Influence Without Authority, 3rd Edition

Chapter 13Influencing Difficult Colleagues

With very few exceptions, everyone at work is dependent on colleagues to get his or her work done. That's the nature of current organizations: complex, interdependent tasks and specialized roles have increased the need for people to work together across departments to deliver complicated products and services. The first seven chapters of this book deal with many of the problematic collegial relationships. But some colleagues are particularly difficult to influence.

The core concepts, exchange and reciprocity, are still central to gaining cooperation with them. Even the colleagues who are also competitors might respond when they see that they will get something they value when they give you what you need. But that seldom is easy and often requires changes in mind-set.

Friendly Competitors: “Co-Opetition”

One great challenge in organizations is how to balance your dependence on peers you have to get along with yet also compete with—for resources, attention from the boss and others, rewards, and promotions. Even organizations without forced rankings among department members (like the ones at GE until recently) have some implicit competition; the flattest, most collaborative organizations also have limitations on resources, advancement, and other opportunities. The difference is one of degree and overtness about differentiation. At the ...