10 Provocative Thoughts About Power
From the An Influential Project Manager Blog
by Colin Gautrey
Today, more than ever, a project manager needs to be an influencer.
The purpose of this blog is to stimulate your journey towards greater influence. With influence, you can overcome the roadblocks thrown in your way, overcome opposition, align stakeholders and, enjoy your role even more.
However, since I know you are busy, the posts here will be short (about a minute), thought provoking and also drive you towards action.
Feel free to connect with me, ask me questions, and share what's good here.
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impact,
influence,
power,
Stakeholder Management,
stakeholder management
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As you may know by now, my specialism is helping people to become more successful through the practical use of power and influence. So, I’ve written a lot about the subject of power.
Here you will find a selection of thoughts to provoke and tease you to think about your attitudes and experiences of power as a project manager.
On the purpose of power:
- Power itself is a neutral concept until intention bends it to either abusive or virtuous action.
- Power is about getting what you want and need, for yourself and others. Who wants to be powerless?
- Gaining power and influence gives you independence and responsibility.
- Power = input; politics = process; influence = output.
- Your relationship with power says plenty about your history, but what about your future?
On the pursuit and use of power:
- Power creates influence because people calculate how it can help or hinder them compared to other power sources.
- Power usually goes to the person who is alert to it, seldom to the one who is most capable of using it well.
- If you empower someone, you are investing some of your power in them with a view to getting a return at some point.
- If people break your rules, your power is probably going down. If you're breaking others' rules, your power is probably rising.
- Where there is change, politics follows in hot pursuit. This is because power is liquefied and is being redistributed.
I could go on, but I will leave it that and enquire, what ideas do these provoke in your mind?
For more on the topic of power, check out my OnDemand webinar: Diagnosing Power Dynamics Around Your Project.
Posted on: March 23, 2017 07:14 AM |
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Comments (9)
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All the time, human being's intention is not honest and straightforward. There is vested interest and that is when power looks for way to bend using politics.
Power is used to satisfy and encourages "what is in it for me"..
It is absolutely true to state "where there is change, politics follows in hot pursuit". I have seen many times how a middle level resource keeps shifting his/her stance in the requirements/quality/ goals based on "who is at the top/powerful/resourceful".
How does gaining power gives independence?
You can influence as long as one meets what the stakeholder wants.What if the stakeholder is powerful/resourceful but is against the project but he/she keeps the project for political mileage?
Vincent Guerard
Coach - Trainer - Speaker - Advisor| Freelance
Mont-Royal, Quebec, Canada
Thanks Colin
Power is a risk to project reaching there real benefits!
Just want to know if there are limits to power? Cause i think feeling more and more powerfull could lead to "psycho mania". Anyway i agree with all those thoughts and mostly with # 9. Thanks.
Naomi Caietti
Senior Project Manager | ePMO | Higher Education | Healthcare & IT| Linkedin.com/In/NaomiCaietti
Interesting thoughts on power and influence.
Stéphane Parent
Self Employed / Semi-retired| Leader Maker
Prince Edward Island, Canada
Interesting post. The listed thoughts are based on the premise of "what's in it for me?"
I cannot speak for everyone but as I grow older and, hopefully, wiser, I find myself doing things without any hope of retribution. Maybe there is a bit of "feelng good" that I get out of it. There are so many ways for me to feel good, why would I choose to do it by selflishly giving of my time or resources?
I can definitely identify times when I did not follow the axioms listed. What about you?
I am not convinced power is a neutral concept. My first thought is that "power corrupts".
Are we discussing power over others or over ourselves only? To wield power over others, even in the role of boss or supervisor requires a great deal of responsibility and self-restraint. To be truly worthy of power, I think it is essential that at the very least you:
1. demonstrate that you yourself are willing to do what you are asking of others
2. have performed (mastered?) all the roles of those you seek to lead
3. delineate the circumstances that require you to relinquish power and be bound by that delineation
I tend to be suspicious of any who seek power as I think the vast majority of people are unfit for it.
In project management, our role is to facilitate and possibly negotiate, but not to dictate. A power-hungry PM could easily abuse his team members in order to produce numbers that reflect well on him. We all know the money/time/quality relationship. The physical and mental health of those who deliver the product is left out of that calculation.
Nasrullah Mohammed
Portfolio Manager| Advanced Electronics Company
Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Excellent post Colin. Thanks
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