Module 4 Power and Influence People often to learn to associate power with corruption and abuse Power paradox we want power status create hierarchy but don t like the thought of it Why do we want power Health social rank drives immunity e g monkeys human mortality from heart disease jazz band leaders Wealth power leads to visibility esteem and fame which can be traded for money e g speaking endorsements Clintons Efficacy the ability to get things done achieve whatever goals you have for yourself or even for others e g skillful blood banks vs powerless doctors Barriers to Power The Self pursuing power not part of your identity concerned about what others will think don t feel like you re cut out for power lack of confidence The Just World Effect belief that good things happen to good people vice versa If you play by the rules you will win get promoted Prevents us from thinking that we need power we think everything will happen out in the end Power the capacity to change others behavior overcome resistance and get people to do things they would not do otherwise when someone depends on you more than you depend on them Providing withholding resources Administering punishments Power as Dependency o A has control over something B values importance o B cannot obtain it elsewhere scarcity o B cannot easily find substitutes for it non substitutability How to close power gap between you and boss Diminish the importance of the resource importance Find another place to get it e g new job scarcity Find a substitute e g public achievement vs relying on boss evaluation non substitutability Personal characteristics linked to power Ambition excited to learn how to get power keep going through setbacks have goals able to measure success against these goals Energy lot of physical energy leads to more motivation Focus focused on a particular goal in a distracting world Self knowledge good sense of self personality Confidence become more powerful in groups Empathy perspective taking able to experience what others are experiencing able to be more strategic Ability to tolerate conflict conflict is unavoidable can increase people s respect for you Bases of power Formal power come from positions within hierarchy Coercive power ability to punish fear based e g terminate reduce salary assign to undesirable shifts embarrass publicly withhold information or desired actions Reward power ability to provide positive benefits resources attention praise access information relationships Legitimate power authority from one s position broader than just coercion and rewards includes members acceptance of the authority of a person Personal power most effective associated with employee s satisfaction with supervision organizational commitment and performance Expert power expertise skills knowledge e g surgeon Steve Jobs Referent power identification with person admiration and respect trust that one cares about the group likeability charisma e g Oprah Ghandi Effectiveness Personal power most effective positively related to employee s satisfaction with supervision organizational commitment and performance Reward and legitimate power unrelated to these outcomes Coercive power negatively related to employee satisfaction and commitment Displaying power Be strategic about increasing real perceived power Nonverbal signals display comfort and confidence Dress like the level of hierarchy you are in Posture take up space more powerful arms out feet spread hands behind head feet up on desk power pose increases testosterone and decreases cortisol Eye gaze patterns powerful people make direct eye contact when speaking but not when listening vice versa for powerless Eyes straight ahead chin up powerful Eyes chin down powerless Conversational dominance More time speaking interrupting others directness in speech Emotional expression anger power Main point of nonverbal signals Display comfort confidence Networking A potential contact is anyone who doesn t scratch their head in bewilderment when they hear your name A large network of weak ties more powerful this is where we get most jobs because there are more reach into different domains industries vs a small network of loyal ties Structural hold link one person with another person has more power creativity innovation because you know how to link them Strategic networking Where you work where you sit what types of projects you seek out who you spend time with Consequences of Power Pitfalls Approach Related Effects of Power Power affects our physiological systems High Power BAS activation Behavioral Approach System body prepared for acting low capacity for thinking Less likely to weigh pros and cons Low Power BIS activation Behavioral Inhibition System body prepared for thinking low capacity for acting Illusion of Control E g voting rolling the die yourself Control heuristics more practice you think you have more control e g practice flipping a coin die does not give you more control Tendency to take action E g turning off moving the fan plans to vote in upcoming election Negative Overconfidence more likely to engage in risky behavior Greater confidence high power inversely correlated with accuracy Power increases the need to feel more competent even when they aren t threatens their egos respond to success with arrogant pride be aggressive towards others to make up for their threatened egos Power but no status ex Stanford Prison Experiment abuse take other people down a notch Effects of power on the powerful Illusory control Action orientation Overconfidence Risk taking Need to demonstrate competence Influence Six Key Tactics Robert Cialdini Reciprocity people feel the need to return gifts and favors Do things that add value to others Send links to articles give small gifts write encouraging notes offer to do a favor ask for favors In response to a favor I know you d do the same for me Commitment and consistency people feel pressure to conform to their past commitments and behaviors Establish that your request is consistent with the person s values and past behaviors Make small requests before larger requests ask people to publicly commit point out how your request stems from one of their past ideas or behaviors Social proof people do what others do Power of the crowd statistics likes subscribers canned laughter seeding the tip jar descriptive norms Liking people are influenced by those they like Increase liking by highlighting similarities give compliments tasks requiring cooperation