For my book, Influential Leadership, I have reflected deeply on the subject of power sources and developed a new way of thinking about power. The aim is to make power more readily understood so that it can become more useful to managers and leaders with busy lives.
Credibility: The power derived from your professional standing and expertise.
Credibility is the reliance awarded to someone based on trust and perceived expertise on the topic being considered. When making decisions, most people get input from others and they have to decide how much reliance to place on that input. Information from highly credible sources are more likely to be accepted at face value and not challenged, questioned or verified with another source. If someone doesn’t think you are credible, they probably won’t believe what you have to say.
Character: The underlying traits, values and beliefs which shape your behaviour.
It is difficult to estimate how influential strength of character is, but it is big. It compliments credibility well and if you have generous amounts of both, you’re well on your way to becoming very powerful and influential.
In effect, this is concerned with your internal world and how it manifests in observable behaviour. The old phrase character building seems to have been forgotten in leadership development, but many years ago it was top of the agenda for all those concerned with developing leaders.
Presence: The impact you create and the feelings you stimulate when people meet you.
Much is made these days of Executive Presence, and with good cause — because it is a source of considerable power and influence. It is usually described vaguely as a collection of characteristics which combine to create an aura around the executive making them immediately noticeable. When they glide into the room, everyone immediately feels and responds to their presence.
Position: The roles you play and how you manoeuvre yourself into the limelight.
To become powerful it certainly helps to get yourself into a good position. Position means much more than simply being given a particular role or title by your organisation, even though this type of position is the most understood and easy to recognise.
Beyond this, you have people who are given temporary positional power as project leaders, managers or sponsors. All of these have been given responsibilities by the organisation and the power to do certain things. Other powerful positions sit to the side of organisation control. Union conveners, spokespeople and staff representatives can all exert significant influence on organisational life.
Then there are the myriad positions within the social fabric of the organisation. Party organisers, newsletter writers and “go-to” people all have positional power. This can even go as far as the company joker — the life and soul of the Christmas party who has the position (attention) and can flatter or ridicule with equal mirth those he likes or dislikes.
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Connections: The network of relationships you have around you and your work.
Without doubt, connections can make you more powerful. By connections, I mean the network of friends, associates and contacts.
All of these provide you with the capacity to influence people to support the achievement of your goals. In turn, this enhances your credibility because of your strong track-record and results. Thus, a virtuous circle is created.
On top of this, having a strong network of connections can also help increase your influence in a number of other ways.
Skills: Those exceptional abilities you have which enable you to get things done.
People don’t get ahead and become highly influential by being the same as everyone else. In this source, it points to the particular skills which you have that really stand out. You are not just good at these; you are exceptionally good, and others know it. These skills need to be relevant to your Leadership Arena and the work you are engaged with.
Agenda: The issues and priorities you focus your leadership attention on.
What is noticeable about all powerful and influential people is that they have very clear opinions about a whole variety of things in the wider organisation. They have also chosen to focus their agenda in a particular way. Their focus may be orientated towards fixing a certain problem or issue which the business faces. Or perhaps they have decided that the wider population need to view things in a specific way. Whatever it is, they have clarity and most people know what this is.
If you found this useful, you may also enjoy: The Seven Sources of Power Explained.
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!)
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