How To Gain Power In An Organisation And Rise

Studies indicate that managers primarily interested in power featured more effective, not only in achieving positions of influence inside companies but also in accomplishing their tasks, than those who are mainly interested in being liked or a need to attain a goal for themselves.¹ Again, people who have more political skills receive higher performance evaluations and are rated as more effective leaders. What is more, not being able to control our environment invites in feelings of helplessness and stress. Feeling stressed or out-of-control can start our health deteriorating. Clear with, being in a position with low power can doom our health. Contrary to, having power and the control that comes with it enhances life.² Plus, power reflects visibility and stature that can produce wealth. All in view, how to gain power in an organisation, warrants close attention.

Further with, Bill and Hillary Clinton left the White House in 2001, as celebrities and with a vast network of contacts from holding positions of substantial power for long, but with little money. Within eight years after their departure, they amassed $109 million. This came from speaking fees and book deals, as well as through investment opportunities available to them because of their past positions.

Here Features How To Gain Power In An Organisation

1. Ensure That Those At Higher Levels In Your Company Know What You Are Accomplishing

Kick the assumption that your boss knows or notices what you are accomplishing and has perfect information about your activities. You attain a position of power when those at higher levels in your company choose you for a senior role. On this wise, tell your seniors about what you are accomplishing. Choose to stand out, not blend into the woodwork. No one will notice or care about you if you present yourself as ordinary. Doing quiet work can secure you a great career as a middle manager, but you cannot gain a lot of power.

Along with, we often prefer and choose what is familiar to us, what we have seen or experienced before. This preference for the familiar reduces our uncertainty. Also, we tend to like what we remember. Following this, make your great performance visible, for it to be appreciated. Familiarity often produces preference. Being memorable, outspoken, or provocative, equals getting picked since we frequently select what we recall.

2. Define Performance Criteria In A Way That Makes You Look Good

You cannot perform equally well in all aspects of your work. So, it pays to consistently emphasize those aspects in which you do well. Turn that into your constant refrain. As you highlight the dimensions of your job performance that favour you, you start defining the performance criteria in a way that makes you look good.

3. Be Vigilant To What Matters To Your Boss

Instead of assuming that you know what your bosses care about, it is more constructive to ask those in power, to define aspects of the job they consider crucial, and what you ought to be doing. In line with, ask for help and advice, to create a useful relationship with those in power. To ask for assistance, in a way conveying your competence and command of the situation, remains an effective way of flattering those with power over you. Having gathered information about what matters to your seniors, prepare and act on the information.

4. Make Those In Power Feel Better About Themselves

A crucial aspect of your job performance is to make those in power feel better about themselves, in how you conduct yourself, in what you talk about, and in what you accomplish. As you help those with more power enhance their positive feelings about themselves, you consolidate your position and build a power base. On a different note, criticism is a sure way of making your boss feel worse, and attracting disfavour. This is especially so if the criticism concerns an issue the boss feels is important, and where there is inherent insecurity.

Wisdom to note with, be concerned about the relationship you have with your boss as much as you worry about your job performance. In view of your boss’s mistake, explore the possibility of getting someone else other than you to point it out. If that fails, highlight the error in a way that does not implicate your boss’s self-concept or competence. Explore the complicity of others or the situation. Avoid having a difficult relationship with those in power or making your boss insecure.

Furthermore, paying compliments is one of the best ways to make those in power feel better about themselves. This is effective, as it helps to fulfill the self-enhancement drive that exists in most of us. We tend to like people who make us feel good about ourselves and our accomplishments. Upon this, being likeable helps build influence. In addition, paying compliments activates the norm of reciprocity. Compliment spotlights as a form of gift. To compliment someone often starts the person feeling he owes you something in return.

Conclusion

In a hierarchical organisation, the people responsible for your success are those above you, with the power to either promote you or to block your rise up the organisational chart. How to gain power in an organisation, reflects ideas that start us ensuring that those influential others have a strong desire to make us successful. Getting those in power to notice the good work you do, remember you, and think well of you, and the good feelings you inspire in them, creates a path to power. In plainer terms, performance coupled with political skills help us to rise through the ranks.

Notes

1. Victoria Chang and Jeffrey Pfeffer, “Keith Ferrazzi,” Case no. OB-44, Stanford, CA: Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, October 2003, 4.

2. This and other, related research is summarized in Michael Marmot, The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity (New York:Times Books, 2004).