The Power Base
Your position in an organisational hierarchy is only one of the powers available to you in an influence situation and very often it isn't the most effective one. The types of personal power you can bring to bear on any particular situation (French & Raven 1960) are:
| Type of Power | Source |
Coercive |
'The Stick' - what sanctions can you threaten and impose for non compliance? |
Reward |
'The Carrot' - what rewards (monetary or otherwise) can you promise and deliver? |
Legitimate |
What is your position and level of authority in the hierarchy? |
Information |
What facts and data sets are at your disposal? |
Expert |
What expertise, skills and knowledge do you possess? |
Referent |
What social networks do you belong to? To what extent do your charm, charisma and personality impress? |
Each of us has all of these types of power to varying degrees. All too often people rely too heavily on one of these and neglect the rest. It is common for IT specialists to be less well regarded than other staff at a similar level in the sector and this is frequently because they rely heavily on their specialist knowledge and do not make enough use of referent power. Very often our referent power, also known as personal power, is the most versatile tool at our disposal.
Most of us will find as we progress up the career ladder and our portfolio becomes broader that we turn more and more to referent power to achieve our goals and networking becomes increasingly important. The adage 'Know them before you need them' is a useful one to remember when your work involves a new group of stakeholders. Effective networking can help to establish rapport and trust. It can allow you access to key people (either directly or indirectly) when you need it and can help you understand what their agendas are and what aspects of the current and future situation might impact your work. Networking is critical for project managers whose responsibility usually far exceeds their authority and who need to negotiate for support and resources.
