How to get more power at work

You won’t be able to understand how power operates in your unique context on your first day in the company, but it’s highly achievable after about six months of closely observing the environment.

Your first task is to do a power audit:

Listen and watch to understand the bases of power that are most valued in this system:

Who are the “movers and shakers” in this environment?
Who is listening to whom?
What is unique about them? (Are they articulate? Have they been at the company a long time? Do they have a lot of contacts?)

Your next step is to assess your power bases:

Look at yourself as objectively as possible and assess how many of these power bases you currently have. For example, if allies and networks are highly valued, ask:

How strong are my alliances within the organization, and how can I gain more allies?
How central a player am I in the valued network and how can I build my network?

You also need to know how to sustain your valued power bases.

For young managers:

The two bases of power that are most valuable are expertise and allies.

If you have a rare and valued expertise, you can be the youngest in the room and people will listen to you and be open to your influence.
Allies are people who trust your abilities and intentions and are willing to vouch for you. Having influential backers in the work environment can be a great route to getting power quickly, at a young age or at an early stage in your career.

For more experienced leaders:

The two most critical power bases are reputation and network centrality.

Reputation. What are people saying about you? Who are the individuals who can best help you cultivate a positive reputation?
Network centrality. This relates to your place in the system. It is enhanced by making yourself an indispensable and central node in the network so that more people need to go through you to get things done (or to get access to others who can help them get things done).

Key learning

A key aspect to understand about power is that it is completely dependent on context. So, if those power bases that you’ve worked so hard to develop are no longer so valuable, think about developing new ones.

Jennifer Jordan

Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior

Jennifer Jordan is a social psychologist and Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at IMD. Jennifer’s teaching, research, and consulting focus on the areas of digital leadership, ethics, influence, and power. She has received specialized training and certifications in lie and truthfulness detection, as well as in conflict resolution within organizations. She is Program Director of the Women on Boards and the Leadership Essentials program, and co-Director of the Leading Digital Execution program.