Power to the people

Part # 1
What does power mean?
Part # 2
How do people become powerful?
Part # 3
Some advantages of having power.
Part # 4
Some disadvantages of having power.

Part # 1
What does power mean?

Formal power
The right that a person has through tradition or rule of law
to decide things and make things happen.

Control of an agenda
The control that a person has of an agenda and assumptions
about a problem situation.
Example: Control that a religious leader has to persuade people.
Control of knowledge and information
The control that a person has of who gets what information.

Control of financial capital

Financial wealth that people have.
The control that a person has over financial resources of
an organisation.
Control of digital capital
The ability people have to control technology to their
advantage. Examples: Control of media.

Human capital

Example: The ability / skills / knowledge / charisma that a person

has to foresee change and make provision for that ahead of time.

Social / cultural capital

Contacts / sponsors / coalitions / networks, which give individuals
advance information.
Informal / invisible networks and alliances through which people
trade favours now for favours in the future.

Some sources of inspiration

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/power.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/36349465/Capital
http://www.scribd.com/doc/32211076/Power-Distance
http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/power
http://www.systems-thinking.ca/myfiles/GarethMorgan.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_(social_and_political)

Part # 2
How do people
become powerful?

Know who you are.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 701.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/34534773/Personality
http://www.scribd.com/doc/36200010/Questions-to-discover-your-values

Be in the right environment

Find an environment in which you

can build a great reputation.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 2362.

Other things being equal, faster economic growth

will diminish the importance of wealth in a society.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/05/economist-explains

Specialize and work

Specialize
Get more detailed knowledge and a denser network of contacts.
Invest time and effort
Also small tasks can become important sources of power.

Source
Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 754, 2897, and 1553 respectively.

Be visible

Be visible, for example by going to events

and/or communicating on social media.

Source
Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 459 and 1527 respectively.

On the Web, authority trickles up, not down.

Gary Hamel

http://www.managementexchange.com/blog/facebook-generation-vs-fortune-500

Ask questions, challenge assumptions

Ask why.
Source
Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 827 and 2176 respectively.

Interrupt

Power is 80% taken, 20% given.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 2159 and 2061 respectively.

Help people with power

The surest way to build a power base is to help

those with more power enhance their positive
feelings about themselves.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 505, 1232, and 2489.

Ask for help and hire people to represent you.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 505, 1232, and 2489.

Show authority through body language

Lean back.
Occupy maximum space.
Hold your head still.
Hold eye contact while talking.
Speak in complete sentences with a clear beginning and end.
Use great, sweeping gestures.
Slow down when you speak.

http://stanfordbusiness.tumblr.com/post/68102494797/how-nonverbal-behaviors-affect-your-status-and-power

http://youtu.be/Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Further sources of inspiration

http://blogs.wsj.com/management/2011/05/11/the-purpose-of-power/
http://managementlab.org/files/site/publications/labnotes/mlab-labnotes-019.pdf
Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont.

Part # 3
Some advantages of
having power

Surveys show that power lead people to take a

broader, more communally centered perspective.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Why-Power-Corrupts-169804606.html

Part # 4
Some disadvantages of
having power

Disadvantage # 1: You will be watched all the time

Examples of what will be watched when you have power:
How you perform.
How you dress.
Where you live.
How you spend your time.
Who you choose to spend time with.
What your children do.
What you drive.
How you act in completely non-related domains.
Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 2815 and 2884 respectively.

Disadvantage # 2: You will not get honest feedback

The higher you rise in an organization, the more

people are going to tell you that you are right. This
leads to an absence of critical thought and makes it
difficult for senior leaders to get the truth.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 2948.

Disadvantage # 3: You will become overconfident

Studies of the effects of power on the power holder
consistently find that power produces overconfidence,
risk taking and insensitivity to others. Over time, many
powerful people come to see taking advice as a sign of
weakness. They become narcissistic, consumed with
own ego.
Sources
Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 3057.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d995d48e-2c4e-11e3-8b20-00144feab7de.html#axzz2h7RsyfQH

Disadvantage # 4: You will easily lose your patience

Its easier to lose your patience when youre in power

power leads to disinhibition, to not watching what
you say and do, to being more concerned about
yourself than about the feelings of others.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 3173.

Disadvantage # 5

You can have power or autonomy, but not both.

Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont, location 2815 and 2884 respectively.

Further sources of inspiration

http://bigthink.com/ideas/24282
Pfeffer, Jeffrey: Power Why some people have it and others dont.
http://www.strategy-business.com/article/re00162?pg=all
http://www.videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=5491ba95-6d3e-4d72-8320-5353c03da280