Power_ Why Some People Have Itand Others Don't - Jeffrey Pfeffer [18]
Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this problem: get advice from others who are more skilled than you and will tell you the truth about yourself. Unfortunately, asking for this sort of help sometimes feels like weakness and people are reluctant to admit what they do not know—that self-enhancement thing again. Ironically, therefore, those who admit ignorance are more likely to improve—in all domains, including understanding power dynamics inside companies—than those who either don’t know their deficiencies or are afraid to admit them to others. As Confucius said, “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s own ignorance.” And to be able to improve requires sharing this information with others who can help remedy the lack of knowledge.7
As for the third obstacle, it is possible to both identify what personal skills and qualities produce power and then work to develop them. Here I highlight seven of the most important qualities you need to traverse a path to power.
SEVEN IMPORTANT PERSONAL QUALITIES THE BUILD POWER
Although there is a growing research literature on power in organizations, there is less systematic evidence than I might like on the personal attributes that produce power. In part that’s because such research is inherently difficult. Asking about the qualities of people already in power can confound whether the qualities created the influence or whether they were a consequence of holding power. What research there is,8 plus my own analysis of scores of political and business biographies and observing literally hundreds of leaders in all walks of life, leads me to emphasize two fundamental personal dimensions and seven qualities that are both logically and empirically associated with producing personal power.
The two fundamental dimensions that distinguish people who rise to great heights and accomplish amazing things are will, the drive to take on big challenges, and skill, the capabilities required to turn ambition into accomplishment. The three personal qualities embodied in will are ambition, energy, and focus. The four skills useful in acquiring power are self-knowledge and a reflective mind-set, confidence and the ability to project self-assurance, the ability to read others and empathize with their point of view, and a capacity to tolerate conflict. After describing each attribute, I will discuss a quality often associated with power but one that I think is, beyond some level, highly overrated—intelligence.
Ambition
Success requires effort and hard work as well as persistence. To expend that effort, to make necessary sacrifices, requires some driving ambition. The late Richard Daley, former mayor of Chicago and considered one of the 10 best mayors in American history, did not run for that office until he was 53 years old. “Daley realized early in life that he desired power, and he was willing to wait patiently for the opportunity to exercise it. He spent three decades toiling quietly at the routine jobs of urban machine politics.”9 Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Abraham Lincoln emphasized Lincoln’s driving ambition as one of the most important qualities that produced his success in political life. Lincoln’s drive enabled him to overcome an impoverished background, early political setbacks, and personal slights.10
And what is true in politics is also true in business. Jill Barad, who rose to become CEO of toy company Mattel, possessed unquenchable ambition. She often wore a bumblebee pin. “The bee is an oddity of nature. It shouldn’t be able to fly, but it does. Every time I see that bee out of the corner of my eye, I am reminded to keep pushing for the impossible.”11
Organizational life can be irritating and frustrating and can divert people’s effort and attention. Ambition—a focus on achieving influence—can help people overcome the temptation to give up or to give in to the irritations. As Melinda, a vice president