Power and influence are aspects of life that people seek in different ways. Power refers to the authority they have on others while influence is their use of power to effect actions or changes. Power can be personal or positional. Personal power comes from the relationships or networks that an individual has. Position power comes from a role in an organization or formal institution. There are strategies to attain power and influence people to comply to one’s authority.
Power
Position power is derived from hierarchy or authority in a particular role. Attainment of competence in a particular role will help acquire position power related to the role. For instance; competence in the role of a department manager will help gain the job; then the power that comes with the managerial position. Competence refers to demonstratable features that enable an individual to perform a job accordingly.
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Personal power is sourced from value addition within personal networks. One strategy of gaining personal power is to have value-adding skills that are useful to his network. These skills can make you an expert among your networks allowing you to have power in that particular field. Expertise in a field will gain expert power to the individual. For instance; among the networks one has, you may be the only one with knowledge and skills in IT. This unique feature will help gain expert power.
Influence
Influencing peers and superiors can be effective through social exchange. This means that both parties communicate and engage on a daily basis to help each other. When a person in power is able to use their power to create an environment of exchange, they can influence their peers. The exchange will help them understand the other party creating effective relationships. However, some people can be resistant to respond to this strategy. This resistance will create friction between the willing parties and those in resistance.
