PERSONAL SPECIAL................... 10 ways to climb the power ladder

10 ways to climb the power ladder   To walk the corridors of influence, pay heed to some pertinent advice from Stanford business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer What does it take to get ahead? Technical skill or political prowess? In his book Power: Why Some People Have It -And Others Don't , Stanford business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer argues the latter. He breaks down common misconceptions about power and success, and outlines strategies for achieving it. Here are the best takeaways from the book 1 Don’t believe the myth that some people are born to lead and others aren’t “One of the biggest mistakes people make is think ing good performance ie. job accomplishments is sufficient to acquire power and avoid organisational difficulties,“ he says. “Consequently, people leave too much to chance and fail to manage their careers.“ 2 Get over the idea that everyone needs to like you “Larry Summers, the secretary of treasury under Bill Clinton, president of Harvard University, and former head of President Barack O b a m a's N a t i o n a l E c o n o m i c Council, is often described as prickly, outspoken and not very sensitive.... [But] not only has Summers's reputation not hurt him; it has actually helped,“ Pfeffer writes. 3 Recognise that performance isn’t everything Your relationship with your boss matters more. “In 19 8 0, econo mists James Medoff and Katherine Abraham observed that salaries in companies were strongly related to age and organisational tenure,“ he says. 4 Help powerful people feel good about themselves “Turnover in senior executive ranks was affected by CEO turnover, particularly when an outsider came in,“ according to Pfeffer. “That's because CEOs like to put loyalists in senior positions.“ 5 Build an effective power network “Many studies show that networking is positively related to obtaining good performance evaluations and objective measures of career suc cess,“ he writes. 6 Break the rules, especially early in your career “In every war in the last 200 years conducted between unequally matched opponents, the stronger party won about 72 per cent of the time,“ Pfeffer says. “However, when the underdogs understood their weakness and used a different strategy to minimise its effects, they won some 64 per cent of the time.“ 7 Get access to key resources “It would be nice to be Sergey Brin or Larry Page ... or Bill Gates.As they move through venues like the World Economic Forum, they are surrounded not just by security but by people who want to meet them,“ he writes. 8 Do an honest self-assessment “Because we like to think well of ourselves, we overestimate our own abilities and performance,“ says Pfeffer. “When people focus on what they need to get to the next stage of their careers, they are less defensive.“ 9 Be fine with conflict and showing anger “Research shows that people who express anger are seen as `dominant, strong, competent, and smart,'“ Pfeffer notes. “The researchers found that in negative situations, participants believed that high-status people would feel angrier than sad or guilty and that low-status people would feel sad and guilty instead of angry.“ 10 Carefully consider and construct your image Don't underestimate the power of your personal brand. “The rise of Barack Obama in the tough world of Chicago and then Illinois politics illustrates how Obama, from the very beginning, worked to build a political identity that would be useful to him,“ writes Pfeffer .

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