#81: Positional power at work

Last Monday I said, to be effective, you must use both your positional power and your personal power. But what exactly is positional power?

Your position in the hierarchy of your organization comes with certain powers. This power does not stem from you, the present incumbent. It is given to you by your superiors, which means that they can just as easily take it away. Your followers make this power legitimate when they believe that it is appropriate for you to make decisions because of your position.

There are three types of positional power. Coercive power is based on fear; people do as they are told because they believe that you have the power to punish them if they don’t. You have reward power when people believe that you are a source of rewards. And connection power comes from people who believe that you are connected to important persons in the organization.

The trick is to use all three wisely.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

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