Power: Why Some People Have it and Others Don't

by Jeffrey Pfeffer

Ironically, therefore, those who admit ignorance are more likely to improve—in all domains, including understanding power dynamics inside companies—than those who either don’t know their deficiencies or are afraid to admit them to others.

two fundamental dimensions that distinguish people who rise to great heights and accomplish amazing things are will, the drive to take on big challenges, and skill,

three personal qualities embodied in will are ambition, energy, and focus.

four skills useful in acquiring power are self-knowledge and a reflective mind-set, confidence and the ability to project self-assurance, the ability to read others and empathize with their...

Ambition

not get hung up with the imperfect in the moment.

Energy

I know of almost no powerful people who do not have boundless energy.

First, energy, like many emotional states such as anger or happiness, is contagious.14

Second, energy and the long hours it permits provide an advantage in getting things accomplished. Research on genius or talent—exceptional

having the energy that permits you to put in long hours of hard work helps you to master subject matter more quickly.

Third, people often promote those with energy because of the importance of being able to work hard and also because expending great energy signals a high degree of organizational commitment and, presumably, loyalty.

Focus

Put the dried grass under a magnifying glass and the grass catches on fire. The sun’s rays, focused, are much more powerful than they are without focus. The same is true for people seeking power.

my corollary is tge spit shjne exsmple...if you want your shoes to shine all over pick your spot first

third aspect to focus is to concentrate on those activities within your particular job or position that are the most critical—that have the most impact on getting work done and on others’ perceptions of you and your effectiveness.

Particularly talented people often have many interests and many opportunities and can’t choose among them. Moreover, they often feel that diversification in their work roles provides some protection against making the wrong choice.

evidence suggests that you are more likely to acquire power by narrowing your focus and applying your energies, like the sun’s rays, to a limited range of activities in a small number of domains.

Self-Kno...

read at least one nonfiction book a week—and to his practice of structured self-reflection.

After every significant meeting or interaction, he would make notes in a small notebook. He would write down what had gone well and what hadn’t, what people had said and done, and the outcome of the meeting.

Dr. Modesto “Mitch” Maidique,

making notes about decisions, meetings, and other interactions and reflecting on what he had done well or poorly so that he could improve his skills.

Structured reflection takes time. It also requires the discipline to concentrate, make notes, and think about what you are doing.

Confidence

With her trainees, Dr. Conley exhibited uncertainty about what to do and asked for their thoughts. But when she walked into the patient’s room, she became a different person. Without denying the seriousness of the situation or glossing over the prognosis, Dr. Conley spoke confidently about what she recommended as a course of treatment.

replied that there is some placebo effect as well as an effect of attitude and spirit on the course of disease; therefore, she did not want the patient to give up or become depressed. Had she expressed self-doubt, the patient might have left to seek treatment elsewhere, from people or facilities less qualified to provide state-of-the-art care.

Empathy with Others

you need to understand where the other is coming from.

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i think what sometimes frustrates me about rudi is that I am absolutely unable to pierce the veil and perceive what it is he is looking for

What sometimes gets in the way of putting ourselves in the shoes of others is too much focus on the end goal and our own objectives and not enough concern for recruiting others to our side—or at least curtailing the likelihood of their opposition.

Capacity to Tolerate Conflict

If you can handle difficult conflict-and stress-filled situations effectively, you have an advantage over most people.

being calm and clear in steessful situations is wha sets me apart from my peers in the EOC

INTELLIGENCE

the correlation between intelligence and income was

.2, and although this was statistically significant, it meant that only about 4 percent of the variation in income was explained by variation in intelligence.26

Many of the people who seem to me to have the most difficulty putting themselves in the other’s place are people who are so smart they can’t understand why the others don’t get it.

some people thought they were so smart they denigrated anyone who doubted their approach, and no alternative viewpoints could survive

Brad

while intelligence helps in building a reputation and in job performance, it often holds the seeds of people’s downfall in creating overconfidence and insensitivity.

The most common mistake is to locate in the department dealing with the organization’s current core activity, skill, or product—the unit that is the most powerful at the moment.

because finance produced numbers, not cars, it was largely immune to criticism. Finance people didn’t have to make or sell anything—just keep Henry Ford II happy and their opponents on the defensive.

WHAT MAKES SOME DEPARTMENTS MORE POWERFUL THAN OTHERS

unit cohesion.

socialization rituals—running the overhead projector at meetings, preparing briefing books, gathering articles and information—that served the same function as training in the military for the company’s young, up-and-coming executives: imparting some specific skills and knowledge but more importantly building common bonds of communication and trust that come through shared experiences.

Speaking with one voice, being able to act together in a coordinated fashion, is an important source of depar...

work so hard to build unity of action and purpose.

Both Zia Yusuf at SAP and the finance function at Ford benefited from being ahead of the changes confronting the two companies.

DIAGNOSING DEPARTMENTAL POWER

David Krackhardt’s analysis of power in a small entrepreneurial company found that the people within the firm with the most accurate perception of the power distribution and networks of influence had more power.14 Skill at diagnosing power distributions is useful.

Over the years, I have found the following to be reasonably good clues to which departments have the most power.

RELATIVE PAY