power Profile on themselves, after explaining that this is a positive development opportunity to learn more about how people influence and how we can all become more successful (especially useful in a team context).
- Then ask them to complete the profile again, only this time, selecting all the words that come to mind when they think about what makes you powerful (there is a link to do this at the bottom of the profile report.
- Finally, ask them to show you the report, and then you can if they wish, complete on on them too. That way, you can have a great discussion exploring power and influence and help each other to develop more capability.
- Just have some fun with it!
Resources
- The Power Profile Diagnostic
- The Seven Sources of Power Explained
- The Five Principles of Power (video taken during a workshop exploring how influence works).
The Gautrey Influence Blog
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