Influencing People:!

Building Your Base of Informal Power!

Scott DeRue, PhD!

Associate Dean and Professor!
Ten Most Powerful People in the World
Source: Forbes, 2014
 Quiz: Bases of Power!
Most / Least Effective for Influencing People

___ Reward power – ability to reward for performance!

___ Coercive power – ability to punish or force compliance!
___ Legitimate power – formal right to influence (“the boss”)!
___ Referent power – personal connection or identification!
___ Expert power – having expertise that is valued or rare!
___ Information power – having info that is valued or rare!

Rank order:
1 = Least Effective
Source: French and Raven, 1959 7 = Most Effective
 Influencing People: !
What You Will Learn in This Course!
How to…!
•  Build and leverage your power!
•  Influence people without relying on authority!
•  Build and leverage relationships for greater influence!
•  Protect yourself from others’ influence!
 Reflecting on your own team
experiences…

Identify a particularly powerful person
from your team.

What made this person powerful?
To what extent (and how) did this person’s power 
help or hurt your team?
 What is Power?!
Power as Outcome Power is relative. Power as the Potential
Control Power is contextual. for Influence

“The power to control or

influence the other resides in
control over things (s)he
values.”
Emerson (1962)
“…asymmetrical control over
another person’s outcomes.”
Depret and Fiske
(1993)
Control varies in
“The ability for an actor to
how formal, stable, carry out his own position
and legitimate. despite resistance.”
Weber (1914)
Valued outcomes
vary by person. “…the maximum potential
ability of A to influence B.”
Power can be actual French and Raven
or perceptual. (1959)
Do you agree or disagree with this
definition? Explain why.!
!
How do you define power?!
 What are the benefits of power?!
!
How can power be used to create value
for your team or organization?!
 Power Enables Action and Proactivity!

Blackjack: Percent of People The Annoying Fan: Percent of

Who “Hit” on 16 People Who Take Action
100% 100%

80% 80%

60% 60%

40% 40%
Low Power High Power Low Power High Power

Source: Galinsky et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2003

 Power Reduces Feelings of Burden!
Effects of Power on Weight Perceptions:
Estimated Weight Minus Actual Weight
1.5

1
Before
0.5
After
0
Low Power High Power
-0.5
Source: Lee and Schnall, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2014
 Power Has Health Benefits!
Effect of Power on Effect of Power on
Cardiac Output Vascular Resistance
1 300
0.8 150
0.6
0
0.4
0.2 -150
0 -300
Low Power High Power Low Power High Power

Source: Scheppers et al., Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2012

What are the risks of power?!
!
How can power hurt your !
team or organization?!
 Power Leads to Overconfidence!
Confidence Interval: Distance From Trivia Gamble: $1 Per
95% Certainty Correct Answer Question (+/-)
40 45 1
35 Everyone in
40 0.5 formal
30 “supervisor” roles
35 0
25
20 30 -0.5
Low Power High Power Low Power High Power
-1
No Expert Expert
Source: Fast et al., OBHDP, 2012
 Power Reduces Advice Taking!

Advice
Power Confidence
Taking
+ −
Found to be true in 4 different experiments…!
•  208 incoming graduate students, 36% female and 50% U.S.!
•  63 undergraduate students, controlling for age, gender, nationality, affect!
•  254 working adults, 61% female and average age of 27!
•  126 undergraduate students!

Source: See et al., OBHDP, 2011

 How have you seen power affect the
degree to which people listen and take
the advice of others?!
 Power Makes People More Self-Focused!
Source of Inspiration:
Do People Write About Others or Themselves?
5
4.5
4 Other
3.5 Self

3
Low Power High Power

Source:Van Kleef et al., Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2015

 …and all of this can hurt your team.!
Leader Power Percent of Teams Who Identified the
Correct Answer on Team Task

Increase in 80%
Leader Talking 60%
Less Open
40% Neutral Power
Communication 20%
in Team
High Power
0%
No Formal Formal
Lower Team
Performance Power Leader

Source: Tost et al., Academy of Management Journal, 2013

 Assessment: Bases of Power!
Your Boss

___ ___ Reward power – ability to reward for performance!

___ ___ Coercive power – ability to punish or force compliance!
___ ___ Legitimate power – formal right to influence (“the boss”)!
___ ___ Referent power – personal connection or identification!
___ ___ Expert power – having expertise that is valued or rare!
___ ___ Information power – having info that is valued or rare!

Rank order:
You
1 = Most important
Source: French and Raven, 1959 7 = Least important
What are beliefs or stereotypes that
enhance your psychological power?!
!
What are beliefs or stereotypes that
constrain your psychological power?!
What are ways you can
communicate legitimate
power?!
!
Share best practices.!
 Closed Open
“Low Power” “High Power”
What are the most “High Power” body
positions?!
 Body postures and physiology!
Testosterone Change Cortisol Change
(pg/ml) (pg/ml)
12 0.05
8 0.025
4 20% increase in
energy 0
0 25% decrease in
-0.025 stress
-4
-8 -0.05
High Power Low Power High Power Low Power
Source: Carney et al. Psychological Science, 2010
With Power Comes Responsibility!

“The guards appeared to thoroughly enjoy

the power they wielded, yet none of our
preliminary personality tests were able to
predict this behavior.”
 Does Power Corrupt or Enable?!
Self-Interested Behavior:
Keeping Value for Oneself
Moral Identity:
8 The extent to which a
7.5 person holds morality
7 as part of his or her
6.5 self-concept
6 Low Moral Identity
5.5 High Moral Identity Your boss?
5 Your next hire?
Control High Power Yourself?

Source: Decelles et al. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2012

 Recap: Building Your Base of Power!
•  Defining power!
•  Benefits and costs of power!
–  Proactivity, confidence, creativity, and health!
–  Overconfidence, not listening, self-focus, and
undermining open team communication!
•  Bases of power: personal, cognitive,
and structural!
•  Developing your bases of power!
•  With power comes responsibility!