In the workplace gaining power and ability to influence is not an easy thing. For a person to influence others to do something that person should not only know how to do the thing but he or she should do it. It is a clear emphasis that for an individual to gain power and influence, he or she should have a vision and a capacity to reach his goals and objectives. Those who lack vision therefore cannot influence others to do what they want as they themselves are not self-motivated.
According to Javitch (2009), for one to gain power and influence on people, one should identify what to use to influence others. One can use his or her knowledge and skill, expertise in a certain field, his or her position in the organization (being one of the management team) and even the personal characteristics like diligence and integrity. Moreover, one needs to know how he or she will influence others. This can be through creating good relationships with the people, enlightening them on what you want them to do so that they will not feel out of place, as well as working together as a team in an effort to achieve a common objective or goal. It is no wonder that Cohen (1983) asserts that individuals influence others by how they behave, what they wear, how they base their arguments and how they handle different situations.
A researcher like Myers (1996) has argued that most people have a self-gratification of feeling that they are better than others. This could be in terms of education, intelligence, physical look, social status and even their ways of doing things. They want to have influence on people in every aspect of their lives. It also happens that individuals consider those who share their perspectives as wise while those who object them are uninformed. This makes it very pleasing to have power and influence over others although it can sometimes make someone over confident in what they do. This could happen when a leader in an organization or a family member back at home exerts a lot of pressure on individuals thus leading to a negative outcome like frustration, resistance, war and unhealthy arguments.
As researchers have elaborated above the area of power and influence is a critical one for every individual. Whether in the context of business world, organizations, schools, political arena and religious settings, the ability to influence others to do as one wishes gives one a desirable personal satisfaction. It really doesn’t matter what you are to have an influence on people. What matters are one’s ability, the tools that one uses and how to undertake the influence, as well as the personal characteristics that will stimulate an influence on others. It is therefore essential for every individual to determine which influencing power he or she possesses so that he or she can capitalize on it. Otherwise, it is not an easy task to have influence on others rather it needs self-motivation and hard work to achieve it.
References
Cohen, S. (1983). A global measure of health and social Behavior. Journal of Health & Social Behavior, 24 (4), pp. 383-386.
Javitch, D. (2009). How to Achieve Power in Your Life. Newton: University press.
Myers, M. G. (1996). The pursuit of happiness. New York: McGraw-Hill.